My first Swallow of the year over Goodnestone Church (Kent) was a welcome sign of spring ... less welcome was my bike running out of charge & cycling the last 5 miles home without assistance. Ebikes are great when they're working, but damn heavy to pedal far (esp. uphill) without a boost.🪶

Up to Didcot to visit my recently moved daughter & delighted to find Red Kite so common over the town & so low flying over houses. Like many of my generation I made the pilgrimage to central Wales in the early 70s to see Red Kites to see them. What a change! 🪶

A puzzle solved! The disused gravel pits close to Laguna de Medina are now a nature reserve run by the Sociedad Gaditana de Historia Natural (= Cadiz Natural History Society). A great educational resource! For details, see my blog - birdingcadizprovince.weebly.com/cadiz-birdin...

A different blog post this time. It's still about Spain, but instead of Cadiz Province, it's about my recent trip to the Canary Islands ... 🪶 birdingcadizprovince.weebly.com/cadiz-birdin...

As a Canterbury resident, the outbreak of meningitis here is disturbing but a close 2nd is the proliferation of far-right memes on social media. It's NOTHING to do with Channel crossing migrants, the African meningitis belt, exercise Pegasus, Covid vaccinations or a lockdown to stop elections 1/2

Merlin told me these birds were calling/singing but the only one my duff ears could pick up was a (close) Great Tit. Birding with hearing loss can be a frustrating experience ☹️ but I did find a Lesser-spotted Woodpecker high in the canopy with foraging Blue Tits again🙂🪶

Feeling virtuous for cycling out to Stodmarsh this AM ... My reward? Missing a fly over White-tailed Eagle that I would have been there in time to see had I driven there! 🪶

I've just posted a very brief update on my blog regarding access to La Janda (Andalucia) after the floods 🪶 birdingcadizprovince.weebly.com/cadiz-birdin...

What's your harbinger of spring? I imagine most would pick the Swallow, but I'm more inclined to go for Wheatear or even Little Ringed. Plover. I saw my first LRP of the year today at Stodmarsh (Kent) where the Robins mug you with their cuteness!🪶

My 3rd attempt to see Lesser Spotted Woodpecker in Blean Woods (Kent) this AM. It's tough when you can't hear 'em & Merlin app didn't help. But old school methodical scanning of Blue/Great Tit flocks feeding in the canopy did - good views of male LSW, which, typically, soon vanished! 🪶

I used to relax at home by doing paintings/drawings of birds, but, alas, no longer so. It's hard to get back into it after years of doing nothing, as the results always cruelly disappoint. This was one of the last things I produced for a blog article about introduced parrots in Spain🪶

And here we both are - myself & bottom right Large Tortoiseshell (Photo: Barry Wright)

Another day, another Kentish woodland, Birchett Wood, nr Hamstreet. This time I wasn't looking for raptors (although I saw plenty). Instead, the target was the Large Tortoiseshell butterfly, an overdue UK tick. It eventually showed well PM - I even got a decent photo with my mobile!

A day out raptoring (is that a word?) in West Kent also meant, inevitably, a visit to Crookham Hill for the wintering Red-flanked Bluetail. I was struck by how much the habitat (birch, bramble & rhodedenrons) resembled that of the only place I'd previously seen wintering RFBs - Japan 1/2🪶

I've just finished my 2026 update to my 300+pp "Birding Cadiz" guide. I don't charge for it but ask for donations via my Just Giving page to @alzheimerssoc.bsky.social in my wife's memory. The generosity of birders has helped me raise £6,500+. Message me with your email address for a copy 1/2🪶

I've posted 3 updates on birding/bird sites in/ around Cadiz Province on my blog. They focus on (with photos) the impact heavy rain has had on the area (esp. birding sites), plus an extraordinary encounter with Pin-tailed Sandgrouse. birdingcadizprovince.weebly.com/cadiz-birdin...

Not my usual sort of post, but I eat a lot of tinned tomatoes! Shocked by this Youtube video (www.youtube.com/watch?v=q9wy...) I tested 3 tins of Italian Chopped Tomatoes for myself: Tesco's (47p), M&S (50p) & Mutti (£1 reduced from £1.60+). Tesco's was sour & awful, Mutti but M&S very similar.

Checking for BoPs in Kent yesterday. At the location I picked (don't ask) I had a Sparrowhawk, 3 Goshawk (possibly a 4th bird), 10+ Buzzards & 4 Ravens (but surprised not to see Red Kite). Hard to imagine that when I moved here in '78, only Sparrowhawk would have been a realistic possibility!

"Great Grey Shrike" taxonomics are headachingly complex with multiple races spread across their wide range. Several are sometimes regarded as full species. One such is the "koenigi" form found on the Canary Islands. When I saw them earlier this month on Fuerteventura, they had well-grown young.

The Robins (superbus) on Tenerife looked and sounded unlike nominate birds. The bib was smaller & more intensely coloured, but what stood out were the contrasting snowy white underparts. The song lacked our Robin's plaintiveness & had a Woodlark quality. Also, DNA differences. Good for a split?

Life just feels better when you can look up from your beer or coffee and see this above you!

