Look Up and Watch the Birds in Action - Part III
Booted Eagle
Regarded as a summer visitor and can be seen from February though to November with small but increasing numbers staying on in southern Spain during winter months. The smallest of the European Eagle and is roughly the size of a Common Buzzard. The more common form has a dirty white breast, belly and forewing with dark flight feathers showing also a dark trailing edge. Views to the front show clear white spots at the joint of wing and body, known as “landing-lights”. Dark forms of this bird can be confused with Black Kite.
Short-toed Eagle
Like the Booted Eagle this larger eagle is also still regarded as a summer visitor and can be seen from February though to November with small but increasing numbers staying on in southern Spain during winter months. Specialist reptile hunter with long wings and very light slightly barred underside. These lovely eagles have darker barring on the body with an owl-like head that is usually a darker brown colour showing a barred tail. In flight always appears a lot lighter in colour that other large birds and often hovers or hangs into the wind with legs held down.
White Stork
Like quite a few species this larger stork is also still regarded as a summer visitor and can be seen from February though to November with thousands of birds staying on in southern Spain during winter months. The same phenomenon is happening with the rarer Black Storks. Quite distinctive in flight with long projecting neck and legs. Adults have bright red bills and red legs. Like the Griffon Vulture it has a wingspan of roughly two meters and can be seen in the hundreds in huge spiraling “kettles” during autumn passage.
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Note
If you’d like to go that step further and buy a good field guide to cover all the birds with clear distribution maps and concise descriptions of birds, and also bird books that you can take with you out walking would be one of the following books:
The Guide to the Birds of Britain and Europe: by Lars Svensson, Peter J. Grant, Killian Mullarney, and Dan Zetterstrom. (Collins Guides)
Birds of Europe: With North Africa and the Middle East by Lars Jonsson (Helm Field Guides)

Look Up and Watch the Birds in Action – Part II
Where do each species go to during the winter months and how do they navigate require complex answers to a fascinating subject such as bird migration and has prompted intense speculation through the ages. The ancient Greeks proposed several theories for this seasonal change, including the transformation from one species to another. In Western Europe, for many centuries it was widely believed that swallows and martins hibernated in the muddy bottoms of ponds and ditches! Nowadays there has been intense research done throughout the world into bird migration and bird behaviour which has only increased our respect for their migratory powers including the whole spectrum of navigational aids, from sun and stars to an awareness of the Earth’s magnetic field.
Rather than go through an extensive breakdown of all the raptors one may see, I will concentrate on the more common ones that pass through this area during the southern passage and give useful identification points. Remember that this is a time for a lot of juvenile birds migrating for the first time and their plumage pattern and colour can differ to that of adult birds. Juvenile birds may be not as shy as their parents, and good, close views are possible around this time.

Identification
Here are six of the commoner migrating or resident birds that you may see in the skies in Cadiz Province with Information and very basic Identification Tips
Black Kite
Summer visitor. Can be seen from March to October in Cadiz. Resembles Red Kite but easily distinguished with much less forked tail than Red Kite and has much darker brown underwing. Can often have paler head. Seen regularly on passage in large numbers. During prolonged Levante (easterlies) can be seen in large numbers sitting in fields or in the air soaring on large thermals in the countryside around Tarifa and Bolonia, awaiting a change in the wind direction.

Griffon Vulture
Colonial and partial migrant. Can be seen the whole year in Cadiz. Huge bird with good numbers in Andalucia showing long, broad wings that are two-tone brown in colour and short dark squared-off tail. Has small head and look sunken into ruff. Scavenger and can be seen in the hundreds feeding at the site of a dead animal. Nearest organized feeding point is at Torre de La Peña, near Tarifa.

Egyptian Vulture
Summer visitor. Can be seen from March to October in Cadiz. Much smaller than Griffon. Adults very distinct flight silhouette with long straight edged but pointed black and white wings and wedge-shaped tail. Adults have bare yellow skin on head and throat. Can be confused with White Stork in distant flight, so checking the tail shape is important. Also a scavenger but takes road kill during breeding season. Often solitary but during migration three’s and four’s can be seen.

Look Up and Watch the Birds in Action - Part I

The annual bird migration in southern Andalucia is quite a spectacular sight during the months of September and October, where the skies often seem full with soaring and gliding birds.
The natural phenomenon of bird migration in Europe and Asia Minor, are concentrated on four main streams where migrant populations from vast areas in the north pass southwards each autumn.
One of the main crossing points is on The Strait of Gibraltar where migrants converge to travel south to Africa, thus avoiding the colder winters in Europe together with better food sourcing opportunities in the warmer African countries.
Quite often, birds will have to wait in this area until more favourable weather comes along to assist their passage and one can regularly watch the spiralling White Storks, Black Kites and other raptors lifting ever higher on warm thermals. Larger birds are more dependent on rising air currents to assist long journeys than the smaller bird groups, like falcons for example.
Raptors in particular take traditional routes that make the best possible use of the local topography, especially where there are short water-crossings available.
The curious amongst us may well wish to know what kind of larger birds one might see in the skies and hopefully this short article may assist those to identify Eagles, Vultures, Kites, Buzzards and other raptors.
The commoner birds to see in the southern skies would be White Storks with smaller groups of the rare Black Storks.
Throughout August into September the Black Kite passes along the Costa de la Luz in the tens of thousands. These are usually the first raptor heading south in large numbers are one of the first back to Europe.
September sees thousands of Short-toed Eagles and the smaller Booted Eagle passing, often seen hunting as they go. Montagu’s Harriers can also be seen hunting low across fields and verges looking for crickets, grasshoppers and small mammals.
Marsh Harriers and the more northern nesting Hen Harriers also pass through slightly later in the month as do lots of Lesser Kestrels that traditionally nest in town and villages throughout Central and southern parts of the Iberian peninsula.
Vultures such as the resident Griffon Vulture are considered partial migrant and some often head south or north to countries like Holland. Egyptian Vultures are summer visitors and do migrate south in September and October.

Black Stork spotted in Soria!

Today we passed the little lake "La Serna", near the village Hinojosa de la Sierra. In springtime (if the lake is filled with water…) you can spot big quantities of White Storks (Ciconia ciconia) here, feeding on frogs etc. During the years I live in Soria (since 2004) I never have seen the lake as big as this year; a result of abundance rainfall this winter. As expected there were a lot of White Storks but to my surprise I also saw a pair of Black Storks! (Ciconia nigra).
My first encounter with this for Soria rare bird! The juvenile couple still had dark green beaks and light-coloured legs.

Our "Críalos" or Great Spotted Cuckoos have already arrived from Africa. We saw two on our land yesterday, calling loudly as is their custom each spring. The magpies go crazy and chase them all the time (because they parasitize their nests).