Three Dunlins

Three Dunlins

Thursday 26 December 2019

Lapwing in the ricefields.


Hi there!!

The past 22 of december with my dad and son riding the car alongside the ricefields located in Alera I could count more than a hundred lapwings and walking around about fifty ruffs.

Those fields are very important during the winter period and huge flocks of those birds are easily seen flying around the diferent areas trying to find the more suitable mudflats to linger around.


 Lapwings.


Lapwings.


Lapwings.

Sunday 24 November 2019

A group of avocets.

Hi there!

Yestarday a made a short vist to my LP and and when I started "sweeping" the east coast close to a swan and three yellow legged gulls, I saw a nice group of fourteen avocets resting inside the shallow waters (they were very far away and probably there was one more...difficult to asses).

Always a nice surprise around here because they are not common visitors.

Zolina reservor-241119


Heavily cropped pic made from about 1000 meter distance.

Tuesday 19 November 2019

Surprise in the water pudddle

Hello there! 

This past weekend I had the opportunity to visit the ricefields located in Arguedas village in the southern part of my county, Navarra. 

Those fields are very important during the migration period and in the winter seasson a few stay around. 

During the morning, better said  the two hours that I stayed around I only saw a pair of shorebirds, a green sandpiper and a dunlin. I found the two birds in a quite big water puddle close to a pig farm. 

The recent showers have created this atractiv site and as usual the opportunistic tringa was already there. The dunlin presence puzzled my a bit more, due to their preference to other kind of muddflats. 

Both waders stay quite close to each other but the green mobbed the calidris when they got to close. This behaviour is typicall from the tringa as they are less social birds. 

I could manage to take a few pics without disturbing them and I left the place with the aim of finding more shorebirds in the bast ricefields around. After a while I was unsuccesfull and had to go back home. 







Saturday 9 November 2019

Arable fields...


Hi there!

We are now well entered in autumn and the weather here lately corroborates this, with persistent rains all over the county and considerable descent of the temperatures (some mountains around have appeared this morning with a thin layer of snow).

Those circumstances favor the arrival of some migratory birds from northern Europe that will spent the winter over here or might continue their journey to southern sites.

Those pics below show a mixed group of european starlings with a dozen lapwings ,one solitary dunlin and five ruffs feeding in waterlogged arable fields close to the Pitillas reservoir.



Starlings with waders, a very regular combination in autumn/winter.


I thought that the two common snipes will show up in this pic......


Pictures; Pitillas/091119/Navarra/Ornitocampero

Monday 4 November 2019

The last ones?

Hi there.

A few days ago I visited my LP (Zolina reservoir) again to see what was around and expecting either a maritime gull or any kind of wader due to the heavy NW winds that were forecasted those days.

I didn't detect any gull but in the far distance in the eastern island of the reservoir, four little shorebirds were "sewing" the mud in tight group. They seemed to be dunlins but with a 1000m distance viewing nothing to take for granted.

I decided to get closer and reasure my suspicion ,also because I had time for a little walk. The conditions were good for the telescope with no wind and filtered midday light by the cloudy sky.

As soon as I arrived to the observation spot and pointed the birds I realized that they were dunlins but one of them looked like a sanderling (much rarer indoor wader over here) due to his more compact body,shorter bill and greyer mantle/scapulars. 

So I had to wait a little bit more in order to get another bird angle (and light) to confirm that it was indeed a dunlin and no a sanderling. The four of them were dressed with the winter plumage.

This november record could be the last one with the calidris gender this year....or may be not!!


The distances here are huge,very good to train the eye!


Calidris alpina (4ex)/031119/Zolina

Hiper cropped pic of the four migratory dunlins.

Thursday 24 October 2019

A peregrine to close.......



Hi there!!.

Today in my local patch (Zolina Reservoir)  I have witness a curious moment when a peregrine landed in an arable landfield ,close to shore where a ringed plover ans a dunlin were roosting.(nearby there was also a greensank but it didn't take notice of the danger (or at least it seemed quite confident....).

The two waders didn't move at all and stay alert for a few seconds. After that they begun to feed while the falcon was in the look out all the time.

Then the rain started and the raptor decided to go to abetter dryier zone.

This time the shorebirds were lucky and had a new exeirnce in their migratory journey , who knows when the sun rises again...

The  posibilities are various.....

Friday 18 October 2019

My article in the Wader Quest Newsletter/april 2018


Here the article that I wrote for the Wader Quest newsletter in april  2018 about the shorebirds in my home county. The pictures are also mine.





