Bird Racing. By Brian Conduit
Back in Feb, the Costa Blanca Bird Club held it’s inaugural bird race.
and right in the middle of them was a Common gull. Now you might think
Now, for those of you that don’t know what a bird race is, I can tell
that the word common means just that, but in this part of Spain it is a
you it’s not pitting a Grey Heron against a Peregrine Falcon, or a House
very unusual bird indeed, and was a first in Spain for me, ( a definite
Sparrow against a Kingfisher. The race is all about the most species seen
candidate for the rare bird of the day).
in the allotted time, usually between dawn and dusk and if you feel like
Various stops across the Salinas added a further sixteen to our growing
stumbling about in he dark looking for Owls, feel free.
list, as we made our way inland towards El Hondo. We soon spotted our
Teams of three or four could choose the day, and at least three members
first Swallow and House Martin, closely followed by Buzzard, Kestrel and
must see or hear the bird, and there were prizes for the most species
Booted Eagle. A quick stop for lunch and we were on our way again, via
seen, the rarest bird seen and the best written report sent in. My pal Alec
the back gate of El Hondo and a new hide overlooking a large lagoon.
was out for a weeks birding, so he joined myself and Rosemary Reid,
There we got Tufted Duck,Cetti’s Warbler and a Kingfisher. We were up
another club member, to make our team.
to sixty eight species by this time, and a short ride to a football pitch to
As Rosemary lives the other side of Calpe, and the majority of birds are
look for small larks proved fruitless, but fate played a hand and gave us
to be found down here around Santa Pola, Alec and I had an early start
twenty six Common Cranes and a very early Cuckoo.
to get up to Rosemary’s house by first light. While she was preparing our
Retracing our route back across the Salinas and the coast road to Gran
lunch, ( to be had on the run later), we got our list off to a good start
Alacant we got Sanderling, Dunlin, Whimbrel and a magnificent male
with Siskin, Great Tit, Greenfinch, Collared Dove and Wood Pigeon, all
Brambling. Our last stop of the day as the light was fading, was a Sierra
in Rosemary’s garden. One or two more were added as we made our
behind Elche where we heard the unmistakable sound of a female Eagle
way to the motorway, and the trip down to our first stop which we called
Owl.
Dingly dell and is near the Clot. These two sites gave us twenty three
Eighty one species in total, which we thought was a good effort. Turns
species, which included Snipe, Green Woodpecker and Little Owl, but
out we were beaten into second place by a very strong team, led by
the best was a Moustached Warbler singing as we left to make our way
Malcolm Palmer with one hundred and six species. Anyway, a great day
along the coast road to Santa Pola. This road only gave us two birds,
all round, and after a meal in Calpe, Alec and I arrived back in Santa P
Audouin’s Gull and Turnstone before we got to our next stop, the smelly
just eighteen hours after starting out.
pool, (secret location). We immediately found some Mediterranean gulls,
Lazy Git.
Back in March, after 3 weeks in Elche hospital,
I spent a week with my good friends Colin and Jane, whose Finca stands more or less right under the Bonelli’s Eagle’s nest. I can think of worse places to convalesce. With plenty of time to study these remarkable birds, I came to understand them much better. When I arrived one egg had just hatched, and I was the first to see the little white ball of fluff that was continually clamouring for food.Within a day or two I noticed that the male was not bringing food back for the chick, in fact I hardly saw him the whole week I was there. Apart from the odd fly past and roosting at night, he was conspicuous by his absence. He appeared to not have the instinct to do his share of rearing the chick. What this meant was
that the female was spending long periods of time away from the nest looking for food, which is ok for a while, but she will tire quickly as she has to feed herself as well. If the other egg hatches, it will be impossible for her to keep up. I watched the male one day eat a Red Legged Partridge without going anywhere near the nest. So what it needs is for this lazy git to get his finger out.The Costa Blanca Bird Club’s May field trip is to the Island of Tabarca for the day, with a lunch in one of the many beach restaurants. Please call me for more info on 966690497 or email me at briancsantap@yahoo.co.uk
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