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...

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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.

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... 

Marsh Harriers on the move

Marsh Harriers are now reaching their peak, the early waves dominated by males.

Today several birds that came over Gibraltar were mobbed by the local gulls, providing opportunities to observe their escape and defence strategies as captured in these images.

One of those mornings!

After days of cloud and strong easterlies the morning was soon sunny once the early morning cloud had dissipated. The wind was fresh from the north-west so there was a good chance that raptors would come over Gibraltar. Early indications were good - a strong passage of Swallows, House Martins, Goldfinches, Linnets and Serins, all arriving across the Strait of Gibraltar from Morocco. With them were the first Black Kites. But the day belonged to the Booted Eagles (above and below).

These eagles are now hitting their peak passage and many had obviously been waiting to get across

The finches continued to swarm. A flock of ten or so Red-rumped Swallows dashed past a metre away from me and Bee-eaters swarmed as they noisily passed north. If the day was the Booted Eagles', the Sparrowhawks weren't far behind, darting into the trees and having a go at the passing finches. There were many males in today's migration (below).

The range of species was good and included Montagu's and Marsh Harriers.

Male Marsh Harrier overhead

Some Short-toed Eagles are still coming through - their peak was earlier in the month - and the gulls still make them feel unwelcome!

And of course the Black Kites keep on coming, these are now heading for Western and Central Europe

Denizens of the White Water

The fast-flowing mountain streams of the Iberian Peninsula, from the Pyrenees down to the Betics, are home to specialists at living amidst torrents and cataracts. No species is more at home here than the Dipper.

This amazing bird is widespread across the Palaearctic Region to the Himalayas. To the east it is replaced by the Brown Dipper. The American Dipper is the North American counterpart, reaching south to Central America. Two other species - White-capped and Rufous-throated - take over in South America. And that is it. There are only five species of Dipper in the world!

Dippers are highly specialised and adapted for taking insect larvae and other invertebrates under water. They don't dive for them but instead walk under water to take their prey, a unique behaviour among birds. The images below show this amazing behaviour...

Often associated with similar habitats is the beautiful Grey Wagtail, with its safrron yellow rump and undersides. It is less restricted to fast flowing streams but is usually found wherever there are Dippers.

Also present alongside is the White Wagtail but this species is the least specialised of the three and is often at home in other aquatic habitats too (below)

Perhaps more appropriately grey than the Grey Wagtail the absence of yellow separates this species easily from its cousin (below)