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ZEISS DTI thermal imaging cameras. For more discoveries at night, and during the day.

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  1. John Cantelo

    Birding Cadiz (& nearby)

    What's happened to Spectacled Warbler? A few years ago I managed to find Spectacled Warbler in low scrub along the Guadalquivir between Bonanza and Trebujena without too much trouble but, in recent years, I have struggled to do so finding them only at in Cadiz Bay at the Marismas de Cetina...
  2. John Cantelo

    Birding Cadiz (& nearby)

    The new reserve at Trebujena continues to take shape with a new car park being constructed to serve the reserve. The noticeboard here tells me (in a Google translation) that - "The Esparraguera marshes, in Trebujena, were transformed in the middle of the last century by means of a drainage...
  3. John Cantelo

    Birding Cadiz (& nearby)

    My home computer having been on a 'go slow' for some months finally gave up the ghost last month so I've not been able to post my final updates on BF until now. I've never made a great effort to boost my Spanish list but when temptation presents itself I'm not entirely averse to a little dirty...
  4. John Cantelo

    Birding Cadiz (& nearby)

    Good news - Ruppell's Vulture is now on the list for my terrace Bad news - it came low over the terrace when I was in the UK and was seen by two (former ;)) good friends who were staying there.
  5. John Cantelo

    Birding Cadiz (& nearby)

    Back in January this year I posted a map of an exciting new development (Post 73) along the Guadalquivir between Bonanza and Trebujena which is due to be completed this year. It's so big that the consequent earthworks can clearly be seen on GoogleEarth. As my photos below indicate, it's still...
  6. John Cantelo

    Birding Cadiz (& nearby)

    There's no avoiding the fact that the Strait of Gibraltar is and will remain the ornithological centre of gravity for birders visiting Cadiz Province. Similarly, it would be quixotic to visit the area for the first time and not go during the spring or autumn migration period when thousands of...
  7. John Cantelo

    Birding Cadiz (& nearby)

    Here's the photo of Black Storks photo-bombing a Black Vulture ...
  8. John Cantelo

    Birding Cadiz (& nearby)

    Although it was still a little early in the year to expect much in the way of variety or numbers in migrating raptors, I was very pleased with what I saw watching from my terrace (despite being in a small town - Alcala de los Gazules - it has a 180-degree view over open country - see #70). When...
  9. John Cantelo

    Birding Cadiz (& nearby)

    Great-spotted Cuckoo is not a species I often see in my neck of the woods in Cadiz Province since I tend not to be there when they peak on migration (although an increasing population of Magpie seems to have increased the numbers lingering in the area). Accordingly, I jumped at the chance to...
  10. John Cantelo

    Birding Cadiz (& nearby)

    I did, however, briefly visit three small lagunas - Lagunas Juncosa & de los Tercios (Lagunas de El Puerto de Santa Maria) and Laguna Jeli (Lagunas de Chiclana) and spent a couple of hours walking around a fourth, the urban Laguna de Torrox (Jerez). The first had water but was entirely...
  11. John Cantelo

    Birding Cadiz (& nearby)

    As expected, the water levels in the lagunas I visited in February were unseasonally low. Laguna de Medina is traditionally the laguna least likely to suffer from the consequences of a lack of rainfall. As my photos here show there was a wide margin of dried mud and, more worrying, advancing...
  12. John Cantelo

    Birding Cadiz (& nearby)

    Note that the 'Red-knobbed Coot' I mentioned seeing at Costa Ballena (#50) last year has now been re-identified as a Red-knobbed x Common Coot hybrid which explains its rather poorly developed knobs! Although puzzled at the time by their lack of development, I confess that I assumed it was a...
  13. John Cantelo

    Birding Cadiz (& nearby)

    Back yesterday from several weeks birding in Cadiz Province (and beyond). Understandably, most visitors go later in spring or in autumn for the raptor passage but restricting yourself to those periods means missing out on some fabulous birding. There are few sights and sounds more rewarding...
  14. John Cantelo

    Birding Cadiz (& nearby)

    When in the UK it's great, albeit with a tinge of frustration that I'm not there, to be able to watch live video of Lesser Kestrels - my favourite raptor - in Andalucia online. Of course, I'd rather it came from Alcala de los Gazules but Los Barrios is only 40 km down the A381...
  15. John Cantelo

    Birding Cadiz (& nearby)

    Extraordinary news that the bunting bonanza on La Janda now includes 17 Little and 4 Rustic Buntings feeding on stubble. I confess that if I saw them without being pre-warned, I'd assume I was hallucinating or couldn't ID Reed Buntings anymore! I hope they hang around until I get back out there!
  16. John Cantelo

    Birding Cadiz (& nearby)

    Happily, the plans for a large urbanisation, hotel and golf course on the marshes near Trebujena have finally been terminally scuppered by opposition from the Confederación Hidrográfica del Guadalquivir (CHG - Guadalquivir Hydrographic Confederation) and staunch opposition from the current mayor...
  17. John Cantelo

    Birding Cadiz (& nearby)

    I've now seen 23 raptor species - Osprey, Red & Black Kites, Egyptian, Griffon & Black Vultures, Spanish Imperial, Golden, Bonelli's, Booted & Short-toed Eagles, Honey & Common Buzzard, Marsh, Hen & Montagu's Harriers, Goshawk, Sparrowhawk, Common & Lesser Kestrels, Merlin, Hobby and Peregrine -...
  18. John Cantelo

    Birding Cadiz (& nearby)

    I've wanted to go on a pelagic out of Cadiz province for years and in 2022 I finally made it with on jaunt out of Cadiz itself. Although I never got the close-up views of storm petrels and shearwaters I'd hoped for, we did well seeing several species new to my Cadiz list including fly-by Storm...
  19. John Cantelo

    Birding Cadiz (& nearby)

    I returned from Spain in late September with the intention of updating this thread. However a combination of factors - an operation to remove a large lump in my right arm (fortunately it proved to be non-malignant fatty tissue) at the end of the month, a subsequent bout of covid (happily mild...
  20. John Cantelo

    Birding Cadiz (& nearby)

    Is it still the sparrow still around? I've not been checking as without transport until 15th it would be too frustrating!
  21. John Cantelo

    Birding Cadiz (& nearby)

    Just arrived back in Alcala for my usual autumnal break. No car until later on so strictly local birding at the moment (although I'm hoping to nab a place on a pelagic jaunt later). An hour on the terrace this AM netted 70+ Griffons, 2 Egyptians, 4 Booted Eagles & 5 HBs but all frustratingly...
  22. John Cantelo

    Birding Cadiz (& nearby)

    A grim but necessary report on the state of the Coto Donana (and by implication Cadiz Province) -
  23. John Cantelo

    Birding Cadiz (& nearby)

    Good to hear from you Mike but your kind comment begs the question ... when are you coming out to join me for some birding in Spain? You've had a standing invitation for over ten years!
  24. John Cantelo

    Birding Cadiz (& nearby)

    Finding Pin-tailed Sandgrouse in Cadiz Province For an embarrassingly long time, Pin-tailed Sandgrouse was something of a 'bogey bird' for me in Cadiz Province although my chagrin at failing to find them was somewhat alleviated by the fact that other birders far more skilled than me also found...
  25. John Cantelo

    Birding Cadiz (& nearby)

    I'll be writing up some notes about my recent visit to Cadiz province shortly but in the meantime here a shot of Lesser Kestrel ...
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