Trip to Tarifa September 2021

Nick Rossiter

This is a report with pictures and analysis of the visit to Tarifa, Spain, made by NR from 4/9-14/9 in 2021. A full Diary of the trip is given at the end of this report. The full data for all 83 bird-types recorded at Tarifa in the period is given here, including 19 types of raptor, 4 types of gull 15 types of wader, 3 types of swift, 4 types of lark, 4 types of swallow, 3 types of warbler, 4 types of heron. A daily result for the raptors is given in the spreadsheet here. The counts in the spreadsheet in plain text are for migrants seen crossing the Straits; other raptor counts are reported within {..} for resting (a migrant, feeding on N side), and within [..] for resident birds on N side.

A summary of the raptor records for the whole period is given in Table 1.

Table 1: Summary of Raptor Counts at Tarifa, Spain, 04/09 - 14/09/2021

The weather details and total count of raptors for each day are given below:

4/9: max 26C, min 22C, moderate E breeze, sunny all day [count 7].

5/9: max 26C, min 23C, fresh E breeze, sunny all day, Tarifa is so windy, increasing the challenge to birds crossing into Africa [count 206].

6/9: max 26C, min 23C, fresh E breeze, cloudy morning but then sunny afternoon and evening. Tarifa is so windy, with today blowing sand everywhere [count 26].

7/9: max 27C, min 22C, moderate E breeze, becoming light S late morning, light SW midday and light W for rest of day, sunny throughout [count 205].

8/9: max 25C, min 21C, moderate W breeze, sunny all day [count 71].

9/9: max 25C, min 21C, moderate W breeze, sunny all day [count 17].

10/9: max 25C, min 20C, moderate W breeze, sunny all day, quite invigorating in the breeze off the Atlantic [count 6].

11/9: max 26C, min 19C, light W breeze up to 15:00, then became moderate NE breeze, sunny all day [count 106].

12/9: max 25C, min 22C, fresh NE breeze, sunny all day [count 190].

13/9: max 25C, min 22C, moderate E breeze, no sun, cloudy all day, occasional light rain showers with big drops [count 1].

14/9: max 26C, min 20C, light S breeze, sunny intervals following rain showers early on, humid and warm [count 4].

It is noticeable that 3 days stand out for raptor migration, the 5/9, 7/9 and 12/9, all three days with counts in the range 190-206. Each of these days was noticeable for moderate to fresh NE winds. driving birds towards the W part of the Straits in which I was based. Additional comments on the raptor migration for these days were:

5/9: Fantastic day with the raptors seeing heavy passage including Black Kite (commonest), Honey-buzzard, Egyptian Vulture, Booted Eagle, Lesser Kestrel with Griffon Vulture, Bonelli's Eagle also noted. Most moving over the wind-farm to W of the Lances beach 1  2  3; how do the greens justify building wind-farms on one of the most important raptor migration routes in the world? Here’s wind-farms to NW/N 4  5  6. Some raptors came right over Tarifa and then could be seen flying out to sea in wild conditions. The main flow was over the mountain to W, Los Alcornocales (coastal), where the orographic lift from the fresh E breeze enabled them to climb to a great height before gliding off to S over the hostile Straits. Marvellous atmosphere to the sightings, hope their stay in Africa goes well!

7/9: Learnt a lot today: how important orographic (ridge) lift is, even in these warmer climes where many more thermals if the wind allows them to form. So today no action off the eastern-facing hills to W with everything off the south-facing hills to N as the wind changed to S/SW. Typically flocks of mixed raptors (35 is a popular number) were climbing off the hills to the N using orographic lift and then gliding E using lift over further ridges before gliding S over Tarifa Island and crossing the Strait at moderate height. When the wind was still in the E, one group did move SW, going out to sea directly to W of Tarifa, so they were following the wind to facilitate the crossing.

12/9: What a day, raptors seen close-up as route from W came over the Playa de Los Lances. At 09:20 while having breakfast by the hotel pool, a Montagu's Harrier drifted overhead going S – good omen! Out from 11:10-16:10 in the beach area in fairly wild conditions. At 11:21 6 Black Kite came overhead low-down from the beach moving N to the ridge to gain some height through orographic lift before gliding towards the port and across the Straits. From 11:29-12:58 the action was over the hill to the W with birds climbing up high using the orographic lift from the NE breeze. Totals were 34 for raptors in this phase. So fairly routine but then there was a dramatic change as the birds came off the hill to the W and flew over the beach giving fantastic views and piccies as they then glided back slowly into the breeze to the hills to the N where they soared using the orographic lift and glided over the port and the Straits. Why didn't they go straight over the Straits from the hill to the W? Suspect at this western end of the Straits and with the fresh NE breeze, they didn't think it was safe because of the risk of drift into the Atlantic so did this manoeuvre to be further up the Straits to the E before crossing.