The text for a better reading:

Page 10

© Wader Quest 2018. All rights reserved.

Wader Quest the newsletter

Navarra province is located in Northern Spain, close to de Bay of Biscay (about eighty km from the coast) and shares the Pyrenean mountain range with France in its westernmost and less altitudinal part. Navarra is relatively small in size covering just 10.391km2 but has many different climate zones within it s area.

This strategic emplacement, with the two special geographical characteristics mentioned above, makes Navarra one of the most important regions in bird migration of western Europe. Many thousands of birds, comprising a wide variety of species including passerines, cranes, pigeons, raptors (principally in the Lindux pass) are the better known examples that use this natural corridor. But waders too, in more moderate numbers, pass the same way but their nocturnal migratory habits make them less visible and obvious.

Generally birds on their postnuptial, southerly, migration in autumn register higher numbers, in more concentrated densities, than they do on their prenuptial, northerly, spring journeys. Waders however are recorded in similar numbers on both journeys.
Due to this natural phenomenon traditional hunting is deeply rooted in the region, where Woodpigeons Columba palumbus and Eurasian Woodcocks Scolopax rusticola are the preferred game birds of the local hunters.

There is a wide variety of wader species that choose this route for their migration. Up to now thirty-seven species have been recorded of which four are Nearctic species; Pectoral Sandpiper Calidris melanotos, White-rumped Sandpiper Calidris fuscicollis (personal record), American Golden Plover Pluvialis dominica and Lesser Yellowlegs Tringa flavipes.

Birds such as Dunlin Calidris alpina, Red Knot Calidris canutus, Curlew Sandpiper Calidris ferruginea, Temminck’s Stint Calidris temminckii, Sanderling Calidris alba, Eurasian Whimbrel Numenius phaeopus and most of the Plovers including Grey Plover Pluvialis squatarola and Eurasian Dotterel Charadrius morinellus use the region as a flyway corridor that connects their wintering sites in southern Spain or Africa, with their breeding territories in the Arctic tundra or Northern Europe.
Obviously the region provides some valuable and legally protected reservoirs, lagoons and other water bodies, forested areas and marshes where migrating birds find protection to roost and feed to replenish their fat reserves.

In some of these spots waders pass the autumn and winter seasons. The most representative species, which achieve the highest numbers by far, are Northern Lapwings Vanellus vanellus and Eurasian Woodcocks, followed by Common Snipes Gallinago gallinago and a few Jack Snipes Lymnocryptes minimus each year, It is likely however that the secretive behaviour of these birds masks the true numbers that pass through. In addition Ruffs Calidris pugnax, Green Sandpipers Tringa ochropus can be found in variable numbers and, not always common, we can observe Dunlins, European Golden Plovers Pluvialis apricaria and Black- tailed Godwits Limosa limosa.

Navarra also provides suitable habitats for breeding waders such as the Common Sandpiper Actitis hypoleucos and...........(*)


Page 11

© Wader Quest 2018. All rights reserved.

(*)..........the Little Ringed Plover Charadrius dubius which are the most numerous due to the ample number of river banks that are present throughout the territory (mainly Arga,Aragon and Ebro rivers).

Variable numbers of Black-winged Stilts Himantpous himantopus and Northern Lapwings also breed in flooded fields and ricefields as well as the Eurasian Woodcocks in some of the northern wooded mountains. As it is both a local breeder and a wintering bird, the Eurasian Stone-curlew is always present in suitable habitats all year especially so in the southern part of Navarra with extensive semi arid moors.

Sadly though numbers are declining due to the agricultural transformation from traditional rain-fed crops such as wheat to irrigated plants like corn and olive tree plantations in some suitable areas.

It is also necessary to point out that many waders find much needed shelter and protection in a variety of suitable habitats. In the last decades three regions that contain rice fields (Arguedas, Rada, Figarol) have proved to be highly important for wintering, as well as for, migrating birds, offering rich mudflats in otherwise not very suitable habitat for them.

This is especially helpful to Lapwings, Snipes, a few European Golden Plovers in winter and in the migratory seasons to Little Stints Calidris minutus, Dunlins, Black-tailed Godwits and many others in more moderate numbers.

The most important wetlands are La Laguna de Pitillas (Pitillas), La Balsa de Zolina (Pamplona, Navarra’s capital city), La Balsa de Loza (Loza), Laguna Las caƱas (Viana) Badina Escudera (Villafranca), Salobre de Sesma (Sesma) and Balsa de Bajabon (Ablitas).

