One year of Malaga Birding Big Days (Costa del Sol, Andalucia, Southern Spain)
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It is one year ago that the brave “Andalucia Bird Sociaty (ABS) Malaga Team” (Barbara & Derek Etherton, Mick Smith and Luis Alberto Rodríguez –Birdaytrip-) got engaged in the challenge of spotting 100 birds in one single day.
Have a look at the best pictures and the complete list of birds observed during this year below!
The idea came from Derek, who had just taken over as editor of ABS’s Birds of Andalucia magazine and wanted to encourage a bit of healthy competition among members in different provinces by means of this kind of birding “big days”.
We carried out our first tour on March 8th for a very good record of 107 species. We did extremely well in a very good month for birdwatching just in the middle of the spring migration but, would it be possible to consistently get 100 birds every month of the year in this region? I kept doing this exercise once a month from then on, sometimes with the invaluable help of the ABS Malaga Team’s eyes, and you can see the results in Table 1 and have access to all the big day trip reports HERE.
100 or more birds were recorded every month with the only exception of December and January. The table compares the number of birds observed on every tour with the total number of regular species present every month in Malaga province according to the Collins Bird Guide (L. Svensson et al.), Las Aves de la Provincia de Málaga (Manuel Garrido Sánchez et al.) and my own experience as a birding guide in this area (Chart 1 splits the total number of birds present every month according to their status: (R)esident, (W)intering, (S)ummer and (M)igrant).
Table 2 shows the list of all the species observed during the 12 tours between March 2016 and February 2017: 199 different species! The only birds observed that I do not consider as birds of Malaga were a Marbled Duck (17/6/2016 – Fuente de Piedra Lake) and an Ortolan Bunting (28/9/2016 – El Torcal). The base of the list is 45 species that were spotted 11 or 12 times, including birds like Black-winged Stilt, Cattle Egret, Corn Bunting, Crag Martin, Crested Lark, Flamingo, Griffon Vulture, Hoopoe, Serin, Thekla Lark, White-headed Duck and Zitting Cisticola. Some of the common winter birds were Bluethroat, Crane, Mediterranean Gull and Water Pipit, while Bee-eater, Black-eared Wheatear, Melodious Warbler, Nightingale, Pallid Swift, Red-necked Nightjar, Scops Owl, Short-toed Eagle, Subalpine Warbler and Woodchat Shrike were listed at least in four occasions during the summer months, with Barn and Red-rumped Swallows and Booted Eagle amounting to 9 observations.
The tours have taken place within the triangle formed by the city of Malaga, the Fuente de Piedra Lake and Ardales. It includes Montes de Malaga, El Torcal and Desfiladero de Los Gaitanes (El Chorro) Nature Reserves, the farmlands around Campillos and the Valley and mouth of the Guadalhorce River. This is possibly the most biodiverse region in Southern Europe though nobody relates this natural heaven with a sun-and-beach world class tourist destination like the Costa del Sol. The poor results of December and January have had more to do with my lack of experience to run the tours in the shortest days of the year than with the own existence of birds as Chart 1 shows, so this region very well deserves to be known as “The Route of 100 Birds”.
You can also live these experiences with us !!!
