Sunday, April 24, 2011

In a colony of egrets

Among the spectacular sights of southern Iberia in the spring is a colony of nesting egrets. Stewart went on a mission to capture the beauty and elegance of the Cattle Egret Bubulcus ibis in full breeding plumage. He caught up with them in a colony on white poplars. The photographs speak for themselves...






Blog followers may want to add our new facebook page by visiting our new site and clicking "Like" at:


Wednesday, April 13, 2011

An unexpected visitor

Last weekend saw an intense passage of raptors across the Strait of Gibraltar and over the Rock. More of that will follow in other posts. The local Peregrines patrolled the airspace by their nesting cliffs searching for tired migrants. Little did we know what would unfold...

From out over the Mediterranean Sea, in the east, came a strange falcon...It was larger than the local Peregrines, with a disticntive shape and plumage pattern. It was a Lanner Falcon, a North African species that occasionally strays onto the European shore at this time of year.

Venturing close to the Peregrine's cliff, it was a matter of time before an aerial combat would unfold, and it did...

the chases went on for over fifteen minutes, the intruder seemingly returning for more of the action. And it gave as good as it got (below)!


We sighted the bird later in the day so it didn't quite get the message instantly!

The bird was in its second spring of life, in other words it was born last spring. It was probably dispersing into new territory and stumbled upon an angry cousin!

We are grateful to Dick Forsman for providing a second opinion on the identification.

Saturday, April 2, 2011

A moment in the life of an eagle

If there is a bird of prey that really struggles across the sea while migrating, it has to be the Short-toed Eagle. Those reaching European shores at the Rock of Gibraltar are exhausted, often panting. But it is not all over. They then have to contend with the attacks of local Yellow-legged Gulls as these images, taken this week, show...

the bird rises on updrafts as it reaches the cliffs, but is the struggle really over?


gulls also use the same updrafts...

there may be trouble ahead...


impact imminent!


soon one gull has become lots of gulls


this eagle has gained sufficient height to make a quick getaway. Others are not so lucky...