Andalucian Predators

Julia and I have just returned from an amazing week of photography in Southern Spain, spending five days in hides operated by Andalucia BirdLand. Agustin (founder and CEO of Andalucia BirdLand) has established several hides around Adamuz concentrating on Avian and Mammalian Predators. Obviously, our target for the week was the Iberian Lynx, but rather than choosing one of dedicated Iberian Lynx photography sites, we wanted to photograph more than just Lynx, and Agustin was able to deliver this.

Day One - Nocturnal Mammals

We flew from Manchester to Malaga with Easijet. A punctual and uneventful flight; after collecting our luggage we made our to collect the hire car and by 14:30 we were making our way north towards Cordoba and then onto Adamuz in the Sierra Morena, arriving shortly after 17:30. We were met by Agustin who showed us to our accommodation, a comfortable double room with ensuite at the Hostel San Andrés. We were also pleasantly surprised that our photography was start that very evening!

Agustin collected us at 19:00 and made the short journey to the a series of mobile hides at a mammal feeding station. Whilst we settled into the hide, set up the tripods and cameras, Agustin placed food around the feeding station and set up the LED lights. Before leaving us for the next three hours, Agustin gave us our picnic tea. Julia and I had our picnic and then waited. Red Deer kept us company, but we didn't have to wait long before our first visit from a Common Gennet. For the next couple of hours two, if not three, Gennets visited and at one point a Beech Marten put in an appearance! A great start and a taste of what was to come.

Beech Marten and Common Gennet

Day Two - Little Owl, Buzzard and quest for Iberian Lynx

Agustin's two assistants, Pablo and Alejandro, met us at 08:45 and we set off to our first hide of the day. It was long after we'd settled into the hide that our first subject turned up; a Little Owl. Iberian Magpies also put in appearances (in fact they were to be a constant feature during the week) and a Hoope fed on the ground.

View from the Little Owl Hide

Little Owl

Hoopoe

After a couple of hours in the Little Owl hide we moved on to the Buzzard Hide. Again we didn't have long to wait until the Buzzards arrived, and spent quite some time feeding.

View from the Buzzard Hide

Incoming Buzzards

After a very fruitful morning, we returned to Adamuz for lunch and rest before setting off for the Lynx Hide. This hide was a short walk from the road, and like many of the hides was of a stone construction with large "spy-glass" windows. These allow for uninterrupted viewing, whilst not letting the birds or mammals see into the hide. The Lynx hide is so called as it offers the best chance to see Lynx as they walk along the track by the hide, or come to drink. A large raised drinking pool provided excellent reflection opportunities and also a chance to photograph birds at eye-level. We spent around four hours in the hide and photographed Iberian Magpie, Great Tit, Chaffinch, Hawfinch, House and Spanish Sparrows, Spotless Starling and Garden Warbler. Even though we stayed in the hide until dusk, we didn't see any Iberian Lynx.

Blackcap, Hawfinch, Spannish Sparrow (note the larger bill, chestnut crown and much bolder black streaking down the breast), House Sparrow, Iberian Magpie and Spotless Starling.

Day Three - Dehesa Drinking Pool, Golden Eagle and Eagle Owl Hides

We were again met by Pablo and Alejandro in the morning, and taken to the Dehesa Drinking pool for the morning. This hide, similar to Lynx Hide, overlooks a drinking pool, but situated in more open farmland, attracts a slightly different range of birds. The previous day we been pleased to see two or three Hawfinch, this pool and seed at today's hide attracted over 40! Other birds seen included Rock Sparrow, Cirl Bunting and Crossbill. A Short-toed Treecreeper was also seen on the adjacent trees, and Iberian Green Woodpecker was also seen.

Hawfinch, including one with a deformed bill and also several white feathers on it's neck.

Crossbill and Rock Sparrow

After lunch in Adamuz and a short rest (needed to download images and do a little processing), Alejandro took us up to the Golden Eagle Hide. The area in front of the hide was baited with meat pieces and also a rabbit corpse. Alejandro had hardly reached his car before the first Golden Eagle flew in, soon followed by it's mate!! We spent almost an hour photographing and watching these magnificent birds of prey.

Golden Eagles

In the evening Agustine took to an area that had been favoured by an Eagle Owl, leaving the area baited and with the LED lights coming on at dusk he left us for in the hide for a few hours as we waited for the owl to show. Unfortunately we were not as lucky as earlier in the day, but we did have a surprise visit from a Gennet, and heard several Tawny Owl calling.

Gennet

Day Four - Lynx Hide revisited and Bonelli's Eagle Hide

We started our day with a second attempt for Iberian Lynx, arriving shortly after dawn. The drinking pool was soon busy with small birds coming down for food and drink, a similar range of species to those seen on the previous visit were present, although there appeared to be an increase in Blackcap numbers and a single Subalpine Warbler was seen, but eluded the cameras. Other warblers included Garden Warbler, Iberian Chiffchaff and Common Chiffchaff. An appearance on the drinking pool by a young male Iberian Green Woodpecker was only surpassed by a female anting in front of the hide.

Iberian Green Woodpecker; Garden Warbler; Spanish Sparrow; Iberian Magpie and Spotless Starling.