Table 1. Number of birds observed per day | ||||||
Date | (1) | (2) | % | |||
March | 2016 | 08/03/2016 | 107 | 207 | 52 | |
April | 2016 | 22/04/2016 | 117 | 210 | 56 | |
May | 2016 | 18/05/2016 | 106 | 179 | 59 | |
June | 2016 | 17/06/2017 | 100 | 155 | 65 | |
July | 2016 | 20/07/2016 | 106 | 164 | 65 | |
August | 2016 | 17/08/2016 | 107 | 193 | 55 | |
September | 2016 | 28/09/2016 | 113 | 213 | 53 | |
October | 2016 | 14/10/2016 | 106 | 213 | 50 | |
November | 2016 | 16/11/2016 | 100 | 168 | 60 | |
December | 2016 | 21/12/2016 | 83 | 154 | 54 | |
January | 2017 | 18/01/2017 | 82 | 154 | 53 | |
February | 2017 | 27/02/2017 | 101 | 167 | 60 | |
(1) | Number of species observed in the day | |||||
(2) | Number of regular species present that month |
Table 2: List of birds observed between Mar 2016 - Feb 2017 |
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Species | Scientific name | #Ob | |
1 | Alpine Swift | Apus melba | 3 |
2 | Audouin's Gull | Larus audouinii | 3 |
3 | Avocet | Recurvirostra avosetta | 7 |
4 | Azure-winged Magpie | Cyanopica cooki | 3 |
5 | Balearic Shearwater | Puffinus mauretanicus | 2 |
6 | Barn Swallow | Hirundo rustica | 9 |
7 | Bar-tailed Godwit | Limosa lapponica | 1 |
8 | Bee-eater | Merops apiaster | 5 |
9 | Black Kite | Milvus migrans | 4 |
10 | Black Redstart | Phoenicurus ochruros | 12 |
11 | Black Tern | Chlidonias niger | 1 |
12 | Black Wheatear | Oenanthe leucura | 7 |
13 | Blackbird | Turdus merula | 12 |
14 | Blackcap | Sylvia atricapilla | 12 |
15 | Black-eared Wheatear | Oenanthe hispanica | 4 |
16 | Black-headed Gull | Chroicocephalus ridibundus | 12 |
17 | Black-necked Grebe | Podiceps nigricollis | 4 |
18 | Black-tailed Godwit | Limosa limosa | 3 |
19 | Black-winged Kite | Elanus caeruleus | 2 |
20 | Black-winged Stilt | Himantopus himantopus | 12 |
21 | Blue Rock Thrush | Monticola solitarius | 9 |
22 | Blue Tit | Cyanistes caeruleus | 11 |
23 | Bluethroat | Luscinia svecica | 5 |
24 | Bonelli’s Eagle | Aquila fasciata | 7 |
25 | Booted Eagle | Aquila pennata | 9 |
26 | Calandra Lark | Melanocorypha calandra | 3 |
27 | Cattle Egret | Bubulcus ibis | 11 |
28 | Cetti’s Warbler | Cettia cetti | 12 |
29 | Chaffinch | Fringilla coelebs | 12 |
30 | Chiffchaff | Phylloscopus collybita | 7 |
31 | Chough | Pyrrhocorax pyrrhocorax | 5 |
32 | Cirl Bunting | Emberiza cirlus | 9 |
33 | Coal Tit | Periparus ater | 9 |
34 | Collared Dove | Streptopelia decaocto | 12 |
35 | Collared Pratincole | Glareola pratincola | 1 |
36 | Common Buzzard | Buteo buteo | 9 |
37 | Common Crossbill | Loxia curvirostra | 11 |
38 | Common Sandpiper | Actitis hypoleucos | 9 |
39 | Common Waxbill | Estrilda astrild | 6 |
40 | Coot | Fulica atra | 12 |
41 | Cormorant | Phalacrocorax carbo | 7 |
42 | Corn Bunting | Emberiza calandra | 11 |
43 | Crag Martin | Ptyonoprogne rupestris | 12 |
44 | Crane | Grus grus | 5 |
45 | Crested Lark | Galerida cristata | 12 |
46 | Crested Tit | Lophophanes cristatus | 9 |
47 | Cuckoo | Cuculus canorus | 1 |
48 | Curlew Sandpiper | Calidris ferruginea | 4 |
49 | Dartford Warbler | Sylvia undata | 8 |
50 | Dunlin | Calidris alpina | 6 |
51 | Eagle Owl | Bubo bubo | 1 |
52 | Egyptian Vulture | Neophron percnopterus | 1 |
53 | Ferruginous Duck | Aythya nyroca | 2 |