Combined these features make Navarra a highly interesting region for wader watching due to its diversity and it’s relative small size were all the hot spots are easily accessible with relatively short distances between them.

www.ornitocampero.blogspot.com.es
Volume 5 Issue 1


Thursday 10 October 2019

Some wader watching and a "chat"

Hello.

I have been recently in my local patch trying to observe some of our favourite birds but in general the post nuptial migration in this area has been really dull with bad numbers and a few species to report. The weather is really hot for this time of the year and I suposse that this doesn't help  migratory birds to make a stop over my local patch. 

The positive thing about this lack of  rains is that the water level of the reservoir goes down and makes possible the appareance of  a small island that is a complete magnet fot the shorebirds.

Precisely in this promontory is where I saw the other day (oct 06) a nice group of eleven dunlins and three ringed plovers feeding frantically along the islands shore. The dunlins were well entered in the swallow waters like sometimes I see the curlew sandpipers.
Sadly nothing else to report about this interesting group of birds.

Here is the poster of my conference/chat in the town hall to show the richness of this reservoir and against the solar plant that Acciona power wants to built.




Thursday 12 September 2019

My local patch in danger....and two curlew sandpipers!

I have been recently visiting my local patch (Zolina reservoir) because september is a good month around here. Never expecting big numbers and more often nothing to pin point at all.

But yesterday a was lucky to observe two nice juvenile curlew sandpipers that were roosting in the north shore. I could manage to take a pic with my handheld smartphone and the telescope in order not to disturb them and set off back home.

Those birds are facing a crucial journey for their survival so we never have to make them fly due to our "selfish" interests of doing a picture.

The day before I could observe a nice pack with two dunlins and eleven ringed plovers.

Have a nice day and take care of your local patch!!


By the way my local patch Zolina reservoir (Balsa de Zolina /Navarra) is in danger due to the intention of building a solar floating plant.

 
I have written to the local media, made a technical brochure to a environmental group (Gurelur),made signature recopilation on change.org, and soon I will give a "conference" about this valuable site for waders in the local townhall.....we have to act if somebody wants to destroy your nature!!



thanks for reading!


Friday 6 September 2019

Some official counting....

Hello!

In the past days I have been doing some short visits to my local patch ,Zolina reservor, in my worldshorebirdsday counting program.

I have done this counting since its creation and I was the first person in Spain to do it!!

Since then a few more have added to the list and I hope that many other will follow this important bird counting that makes us aware of the value of the habitats were they live.

I have seen various common sandpipers, green sandpipers, one redshank and those two nice birds that have made presence for the first time in the year those days.!!

Curlew Sandpiper/020919/Zolina Reservoir



Calidris ferruginea - VIDEO

Eurasian Curlew/050919/Zolina Reservoir


Thursday 29 August 2019

Some waders in France.


Hello there!

Here some pics from my latest birding trip, in this case I visited with some friends The Ornithological Reserve of Le Teich in France, close to Burdeos.

This area (Bay of Arcachon) is superb for wader watching with many kilometers of shoreline and a  huge surface of tidal mudflats with the "treat" of this well made "bird park" with it's observation huts that give confortable viewing conected with flat paths all around.

The birding was good but the weather quite hot and sunny, didn't help a lot and we expected bigger numbers and variety of species (specially calidris ones...).


A nice flock of spotted sandpipers. Not very easy to see this bird in those numbers.


Tringa erythropus.

This bird came closer to observation point and gave good views.


Two fast black tailed godwits passed suddenly over my head (with wing moulting).


Tringa totanus.

 In this ocassion the bird was lucky with a quite big invertebrate on it's beak.


Not many black winged stilts around, but always easy to detect.


A common redshank having a rest close to the bush that gave a little shadow.


A solitary lapwing lingered around the observatory for the joy of the presents.


Close portrait of this confiding bird.


Black tailed godwit  probing in the mudflats.


Black tailed godwit  moulting to winter feathers.


A common redshank feeding close by.


A common sandpiper showing the criptical coloration of it's upper feathers.


Nice flock of grey plovers with a few whimbrels coming from the tidal mudflats.


Long beak and diving posture to reach the food items from the bottom.


A nice variety of waders feeding frantically in the reservoir.


A group of black tailed godwits entered inside the lagoon when the tide was going up.


General views of the landscape from the main observation tower.


A quick draw of the ringed Totanus that we managed to read the color rings.


Here is the record data of this Tringa Totanus.

Thanks to all those that helped with the information.

