It's half way through the month...a good time perhaps to take stock and bring you all up to date with the bird of prey news from around our base of Lanjaron. With no break in the wonderful weather we've been having it seems a little odd to talking about "winter" but the end of the year is just around the corner...our wonderful Lesser Kestrels and Short-toed Eagles headed south to wintering grounds in Africa some time ago now, but Kiersten has been busy with the camera and there is still a fantastic range of raptors to be seen...

Our local Kestrels continue to give great value for money. Neither rare nor particularly exotic, they are however beautifully photogenic birds and and can be helpfully obliging when it comes to camera practice. Sparrowhawks too continue to show well, terrorizing the local songbird community on a regular basis. I waited a long time to see my first Sparrowhawk down here in Spain...Kiersten has snapped a few now and it's nice to be able to get some images posted.

Another "old friend" from home finally turned up this month...the Buzzard is doing extremely well back in the UK and is a year-long breeding resident through the whole of Iberia. For some reason this particular species eluded me down here in the Alpujarras throughout the summer months. With the Short-toed Eagles and many of our Booted Eagles sunning themselves in Africa I wonder if territories have been vacated allowing Buzzards to fill some gaps, free of competition. I looked at this image taken by Kiersten in the first fortnight of the month and I'm sure Buzzards have indeed appeared at last around the village...see what you think, and perhaps you could get back to us with your views!

One of our "A-list" raptors is of course the Golden Eagle and this spectacular species continues to show well around Lanjaron towards the year-end. Kiersten captured this great image near the white villages of Bubion and Trevelez, and with pairs holding territories throughout our patch we're continuing to see these magnificent birds on a regular basis. Birdwatchers from the UK often have to make do with distant views of Golden Eagles soaring over far-away crags in the highlands and islands of Scotland...I hope I never take the remarkable encounters we have here for granted!

It's a great thing to be able to report on UK rarities that we find down here in the south of Spain, but obviously the Mediterranean region has a lot more to offer...and for me one of the most exciting birdwatching highlights of the year has to have been our Bonelli's Eagles. These powerful, hawk-like eagles are in decline across the whole of their southern European range but Iberia remains their last stronghold, and we are extremely lucky to have adults and juveniles showing well surprisingly close to the village. Fantastic to have this scarce, potent predator breeding locally and we're thrilled to have these images posted here.

Birdwatching is not just about the "big stuff"...but there's no doubt the raptors have a starring role in what we have to offer down here in the Alpujarras. Enjoy these latest photos and keep watching the Tour Diaries for all the latest reports...we'll keep you up to date with all the news!