A Golden Oriole mobs a Golden Eagle and a Nuthatch makes an appearance above Lanjaron 24th June 2009

Wednesday comes around and I’m on birdwatching detail again, and I’m braving the heat of the day to take a walk down the mountain to a recreational area I’ve yet to check out. With a couple of new species added to the list in the last couple of days I’m armed with my camera and binoculars and hoping for the best.

It wasn’t long before the day started take shape. I soon saw a Spotted Flycatcher just off the track as I started off downhill, bolt upright and alert, scanning its patch for passing insects. After seeing the very first of the season just last Sunday I’m really pleased to see another so close to home…hopefully they’re doing well locally and are here in some numbers.

Soon after a bird of prey caught my eye as it caught an updraft and soared up through the valley in front of me. a dark-form Booted Eagle, pale “palms” and “V” shaped wing bars a familiar sight now but one I never tire of seeing. With my attention skywards I scanned a group of Swifts feeding above me and was pleased to find Alpine Swifts among them, again only the second sighting I’ve had of this impressive species. With a wingspan of nearly two feet and snow-white plumage on its chest and throat they’re a striking addition to the aerial display of the more familiar Swifts and a bird I’m now always looking out for.

I reached the picnic area I had headed for not knowing really what to expect, and not surprisingly given the location found it completely deserted. However with seating arranged in the shade of the flowering Sweet Chestnut trees at least it was somewhere to take a break and I soon heard the screeches and tropical calls of Golden Orioles. With the trees tall but growing from the steep slope below me there was a real sense of being “inside” the canopy, and I was sure the birds would for once be a little more visible.

I sat and waited, camera ready…and watched both male and female Orioles arrive literally just overhead, only yards away, and still manage to disappear completely in seconds. There was more than one pair here this afternoon, I was able to track their movements up and down the hillside by their calls, but wonderful close-up views remained the best I could manage. Attempts to anticipate their location no matter how patient I thought I was being met with no success, and I very professionally ran the battery down in the camera practicing bare branch photography.

Of course, it’s not just about the Golden Orioles. A Spotted Flycatcher perched nearby, flitting from twig to twig, occasionally snatching insects from mid-air. Close enough to see the detail in its plumage, and to watch its tail-twitching anticipation as it waited for passing prey.

Another first for the week here. a Nuthatch, interestingly listed in the literature as absent in much of southern Spain, showed well nearby, with unmistakable blue-grey back, black eye stripe and buff chest. Not an uncommon bird back home but my first in Spain… the distribution maps would seem to suggest we’re right on the edge of its recognized range, perhaps it’s something of a local rarity.

It was nice to see Blackcap again. Having seen huge numbers in the Olive groves earlier this year these views were much more like those you’d expect back home. Just one pair hunting insects quietly in the foliage, both with plumage looking a little ragged and worn, probably through the trials of rearing a brood of young.

With photography no longer an option I decided to move on, the calls of the Orioles still in my ears…and it paid off immediately. Across the valley a huge bird of prey appeared, big and powerful looking. A Golden Eagle, in full adult plumage, mobbed by just one very brave and very indignant male Golden Oriole. Its bright yellow and jet black plumage was just a tiny of speck of colour next to the massive bulk of the eagle but its furious onslaught was apparently enough. With minute adjustments in the “fingers” of its wingtips the Golden Eagle caught some warm air and effortlessly soared higher and away up the valley, never once feeling the need to actually flap its wings. Fabulous stuff! A pair of Ravens floated through in the eagle’s wake, grateful perhaps for the Oriole’s determination, having avoided a territorial confrontation with such a potent adversary.

I followed a path for a few hundred yards and was rewarded with yet another great sighting of a Spotted Flycatcher, once again perched alertly on a favourite twig, making it the third of the day. With drinking water running low however I decided to take a slow stroll home back up the mountain, trying my best to ignore both the heat and the calls of Golden Orioles in the Chestnut trees as I passed by. It must have been my imagination, but I’m sure I detected a slightly mocking tone in their calls…