Again I went down early to Motril, well, with the new motorway finished
I can be there in 25 mins. Left at 7.30am and was at the Motril marshes by 8.00. Walked round the tracks and first spotted a juvenile Woodchat Shrike on the wire. Lots of Cattle Egrets were about this morning and were perch in various places. Looking upward there flew over 15 Grey Herons heading toward the reserve. Shame it doesnt open this time in the morning during weekdays...never mind. Walking further i disturbed a couple of Mallards, but just then I saw a bright yellow blob fly into the green reeds. I knelt low and started to creep closer so as not to disturb. It was the Yellow Bishop! I was able to get quite close until it flew away, but what an amazing little bird to see in the wild. The yellow is 
the deepest, purist yellow one could imagine! Fantailed warblers and Goldfinch were about and then I saw the Red Avadavat's in the reeds again. This is a guanteed place to see these little fellows. Beautiful to watch. I decided to get in the car and drive a little more along some of the tracks, often the car serves as a good hide. I wasnt too long in the car when i saw a rather large bird on a concrete post. Was it a kestrel? Well it kind of looked like one, but as I got closer and looking through the bins, I noticed it had some blue markings! Looking at the head it resembled a bee-eater, then it dawned on me it was probably a Roller. I drove ever so slow 
and got a good view to confirm it was, I think, a juvenile Roller. Took some photos and tried to get closer, and t he amazing thing was, that it didnt fly away. It just kept looking at the car and I was able to get about 3 metres from the bird until it eventually flew to the next post. Again I stalked it again and watched it for ages. I had only ever seen one once before, and that was high on a wire in Almeria. It was getting hot now so was happy to call it a day and get back to view my pics on the PC.
I can't keep up with you Mark; twice to Motril and Luke making Gualalhorce visits! Absolutely stunning photographs of the Roller and Yellow-crowned Bishop, presumably taken from the narrow track that starts by the concrete wall. (This track eventually arrives in front of the entrance to the Charca de Suarez reserve - but there is a block on the road less than 5 metres form the end! And you would have to reverse a long way to be able to turn round.)
ReplyDeleteGreat account which really makes you feel as if you are in the site and so pleased that you can get there in less than 30 minutes. Now, you never need worry about the reserve being closed when you arrive! No doubt Eric and Pat will be back as will I as soon as possible.
The Bishop is obviously a resident and may, possibly, be seen on most vists along with the Red Avadavats. Meanwhile, the Roller is probably on his return migration so no guarantees other than the site may be a good resting place for more than the one individual that you saw.
Keep a look out for Savi's Warblers on the exposed site holding the "racing circuit" but you may need to really check identification pointers before setting off, given its close similarity to a Reed Warbler.
Three great blogs which I thoroughly enjoyed reading. Give Mark my congratualtions and ask him where was the photograph!
Bob Wright
Hi Mark, I have to go to Charca Suarez in Motril to try to capture one of those beautiful Amandava finches. In my past two visit to Brazo del Este (Sevilla) I have seen a lot of yellow bishops, more than ever, and I had a lot of shooting oportunities with those litle yellow guys. Really beautifull species by the way. It seems that is also frequent in your area.
ReplyDeleteGreat images of the young roller by the way :-)