On 27 May we boarded a Twin Otter at Seychelles International Airport’s domestic terminal for the scheduled flight to Bird Island. There was little wind – the south-east trade winds have not yet really set in – and the blue sky had a few light clouds drifting slowly across. In his pre-amble the captain said … More A stormy welcome to Bird Island
My arrival at Fuente de Piedra on 3 May was greeted by a group of black-looking birds feeding close together at the edge of the shallow pool on the left side of the entrance road. During frequent visits to this Natural Park from 2003 onwards, I had never seen a Glossy Ibis until April 2016, … More Down-turned bills on the up
The evening sky over Antequera, and over most towns and villages in Andalucía, is now crowded with fast, aerobatic and noisy entertainers with distinctive scimitar-shaped wings – this design is almost unique to this family of birds. Swifts, recently returned from their wintering areas in sub-Saharan Africa, begin arriving here in April and numbers continue … More Chasers and screamers – summer is here
Little rain had fallen since our last visit to the lagoons at Fuente de Piedra in March and by early May evaporation of some of the huge amount of water that had fallen during the previous November’s storms had led to a fall in water levels. This left some of the lagoons shallow with damp … More Waders on the move
On Sunday 17 March, another gloriously sunny and warm day, we decided to revisit one of our favourite haunts for lunch – Venta las Delicias in Villanueva del Rosario, in the foothills of the Sierra del Jobo mountain range just off the Malaga-Granada road. We arrived there in time to occupy a table in the … More Return to Venta las Delicias
On our March visit to Andalucía we learned that November 2018 had produced torrential rain in parts of southern Spain and the lagoons, where we and other bird and broader wildlife enthusiasts enjoy the natural world, proved to be at their highest water levels for years. Other signs of the deluge were apparent in the … More Water and waterbirds return to Andalusian lagoons, with some crakey additions
Wild Bird Conservation 