Our first morning at the apartment was on 31st March. The tide was dropping and the sand bar appeared immediately opposite the balcony. During the morning 5 Audouin’s Gull, 2 Mediterranean Gulls , 7 Sandwich Terns and 58 Yellow- legged Gulls were seen. Early afternoon there was a commotion as an Osprey flew overhead. Nearby we could hear 2 Nightingales!
1st April – a Kentish Plover was on the Sandbar and a Common Sandpiper. Two Audouin’s Gulls flew out of the estuary whilst offshore 7 Balearic Shearwaters flew past with 5 Gannets. 2 House Martins and a Swallow overhead.
April 2nd – a morning on the balcony. Another Osprey, 3 Marsh Harriers, 4 Booted Eagles and a Short-toed Treecreeper.
3rd April – We watched from the Balcony this morning and then we took a walk along the river from the Apartment late afternoon. Heavy rain overnight and early morning brought in plenty of birds. Highlights were 9 Slender-billed Gulls, 6 Gull-billed Terns, 7 Audouin’s Gull, 90 Greater Flamingo, 2 Whimbrel, 2 Greenshank, 16 Black-winged Stilt and 27 Little Egret! In the evening 2 Reed Warblers were found and a Chiffchaff and 4 Nightingale.
On Friday morning the 4th April, we had two guests visit us – Andres the local eBird reviewer for Cádiz province and Simon, a very keen Dutch birder. We had a very good morning as we managed to see 51 Puffins, 23 Razorbils, a Gull-billed Tern, an Audouin’s Gull, 27 Balearic Shearwaters, 42 Gannets, 2 Arctic Skuas, 3 Whimbrel, 37 Sandwich Terns and a Western Marsh Harrier.
Sunday 6th April – a major arrival of Woodchat Shrikes overnight and 1 was seen on the bushes below the balcony. Also many Bee-Eaters arriving!
In the afternoon we drove up to Casares (25 mins from the apartment) and watched from the Castle with Andres. We spent 4 hours watching and recorded 2 Blue Rock Thrush, Alpine Swift, 52 Pallid Swift, 5 White Stork, Osprey, 47 Griffon Vultures, 2 Short-toed Eagles and 10 Booted Eagles, 11 Sparrowhawks, 12 Marsh Harriers, 2 Montagu’s Harriers, 48 Black Kites, a Buzzard, Eagle Owl, 10 Bee-Eater, 6 Lesser Kestrel, 1 Hobby, 2 Red-billed Chough, 2 Raven, 16 Crag Martin, 1 Black Wheatear, 14 Rock Sparrows and a Cirl Bunting!
Our last full day was Monday 7th April. We searched the Tamarisks on the beach opposite the apartment and found a few migrant birds – 4 Woodchats, 3 Willow Warblers, a Western Bonelli’s Warbler, a Western Subalpine Warbler and 5 Reed Warblers. Four Whimbrel flew past and landed on the sandspit, whilst 2 Slender -billed Gulls and 88 Greater Flamingos flew past. Also on the estuary were 2 Little Ringed Plovers.
We decided to walk the scrubland south of the Bunker Beach club. Here we found 2 Hoopoes, 180 Pallid Swifts, 9 Woodchats, a Booted Eagle and an Iberian Wagtail. We ended our day with a quick look at San Enrique Woods where we were surprised to find 4 Hawfinches! And then at the Port we spent 20 mins at Las Camelias Pool at dusk. Here we saw 4 Little Bitterns and 3 Black-crowned Night Herons.