54 | Firecrest | Regulus ignicapilla | 8 |
55 | Flamingo | Phoenicopterus roseus | 12 |
56 | Gadwall | Anas strepera | 10 |
57 | Gannet | Morus bassanus | 6 |
58 | Garden Warbler | Sylvia borin | 1 |
59 | Glossy Ibis | Plegadis falcinellus | 3 |
60 | Golden Eagle | Aquila chrysaetos | 3 |
61 | Golden Plover | Pluvialis apricaria | 2 |
62 | Goldfinch | Carduelis carduelis | 12 |
63 | Goshawk | Accipiter gentilis | 1 |
64 | Great Crested Grebe | Podiceps cristatus | 8 |
65 | Great Egret | Casmerodius albus | 3 |
66 | Great Reed Warbler | Acrocephalus arundinaceus | 3 |
67 | Great Skua | Stercorarius skua | 2 |
68 | Great Spotted Woodpecker | Dendrocopos major | 11 |
69 | Great Tit | Parus major | 12 |
70 | Green Sandpiper | Tringa ochropus | 8 |
71 | Green Woodpecker | Picus viridis | 12 |
72 | Greenfinch | Chloris chloris | 12 |
73 | Greenshank | Tringa nebularia | 8 |
74 | Grey Heron | Ardea cinerea | 10 |
75 | Grey Plover | Pluvialis squatarola | 4 |
76 | Grey Wagtail | Motacilla cinerea | 7 |
77 | Griffon Vulture | Gyps fulvus | 12 |
78 | Gull-billed Tern | Gelochelidon nilotica | 3 |
79 | Hawfinch | Coccothraustes coccothraustes | 4 |
80 | Hoopoe | Upupa epops | 12 |
81 | House Martin | Delichon urbicum | 8 |
82 | House Sparrow | Passer domesticus | 12 |
83 | Iberian Chiffchaff | Phylloscopus ibericus | 1 |
84 | Iberian Grey Shrike | Lanius meridionalis | 5 |
85 | Jackdaw | Corvus monedula | 9 |
86 | Jay | Garrulus glandarius | 8 |
87 | Kentish Plover | Charadrius alexandrinus | 8 |
88 | Kestrel | Falco tinnunculus | 11 |
89 | Kingfisher | Alcedo atthis | 4 |
90 | Lapwing | Vanellus vanellus | 6 |
91 | Lesser Black-backed Gull | Larus fuscus | 9 |
92 | Lesser Flamingo | Phoenicopterus minor | 1 |
93 | Lesser Kestrel | Falco naumanni | 3 |
94 | Linnet | Carduelis cannabina | 10 |
95 | Little Bittern | Ixobrychus minutus | 2 |
96 | Little Bustard | Tetrax tetrax | 3 |
97 | Little Egret | Egretta garzetta | 12 |
98 | Little Grebe | Tachybaptus ruficollis | 12 |
99 | Little Owl | Athene noctua | 4 |
100 | Little Ringed Plover | Charadrius dubius | 9 |
101 | Little Stint | Calidris minuta | 2 |
102 | Long-eared Owl | Asio otus | 1 |
103 | Long-tailed Tit | Aegithalos caudatus | 8 |
104 | Mallard | Anas platyrhynchos | 12 |
105 | Marbled Duck | Marmaronetta angustirostris | 1 |
106 | Marsh Harrier | Circus aeruginosus | 7 |
107 | Meadow Pipit | Anthus pratensis | 6 |
108 | Mediterranean Gull | Larus melanocephalus | 5 |
109 | Melodious Warbler | Hippolais polyglotta | 4 |
110 | Merlin | Falco columbarius | 1 |
111 | Mistle Thrush | Turdus viscivorus | 9 |
112 | Monk Parakeet | Myiopsitta monachus | 11 |
113 | Montagu's Harrier | Circus pygargus | 3 |
114 | Moorhen | Gallinula chloropus | 12 |
115 | Night Heron | Nycticorax nycticorax | 2 |
116 | Nightingale | Luscinia megarhynchos | 5 |
117 | Nuthatch | Sitta europaea | 11 |
118 | Ortolan Bunting | Emberiza hortulana | 1 |
119 | Osprey | Pandion haliaetus | 2 |
120 | Oystercatcher | Haematopus ostralegus | 1 |
121 | Pallid Swift | Apus pallidus | 5 |
122 | Penduline Tit | Remiz pendulinus | 1 |
123 | Peregrine Falcon | Falco peregrinus | 7 |
124 | Pied Flycatcher | Ficedula hypoleuca | 2 |
125 | Pintail | Anas acuta | 1 |
126 | Pochard | Aythya ferina | 12 |
