Short-toed Treecreepers above Lanjaron

Short-toed Treecreepers flit through the olive groves on the hillside above Lanjaron as the end of a terrific month of birdwatching approaches…

There are few pairs of species as hard to tell apart as the Treecreepers…but thankfully for birdwatchers down here in Andalucia, the Treecreeper’ s range only stretches down to Northern Spain. So it was a Short-toed Treecreeper that I saw today, foraging busily through the old olive trees along the terrace while I worked. They probe the bark for insects as they go, spiralling up the trunks only to drop to the base of the next tree along to start searching once more.

In that sense they most certainly are indistinguishable from their northern cousins, and the plumage differences are difficult to say the least! A touch duller overall? Browner underneath then, when compared with the snow-white chests of the Treecreepers back in the UK? Perhaps, but it’s the toughest of calls for birdwatchers over much of Western Europe where both species occur.

Always animated and lively, it’s anonther local favourite for the month list, as the Alpujarran summer rolls on and July approaches. As ever please keep checking the posts over the coming weeks, and we’ll keep you up to date with all the latest news!