It’s a bright sunny day in the first week of April, and the hirundine community, soaring and swirling over the house and out across the valley, is growing by the day. House Martins into double figures have joined their resident Crag Martins cousins as they float overhead, and beautiful Barn Swallows have joined the throng, [...]
Thursday morning, and as usual I’m “doing the rounds” and checking out what’s going on before I start work. It was the beautiful, bright song of a Blackcap that got me out of the flat today, I tracked its calls from tree to tree around to the back of the house as it stayed in [...]
After the relentless sunshine of summer the weather has finally broken…we’re in the second day of thunder and lightening and pounding rain, got caught in it earlier and it was freezing. Not before I’d managed to get out on patrol again however, as I continue to check out the valley below Lanjaron for departures and [...]
Aug 212009
It’s a sunny Monday morning and the birdwatchalpujarras crew are on an away day. The offer of a walk up the Rio Verde valley with a friend down in Otivar had got Kiersten, Richard and I on the road nice and early, and I was looking forward to a drive through what I had been [...]
As the last few weeks of summer unfold I’ve been working below the village for over a month now, and it’s time to take a look back at birdwatching in August down here in the valley below Lanjaron. House Sparrows and Spotless Starlings provide the background chatter as always, with Serin, Goldfinch, Spotted Flycatchers and [...]
It’s Friday morning and it’s a big day for Birdwatchalpujarras…my new colleague and birdwatching partner Kiersten and I have got Gerry and Chris out with us for the day, two widely travelled and very keen birdwatchers over from Manchester for a week of sunshine in Lanjaron. With a full day to work with we’re hoping [...]
We’re in the third week of June already and it’s getting hotter every day. Working on the mountain above the village continues to bring great birdwatching as residents and summer migrants alike busy themselves with the hard work of nesting and rearing their young. The olive groves are alive with the calls of finches…large numbers [...]
Wednesday morning and Birdwatchalpujarras are taking a client out for the day from our base of Lanjaron. A moment to collect our thoughts before the mission begins sees us take five minutes near the castle to discuss the route plan. A tropical sounding birdcall from the eucalyptus trees behind us grabbed my attention and then [...]
With a major excursion cancelled today through illness on the team, all we’ve got time for is a quick afternoon run out to a favourite local mountain. An impressive rocky gorge before the climb uphill rarely disappoints and before long we had really good views of a Lesser Kestrel, patrolling the skies overhead. The craggy [...]