127 | Purple Swamphen | Porphyrio porphyrio | 2 |
128 | Quail | Coturnix coturnix | 2 |
129 | Raven | Corvus corax | 10 |
130 | Red-crested Pochard | Netta rufina | 5 |
131 | Red-legged Partridge | Alectoris rufa | 10 |
132 | Red-necked Nightjar | Caprimulgus ruficollis | 4 |
133 | Red-rumped Swallow | Cecropis daurica | 9 |
134 | Redshank | Tringa totanus | 8 |
135 | Redstart | Phoenicurus phoenicurus | 3 |
136 | Reed Warbler | Acrocephalus scirpaceus | 5 |
137 | Ringed Plover | Charadrius hiaticula | 8 |
138 | Robin | Erithacus rubecula | 12 |
139 | Rock Bunting | Emberiza cia | 8 |
140 | Rock Dove | Columba livia | 3 |
141 | Rock Sparrow | Petronia petronia | 4 |
142 | Rock Thrush | Monticola saxatilis | 1 |
143 | Roller | Coracias garrulus | 1 |
144 | Ruff | Philomachus pugnax | 6 |
145 | Rufuous Bush Robin | Cercotrichas galactotes | 1 |
146 | Sand Martin | Riparia riparia | 2 |
147 | Sanderling | Calidris alba | 6 |
148 | Sandwich Tern | Sterna sandvicensis | 5 |
149 | Sardinian Warbler | Sylvia melanocephala | 12 |
150 | Scopoli's Shearwater | Calonectris diomedea diomedea | 3 |
151 | Scops Owl | Otus scops | 4 |
152 | Serin | Serinus serinus | 11 |
153 | Shelduck | Tadorna tadorna | 11 |
154 | Short-toed Eagle | Circaetus gallicus | 5 |
155 | Short-toed Lark | Calandrella brachydactyla | 2 |
156 | Short-toed Treecreeper | Certhia brachydactyla | 12 |
157 | Shoveler | Anas clypeata | 11 |
158 | Siskin | Carduelis spinus | 3 |
159 | Slender-billed Gull | Chroicocephalus genei | 2 |
160 | Snipe | Gallinago gallinago | 7 |
161 | Song Thrush | Turdus philomelos | 2 |
162 | Spanish Sparrow | Passer hispaniolensis | 3 |
163 | Sparrowhawk | Accipiter nisus | 7 |
164 | Spectacled Warbler | Sylvia conspicillata | 4 |
165 | Spoonbill | Platalea leucorodia | 4 |
166 | Spotless Starling | Sturnus unicolor | 12 |
167 | Spotted Flycatcher | Muscicapa striata | 4 |
168 | Starling | Sturnus vulgaris | 1 |
169 | Stone Curlew | Burhinus oedicnemus | 6 |
170 | Stonechat | Saxicola torquatus | 12 |
171 | Subalpine Warbler | Sylvia cantillans | 5 |
172 | Swift | Apus apus | 6 |
173 | Tawny Owl | Strix aluco | 6 |
174 | Tawny Pipit | Anthus campestris | 1 |
175 | Teal | Anas crecca | 8 |
176 | Thekla Lark | Galerida theklae | 11 |
177 | Turnstone | Arenaria interpres | 4 |
178 | Turtle Dove | Streptopelia turtur | 5 |
179 | Water Pipit | Anthus spinoletta | 4 |
180 | Western Bonelli’s Warbler | Phylloscopus bonelli | 3 |
181 | Western Olivaceous Warbler | Iduna opaca | 2 |
182 | Western Orphean Warbler | Sylvia hortensis | 3 |
183 | Wheatear | Oenanthe oenanthe | 3 |
184 | Whimbrel | Numenius phaeopus | 1 |
185 | Whinchat | Saxicola rubetra | 1 |
186 | Whiskered Tern | Chlidonias hybrida | 2 |
187 | White Stork | Ciconia ciconia | 2 |
188 | White Wagtail | Motacilla alba | 10 |
189 | White-headed Duck | Oxyura leucocephala | 11 |
190 | Whitethroat | Sylvia communis | 1 |
191 | Wood Pigeon | Columba palumbus | 12 |
192 | Wood Sandpiper | Tringa glareola | 2 |
193 | Woodchat Shrike | Lanius senator | 5 |
194 | Woodlark | Lullula arborea | 1 |
195 | Wren | Troglodytes troglodytes | 10 |
196 | Wryneck | Jynx torquilla | 1 |
197 | Yellow Wagtail | Motacilla flava | 8 |
198 | Yellow-legged Gull | Larus michahelis | 12 |