Curiously it's the first sighting since it was ringed back in 2011 a few kilometers up north, also close to the west coast of France. (so this bird has at least eight years...).


Two souvenir post cards.


Ebird list (only shorebirds). 17 species.

Remover

1.   Black winged stilt Himantopus himantopus

NĆŗmero observado:4

Remover

2.   Avocet Recurvirostra avosetta

NĆŗmero observado:16

Remover

3.   Grey plover Pluvialis squatarola

NĆŗmero observado:140

Remover

4.   Lapwing Vanellus vanellus

NĆŗmero observado:7

Remover

5.  Ringed plover Charadrius hiaticula

NĆŗmero observado:13

Remover

6.  Little ringed plover Charadrius dubius

NĆŗmero observado:1

Remover

7   Whimbrel Numenius phaeopus

NĆŗmero observado:326

Comentarios:Dormidero

Remover

8.   Bar tailed godwit Limosa lapponica

NĆŗmero observado:21

Remover

9.   Black tailed godwit Limosa limosa

NĆŗmero observado:78

Remover

10   Turnstone ComĆŗnArenaria interpres

NĆŗmero observado:1

Remover

11.  Knot Calidris canutus

NĆŗmero observado:9

Remover

12.   Dunlin Calidris alpina

NĆŗmero observado:40

Remover

13.   Common sandpiper Actitis hypoleucos

NĆŗmero observado:7

Remover

14.   Spotted sandpiper Tringa erythropus

NĆŗmero observado:53

Remover

15.   Green sandpiper Tringa glareola

NĆŗmero observado:3

Remover

16.   Common redshank Tringa totanus

NĆŗmero observado:14

17. Curlew

Num: 1
Remover

Wednesday 3 July 2019

July starts.....

Hi!!

Now some waders appear ,stay and go but a few like the green sandpipers and bw stilts are moving back from their nesting grounds (some of them may be haven't been lucky enough to breed).

I was able to count nine green sandpipers,that's a very good number and also twenty bwstilts roosting in the swallow waters of the north shore at my local patch.

A friend of mine recorded a very early spotted sandpiper with nuptial feathers! 



Black winged stilts.



Green sandpipers.


video

Saturday 29 June 2019

The first ones.....


Hello.

As usual, as soon as the summer begings the first green sandpipers start to appear in the reservoir with their sharp calls, straight flight and their characteristic bouncy body movements.

Is incredible, but they are already in their postnuptial journey when other waders (the vast majority) are still in their breeding sites rearing their young.

I saw the first one the 10th of june!!



The picture shows a rarity in my local patch , Scuacco heron with a green sandpiper in front.

Have a nice day you all!

Sunday 2 June 2019

Stopover in the mud....


Hello.

This a record shot of some time ago, back in summer 2016 in the postnuptial migration.

I could observe a pair of ruffs with a  solitary greenshank and a wood sandpiper.


Various waders resting in the mudflats in 31 august 2016.

Sunday 26 May 2019

Mixed group.

Good morning!

Once again in this current seasson I could observe a nice group of mixed wader species close to my observation point, something not always easy bacause of the huge shoreline of this reservoir (Zolina). This time a saw a group of about twenty individuals flying over the water in the middle of the area and could localize their landing. I could manage to get a better view and count and record them.

There were ringed plovers (23),redshanks (2) and sanderlings (4). It has been a good seasson to observe the last ones with three encounters in a month ,when in  other years they don't even show up in the reservoir. The bird is nowadays a local rarity in the area.

Once on their feeding routine they came closer and I tried to localize any rings in their legs with no success. Not many good days remain in the calendar but may be I am lucky and I find a ring or a special species in the forecoming prenuptial period.


 As soon as landing, they need a while to observe the surroundings and check any dangers.


 Sanderlings showed more need for food than the rest.


VIDEO

Tuesday 21 May 2019

A nice group of sanderlings.


Yestarday I had a nice moment with a personal record observation of eight sanderlings on my local patch. They were quite confident feeding along the the dam all the food items that they could collect in their continuous mechanical movements. Nice to see those long migration travellers doing a repose in this inland important reservoir. I suposse that the prenuptial period is coming to an end so let's enjoy those precious birds and hope they arrive to their breeding territories.

 

The eight birds together, resting for a while.


All moulting to spring feathers, with different advanced degrees.


The strong north wind makes the water go against the concrete, producing small waves were the quick sanderlings take advantage of them like if they were in the ocean shore (the sea is 82 km away...).



Video

* Other waders; 8common sandpipers, 5 greenshanks,16 redshanks