After lunch and a rest we headed to a hide situated in the territory of a pair of Bonelli's Eagles. On the approach to the hide we saw a single Iberian Grey Shrike, and several Griffon Vulture who shared the nesting cliffs with the Bonelli's Eagles. Once set in the hide, we settled down to wait for the eagles. The open (rather dry) grassland in front of the hide supported quite a few distant larks and a single Black Redstart. As dusk approached, and no sign of the eagles, we could hear an Eagle Owl calling and hoped that it may come down to the food put out for the eagles. Unfortunately it was not to be, so we ended the day without seeing any of the target species, but we'd still had a good day with some excellent photo-opportunities.

Day Five - Bonelli's Eagle and Dehesa Drinking Pool

Unperturbed by yesterday's experience, we set off early for the Bonelli's Eagle Hide. The grassland seemed to be full of larks, buntings and Black Redstarts. Views of the larks allowed to see that they were Crested Larks and a Cirl Bunting fed in front of the hide.

View from the Bonelli's Eagle Hide

It didn't take long before the Iberian Magpies found the food left out for the eagles, and also see put down to encourage smaller birds to feed close the hide. As the sun was still low, we were soon photographing the Crested Larks, Iberian Magpies and Black Redstarts. A pair of Blue Rock Thrush were just out of photographic range.

Black Redstart and Crested Lark

It wasn't until shortly after 11:00 that the first Bonelli's Eagle appeared, a male, which it appeared very wary and settled on one of the nearby trees, flying down to the feeding perches, but flying back to the trees straight away. Not long later the female appeared and she went straight to the food and proceeded to feed. We were able to watch her for almost 30 minutes before she had had her fill and both birds flew off to the cliffs.

Bonelli's Eagle

Rather than heading back to Adamuz for lunch, we went straight to the Dehasa Drinking Pool hide, where we had a packed lunch. The pool again attracted plenty of small birds and an Iberian Green Woodpecker was also present. Suddenly all the small birds vanished. As we had seen a Red Kite earlier, we assumed that had caused the panic, but no the reason was soon apparent as Goshawk flew into feed on meat scraps. The bird spent around 20 minutes feeding before flying down to the drinking pool to drink, and then perched in front of us. Obviously this delayed our departure, but we were not disappointed, the views were amazing!

Goshawk

Day Six - Spanish Imperial Hide

Had we saved the best to the end? Our final hide session was in the Spanish Imperial Eagle Hide. This was a novel hide, basically a timber clad caravan with two large one-way glass windows. This hide produced more than birds.

Vista from the Caravan Hide

Red Deer were rutting not far away and we saw a few hinds and fawns from the hide. A family party of Wild Boar walked up a track away from the hide and we had the first of several visits by a Red Fox. Woodlark and Crossbill were singing from the woodland and Black Redstarts fed in front of us. It wasn't long though before a large Eagle swooped in and perched up in the trees; it was then joined by a second. Soon we were watching two Golden Eagles swooping down and taking pieces of meat. This continued for the best part of two hours!

Golden Eagle

The Golden Eagles weren't the only raptors, we also saw a flyover Red Kite and Goshawk, but a groups of soaring Griffon Vultures attracted the attention of a single Imperial Spanish Eagle. The latter drifted off without coming into camera range, however the Griffon Vultures came down to feed, much to the annoyance of the Red Fox, that was now coming into "steal" the meat and was taking it off to cache it.

Griffon Vulture

Red Fox

And so our time with Andalucia WildBird had come to an end, we'd spent most of the week in the hides with some fantastic photographic opportunities, but we still had a day before our flight back to Manchester. We decided that our last day would be spent in nearby Cordoba, a cultural break but with quite a few birding opportunites!

Day Seven - Cordoba

We made an early start to avoid any possible traffic heading into Cordoba, but we needn't have worried. We managed to find a free car park near Parque de Miraflores. As soon as we left the car we saw a small party of Cattle Egrets fly over and as we entered the park we could hear Cetti's Warblers initially, but then the raucous calls of Monk Parakeet soon grabbed our attention. A non-native species, never-the-less they add a splash of colour. We walked down to the footpath along the River Guadalquivir and headed towards the Roman Bridge and the centre of Cordoba. Along the riverside we came across more Cetti's Warblers, Blackcaps, Chiffchaffs, Black Redstarts and another non-native species Common Waxbill.

Common Waxbill and Monk Parakeets

Approaching the Roman Bridge, the banks of the river are heavily vegetated, but at the bridge the water flows over a weir and creates shallow areas of water with several small islands. Whilst Mallard were dominating most of the area, we also saw Little Egret, Grey Heron, Night Heron, Glossy Ibis and Kingfisher, not bad for urban birding from bridge crowded with tourists! Smaller birds included Serin and Wryneck.

The Roman Bridge and Cathedral

The River below the Roman Bridge

Little Egret; Grey Heron and Night Heron

We'd had a great week away, even though we failed to see Iberian Lynx - well there is always next time!!

Pop over to my flickr site for even more images: https://www.flickr.com/photos/147077268@N05/collections/72157724342173615/