199 | Zitting Cisticola | Cisticola juncidis | 11 |
Image Gallery
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22/4/2016 Greater Flamingo (Phoenicopterus roseus) 22/4/2016 Greater Flamingo (Phoenicopterus roseus)
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18/5/2016 Spectacled Warbler (Sylvia conspicillata) 18/5/2016 Spectacled Warbler (Sylvia conspicillata)
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18/5/2016 Black-winged Stilt (Himantopus himantopus) 18/5/2016 Black-winged Stilt (Himantopus himantopus)
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18/5/2016 Short-toed Lark (Calandrella brachydactyla) 18/5/2016 Short-toed Lark (Calandrella brachydactyla)
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18/5/2016 Bonelli's Eagle (Aquila fasciata) 18/5/2016 Bonelli's Eagle (Aquila fasciata)
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18/5/2016 Night Heron (Nycticorax nycticorax) 18/5/2016 Night Heron (Nycticorax nycticorax)
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17/6/2016 Melodious Warbler (Hippolais polyglotta) 17/6/2016 Melodious Warbler (Hippolais polyglotta)
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17/6/2016 Rock Bunting (Emberiza cia) 17/6/2016 Rock Bunting (Emberiza cia)
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17/6/2016 Thekla Lark (Galerida theklae)17/6/2016 17/6/2016 Thekla Lark (Galerida theklae)17/6/2016
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17/6/2016 Black-eared Wheatear (Oenenthe hispanica) 17/6/2016 Black-eared Wheatear (Oenenthe hispanica)
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17/6/2016 Black Wheatear (Oenanthe leucura) 17/6/2016 Black Wheatear (Oenanthe leucura)
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17/6/2016 Spoonbills (Platalea leucorodia) 17/6/2016 Spoonbills (Platalea leucorodia)
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28/9/2016 Audouin's Gull (Larus audouinii) 28/9/2016 Audouin's Gull (Larus audouinii)
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14/10/2016 Great Egret (Casmerodius albus) 14/10/2016 Great Egret (Casmerodius albus)
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16/11/2016 Black-necked Grebes (Podiceps nigricollis)16/11 16/11/2016 Black-necked Grebes (Podiceps nigricollis)16/11
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16/11/2016 Kingfisher (Alcedo atthis) 16/11/2016 Kingfisher (Alcedo atthis)
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21/12/2016 Kentish Plovers (Charadrius alexandrinus) 21/12/2016 Kentish Plovers (Charadrius alexandrinus)
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21/12/2016 Hoopoe (Upupa epops) 21/12/2016 Hoopoe (Upupa epops)
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21/12/2016 Dartford Warbler (Sylvia undata) 21/12/2016 Dartford Warbler (Sylvia undata)
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21/12/2016 Little Owl (Athene noctua) 21/12/2016 Little Owl (Athene noctua)
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27/2/2017 Serin (Serinus serinus) 27/2/2017 Serin (Serinus serinus)
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8/3/2016 ABS Malaga Team 8/3/2016 ABS Malaga Team
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