My second trip to Tarifa this spring after a brilliant week mid April with LP & GKG, I knew I had to return when Honey Buzzards were in the mix. Not exclusively a birding trip so Amy and I enjoyed some ‘normal holiday’ stuff too but my focus was on migrating HBs of which I saw hundreds. Sunday was the best day for numbers with a moderate Easterly. Below are the photographic highlights, some very close birds were just observed with the bins at the expense of getting close photos but I didn’t want to spend the whole trip looking through a view finder. The ‘Mirador’ just North of Tarifa on the N340 was my preferred spot but many were counted over the town itself aswell as arriving off the sea near the CIMA obs early on and at Punta Secreta in a Westerly wind on the Monday. Birds arriving off the sea were mostly high up but not all of them. 10am – 2pm seemed peak but late afternoon arrivals were evident too. The majority of birds were females as perhaps you’d expect towards the end of the peak dates here but many males were also observed. Big Thanks to Rob Rackliffe for his help and excellent advice.
Two striking females above and below, the above bird showed a dark tail consistently and the pale rufous form with subtle carpals below is something I’ve not seen before, although I’ve seen images from the middle East of this ‘type’.
The following male arrived off the sea at Punta Secreta at eye level, it shows a partially yellow cere still which is thought to indicate immaturity, although some uncertainty surrounds wether this can also be due to variation in adults. Perhaps a 3cy bird and therefore its first north bound migration after its first two winters spent below the equator.
PERDIX BIRDER 