Straits of Gibraltar, 19-20 Sept 2008

A quick visit to Gibraltar and Tarifa, courtesy of Easyjet and a return to La Codorniz hotel for one night. Two fairly full days of birding - on the 19th, the wind was an increasing easterly and I headed first to the observatory at El Algarrobo, seeing Honey Buzzard and Osprey en route from Gibraltar. Raptors were passing continuously in small numbers, mainly Booted Eagles with a scattering of Short-toed Eagles and Honey Buzzards, see table below - also a fantastic flock of 70 soaring White Storks (7). 10 Bee-eaters made a fleeting appearance on their southward journey. A Hobby and a Peregrine flew over.
I then moved on to Cazalla, more of the same species including some low ST Eagles (3), then after R and R at the La Codorniz hotel, I visited La Janda for an evening watch - excellent, although the marhses were very dry - raptors included 16 (!) Marsh Harriers, 2 juvenile Montagu's Harriers and a Black-shouldered Kite ( which I found for Tim Appleton's group), together with at least 2 Lesser Kestrels and 75 Glossy Ibis and 11 more Bee-Eaters. A late evening seawatch at Tarifa produced an adult Audouin's Gull and 7 Balearic Shearwaters, but no Cory's.
On the 20th, a mixed flock of Honey Buzzards and ST Eagles glided low over the hotel after breakfast. A visit to Tarifa beach produced at least 12 Cory's Shearwaters (10 not JM) on a quick seawatch, and a walk to the new hide revealed an amazing flock of 72 Audouin's Gulls (9), together with waders including Kentish and Ringed Plovers (13), Knot, Whimbrel (12) and Bar-tailed Godwit (11), with Yellow Wagtails also moving through. Grounded passerines included Fan-tailed Warbler (14) and Black-eared Wheatear (15).
Raptor watching at Sanctuario and Cazalla in a strong easterly wind gave good views of Short-toed and Booted Eagles (4), a few Honey Buzzards (5), half a dozen Egyptian Vultures, and 4 Black Storks (8) and an Osprey (6) - together with odd Sparrowhawks and Black Kites. An amazing couple of days with flocks of raptors continually in view against the dramatic background of the straits.

Totals - Short-toed Eagle 106 (26, 80). Booted Eagle 253 (78, 175). Honey Buzzard 109 (47, 62). Black Kite 29 (6, 23). Griffon Vulture 200 (50, 150). Egyptian Vulture 10 (0, 10). Marsh Harrier 16 (16, 0). Montagu's Harrier 2 (2, 0).Osprey 2 (1, 1). Sparrowhawk 13 (4, 9). Black Stork 4 (0, 4).