I liked the idea of some woodland birding for today's outing and set off towards the lower slopes of the Monchique hills. The weather was ideal, with no wind to disturb the trees and a bright start. The area I settled on contained a good mix of both deciduous and coniferous trees, together with some open ground where small isolated dwellings existed. There was plenty of bird song going on, particularly from Nuthatches and 'drumming' woodpeckers. Jays were screeching and flying through the trees but even they couldn't compete with the loudest of them all - the tiny Wren! I began to compile my list with Blue and Great Tit, Crested Tits were high up in the tallest conifers. Robins were plentiful, as were Blackcaps and several Blackbirds. A few nice surprises were bound to occur, beginning with my first Rock Bunting in two years. Taking a break for a coffee after my first walk, I found a pair of Rock Buntings right by the car!! A hastily crumbled cheese sandwich kept these two occupied and gave me some excellent records. They really are the most colourful birds and seemed very confiding. It didn't take long while listening for Short-toed Treecreepers before I found my first two of several seen in the woods. Absolutely ideal habitat with cork oaks, covered in moss and lichens. A rather surprising species seen in someone's garden was this Grey Wagtail, looking like a 1st year male. I had two further encounters without accompanying pictures. The first was a singing Iberian Chiffchaff which I saw, but it soon vanished and the second, an Iberian Woodpecker which sat high in a distant tree. My count continued, with Chaffinches, Greenfinches, Serins and a Sardinian Warbler. The small flock of Chaffinches produced a wonderful surprise - a small number of Brambling were feeding with them. Quite how many there were, I wasn't sure. Certainly three seen together, one of which was an almost full summer male, shown here. I was really appreciating what a great day this was turning out when, a Ring Ouzel turned up in a bush next to the Bramblings! Although I had watched the sky from time to time, other than passing Woodpigeons and one Grey Heron, there hadn't been any sign of raptors at all.
I completed my woodland bird count with a lovely Firecrest which for once, fed at eye level! Comments are closed.
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