Only in Andalucia could sweeping up oranges be a job! After weeks of rain it's good to enjoy a beer in the passeo in the sunshine

It's been so wet in Alcala that today was only the 2nd time I've ventured on to the terrace since I arrived here ... to sweep up before my departure tomorrow ☹️. My reward was this European Black Vulture which not only came over low but waited for me to go downstairs for my camera! 🪶

After domestic chores, I again met up with Sandwich Bird Obs friends this time at La Janda. Good to see GS Cuckoo & R-k Coot there. Later the Valcargado track came up trumps with 4 Sp Imp Eagles (Inc close juv). Here's a photo of SIE at the site taken last year by my friend Richard Page-Jones🪶

Disappointed to discover that Cranes, distant grey blobs in my photo, didn't seem to appreciate my playing Einojuhani Rautavaara's Cantus Arcitus (concerto for birds & orchestra) in their honour, despite featuring in the composition 🪶

Exploring Adventus marshes hoping to find Pin-tailed Sandgrouse for friends from Sandwich Bay Obs. Not hopeful much of the area flooded. Whilst they checked out the far end of the track (as I had earlier), I remained near the start scanning for P-t Sandgrouse 🪶1/2

Viewing the ghost of Laguna de la Janda reasserting itself was both exhilarating & profoundly saddening. A reminder of the damage that wealth, political power & detachment from the rule of law can do to the environment @amigosdelajanda.bsky.social🪶

I finally managed to explore the huge quarries above Osuna today. The source of stone for the town since Roman times. Vast interior cathedral like space was impressive, but the rather kitch recent monumental carvings (some based on Roman originals?) less so

Extraordinarily high water levels at Laguna de Medina (Cadiz) today with the boardwalk almost flooded & reedbed drowned. Few birds visible in choppy water & windy conditions. 🤞🏼that high water levels don't again result in colonisation by carp (= outcompete birds)🪶

Osuna is a stunning, yet somewhat overlooked, architectural gem. Its UNESCO designation isn't a surprise but it is that this only came in 2023. Good local birding too - both bustards & B-b Sandgrouse seen today🪶

Driving around the "Osuna triangle" unsuccessfully looking for Great & Little Bustard in drizzle. Poor visibility but 2 Stonecurlew seen. The ford here is usually a trickle and would still be negotiable in a car were it not for several feet of glutinous mud flanking the concrete water course!

As feared the drain at the bottom of the stairs to the roof terrace was blocked & in last week's storm water flowed into the house from under the door - nothing serious, just mop & bucket stuff. However, I'm not complaining as a house here collapsed early AM - sodden & rotten timbers blamed. 1/2

The water mill at Alcala de Guidiana is really living up to its name!

My stopover at Hotel Oromana (Alcala de Guidiara) paid dividends in the form of 5 Azure-winged (Iberian) Magpies. The Rio Guidiara here is normally a placid affair but is now a raging torrent, 3x the usual width & overwhelming the old mill buildings.🪶

A last gasp effort finally produced good views of Trumpeter Finch, previously only heard (not by me!). No photos of the birds but here are some of the atypically verdant Fuerteventura landscape. Our guide has never seen it so green. Trip highlight - last afternoon's displaying Houbaras 🪶

I've left the Canaries & now staying over near Seville in the rather grand Hotel Oromana preferring not to risk the drive south into heavy rain, floods, road slips, etc (see photos) until tomorrow. It helps that there are A-z Magpies in the park that surrounds the hotel 1/2

No bird lifers today but the Atlantic Lizard (Canaries endemic) was new to me. Final highlight 2 displaying Houbaras!

My last Canarian endemic species of bird, Fuerteventura Chat, was today's highlight. But also had several endemic subspecies (Egyptian Vulture, Kestrel, etc).

Another BoC shot of the very obliging Houbara Bustard on Fuerteventura this afternoon - amazing stuff! 🪶

Here's one of three Cream-coloured Coursers we saw earlieron Fuerteventura this afternoon 🪶

Views of Houbara Bustard on Fuerteventura this evening. BoC shots.

Fuerteventura this evening - why did the Houbara Bustard cross the road? To let me get a photo with my mobile phone obviously!

Tenerife Day 2 - disaster! My Kowa TSN 55A decided to disassemble itself ... 🤬 Tenerife Chaffinch & Blue Chaffinch both ✅ Great volcanic scenery but not a good day 🪶

Sunset with Dragon Trees (Tenerife), the end of a good day birding 😀

Tenerife - Record shot of Laurel Pigeon (✅), later I had a flight view of Bolle's Pigeon (✅), many Canaries, Tenerife BlueTit, more Canarian Chiffchaff (still split 😁) and later Tenerife race of European Robin (ought to be split) - mellow Woodlarkish song, smaller red bib & whiter below🪶

The two most striking things about Santa Cruz have been the absence of historic buildings (this church c1500 being an exception) & birds. 1st large "European" town I've visited with no sparrows & 1st coastal one without gulls constantly overhead. Few pigeons & the odd Collared Dove. Few parks too.

Heading for my mid-winter jaunt in Cadiz province via the Canaries (Tenerife). Staying over in Santa Cruz. A big town but with an excellent botanic garden with many singing Canarian Chiffchaff. They survived the Avibase toll so a full ✅. Few birds but many Monarchs🪶

Another dusk session at Grove Ferry (Kent) produced 16+ Marsh & 2 Hen Harriers (ad. male & female). Lower numbers than recently perhaps due to extensive management work creating more open water (esp. below the ramp & beyond the Feast Hide). Well done @naturalengland.bsky.social team 🪶

News that my old schoolfriend & birding pal, Phil G. (now resident in Oz), has finally caught up with his nemesis bird, Little Auk, prompts me to post my photo of the last one I saw a few years ago - happily sitting on the roof of Brancaster Golf Club (Norfolk)! 🪶

A new Kent site for me today, the bushes behind the sewage works in Faversham - birding takes you to such salubrious locations. My reward was enjoying good views of the Pallas's Warbler found there a few days ago. Later found a putative Siberian Chiffchaff elsewhere (albeit another sewage works!) 🪶