Spain - Day 3

We set off in the wee small hours again the next day, this time in search of the secretive Dupont's lark.  Its shyness meant us standing in line motionless on the site off the road to La Yunta in near freezing temperatures. Well we heard it clearly enough but it seemed to have disappeared by the time there was reasonable light and we only saw one or two bits and bobs on the way back for breakfast. 

Setting off again in the van we stopped briefly for some common cranes that were posing nicely in a field, not daring to get out in case we disturbed them.

Cranes posing

This was on the way for a walk in the hills near Tornos looking for larks, which were well-camouflaged and the one I definitely saw was Thekla's Lark.  Unfortunately my photography skills were again much challenged as many sightings were at considerable distance and several photos came out blurry.  Hopefully I can find an app to rescue some of them

Later we headed to the other side of the laguna, where there were some flamingos at reasonably close range, mainly keeping their heads down.  I think this is the best view I've had of flamingos to date.

Flamingos

There were a good deal of both marsh and hen harriers around and another walk near Las Cuerlas, after a period of seeing bits and pieces at distance, we hit on an area where a large number of raptors were flying overhead, almost as if participating in an air display.  In addition to those already encountered, they included a totally new sighting, the black-shouldered kite (never heard of!) and, almost as an afterthought, a couple of golden eagles...

Of all of them I got nothing but blurry silhouettes so it was a bit of a surprise, on returning to the lagoon near Dirigida, that I managed to get a passable shot of a mass of cranes right on the far side of the lake, many hundreds of yards away.  I must have got the zoom spot on for once.

Cranes at distance

When we first got there, there was also a nice white wagtail close by but the main birds in evidence where great and cattle egret, the latter showing no yellow as still in winter plumage.  I learned you can still tell them apart by the fact that the great egret has a much longer neck.

Great Egret

Cattle Egret

White Wagtail

Great egrets are starting to be seen in the North of England but cattle egrets are still a rarity, though I saw lots of them in the West Indies.  The white wagtail is also infrequent.

However the strangest thing we saw on stopping further down was three roe deer that had apparently decided to swim the whole length of the lagoon in very cold water.  We saw the last part of their journey, lasting several minutes with one pulling ahead to leave the other two straggling behind.

Roe Deer

Also sighted in this area and on the way back to the hotel were: little bustard, stonechat, linnet (lots of), black redstart and spanish sparrow.

In the evening I had a bit of reflection on the photography angle and decided to increase the focal length of the birdwatching auto facility on the camera.

Of course serious birdwatching photographers will tell you you really need to use manual settings...

Arles Holiday - 20th June

Arles is mainly known for its Roman history and architecure, but what attracted me there were the few van Gogh landmarks and the nature, under which label the main declared targets were bee eater, wallcreeper and white admiral and Bath white butterflies.

Principally with birdlife in mind I rented a bike from the hotel and made for the Marais Du Vigueirat via the cycle track along the navigation channel and Mas Thibert.  The waters of the former looked distinctly carpy and sure enough a couple of anglers were out using notably heavy float tackle that looked more appropriate for pike or catfish - or perhaps to deal with a strong current.

White Admiral

Shortly after stumbling by complete accident on Van Gogh's famous bridge, which in fact appears to be a reconstruction as the original was further upstream, a white admiral flew straight in front of the bike and settled to pose for a photo as a Bath white fluttered nearby. So that, to my surprise and delight, was the key butterfly targets sewn up within an hour or two!  In spite of the name, the Bath white is not present in the UK.

Further down the path something similar happened when a black kite lumbered over in one direction while a purple heron glided along in the other - both first sightings, although both were pretty much expected.  By this time I had already spotted an egret plodging in the paddy fields (rice is grown in the Camargue) that I thought was a little egret, which proved correct as I was soon in a position to compare the three egret varieties.

The experience at the reserve was mixed as, in spite of much research, local guidance and looking around, I did not see the bee eater.  However I did see:

• a beaver in close-up
• a fox running along the wooden path with a vole in uts mouth (twice)
• cleopatra butterfly
• a dragonfly clutching a white butterfly (didn't know they attacked butterflies!)
• an unidentified fritillary (not pearl-bordered)
• great white egrets and little egrets, allowing closer comparison
• cattle egrets, though they were showing more interest in the Camargue ponies than the bulls
• many carp swimming around on the surface of the lake (as below but there were far more than you can see)
• more herons including squacco heron
• marsh harriers
• turtle
• several lizards
• white stork
• magpies all over the place, more kites of both kinds, several wall butterflies, tree creeper, long-tailed tits.

I wondered if there was a reason why the cattle egrets preferred the horses to the bulls.

On the way back, I also noticed what I thought at first was a black bee, but was probably a flying beetle (leatherjacket). I reckon I saw in total eight new species today, the most in one day since I went to Minsmere in 2011.