Conditions are best for watching raptors on the W side of Tarifa when the wind is from the E, drifting birds W in the Straits towards the Atlantic. On the 12/9 such drifted birds showed their fear of the Atlantic by gliding back low-down over the beach to the NE, using orographic lift from hills to N and crossing the Straits further to the E, at its narrowest point at Tarifa port. On the 5/9 the birds were also drifted W but on this occasion many used orographic lift over the mountains to the W to gain height before crossing the Straits in the extreme W part. On the 7/9 it appeared that birds had initially been drifted to W by the E breeze in the morning but as the wind went to S/SW the birds switched to orographic lift over the hills to the N, gliding over Tarifa port and over the middle of the Straits.

The commonest raptors throughout were Black Kite and Honey-buzzard with significant numbers also of Egyptian Vulture, Booted Eagle, Griffon Vulture (confused position with birds foraging on N side of Straits as well as crossing), Montagu's Harrier, Short-toed Eagle.

Details of the Honey-buzzard counts were: 5/9: 29 S over W (Los Alcornocales), 6 S over Tarifa port; 6/9: 2 S over Tarifa port; 7/9: 113 S over Tarifa port; 8/9: 16 SW (from ridge to N, crossing W Straits) and 8 SE (over Tarifa port); 9/9: 0; 10/9: 0; 11/9: 50 SE over Tarifa port; 12/9: 4 S over W (Los Alcornocales), 17 NE in drift over beach, crossing Straits at Tarifa port; 13/9: 0; 14/9: 0. Total: 245. The Honey-buzzard seen were decisive, except on 12/9 when some retreated from the Atlantic side to the NE before crossing over Tarifa port.

Other raptors behaved similarly to the Honey-buzzard. Black Kite were less decisive than Honey-buzzard but more determined than expected though a few were left on the N side after each movement. Short-toed Eagle also seemed hesitant at times. Booted Eagle were powerful straight-line crossers. Egyptian Vulture seemed to soar very high before crossing. Osprey crossed anywhere. Falcons appeared unfazed by the crossing.

Diary

September 14th: max 26C, min 20C, light S breeze, sunny intervals following rain showers early on, humid and warm. Paid hotel bill of €1649 on visa including my meals and drinks paid for on hotel card. Said fond farewell to staff at Tarifa Lances, who had looked after me very well and at 12 noon, car turned up to take me to the border in La Linea. Noticed 4 Black Kite waking up on mountain road between Tarifa and Algeciras at 12:15 at Pelayo. After being dropped off at 12:50, strolled through passport controls into Gibraltar though they did stamp my passport and walked using Google Maps to Eliott Hotel, with stop for coffee on way.

September 13th: max 25C, min 22C, moderate E breeze, no sun, cloudy all day, occasional light rain showers with big drops. After strenuous catch-up on records from yesterday's excitement, was out for walk to W from 13:05-15:30. No fall of migrants in the changed weather was evident. Did do some sea-watching for a change, seeing 2 Gull-billed Tern E, a Common Tern E, 5 Sandwich Tern (4 E, 1 W), 5 Balearic Shearwater (3 E, 2 W), 1 Gannet immature W. Only raptor was a juvenile Marsh Harrier at 14:52, which on the slightest brightness came up for a hunt over rough grassland 1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9  10  11  12  13. Booked up return taxi to GIB for €89; hotel is becoming a lot quieter; gave head waiter €20 tip for his excellent service; he was worried about fall off in trade with Covid worries still a problem. Have booked Covid test for return (£30 at Gib Airport). Total for all bird-types today was 21.

September 12th: max 25C, min 22C, fresh NE breeze, sunny all day. What a day, raptors seen close-up as route from W came over the Playa de Los Lances. At 09:20 while having breakfast by the hotel pool, a Montagu's Harrier drifted overhead going S – good omen! Out from 11:10-16:10 in the beach area in fairly wild conditions. At 11:21 6 Black Kite came overhead low-down from the beach moving N to the ridge to gain some height through orographic lift before gliding towards the port and across the Straits. From 11:29-12:58 the action was over the hill to the W with birds climbing up high using the orographic lift from the NE breeze. Totals were Black Kite 19, Honey-buzzard 4, Egyptian Vulture 4, Spanish Imperial Eagle 1, with 2 Osprey (both W over sea), 3 Griffon Vulture foraging, 1 Marsh Harrier foraging over marshland. So fairly routine but then there was a dramatic change as the birds came off the hill to the W and flew over the beach giving fantastic views and piccies as they then glided back slowly into the breeze to the hills to the N where they soared using the orographic lift and glided over the port and the Straits. Why didn't they go straight over the Straits from the hill to the W? Suspect at this western end of the Straits and with the fresh NE breeze, they didn't think it was safe because of the risk of drift into the Atlantic so did this manoeuvre to be further up the Straits to the E before crossing. Count from 13:00-13:58 was Black Kite 27, Booted Eagle 8, Short-toed Eagle 4, Honey-buzzard 2, Marsh Harrier 1, Egyptian Vulture 4, with Black Stork 18 (in with the raptors), White Stork 250 S (straight over the Straits from hill to W, not with the raptors). Some of the Black Kite were low-down over the beach and would have been termed in-off by some people but certainly not the case: they were coasting. From 14:05-14:58 had on same route Black Kite 30, Honey-buzzard 13, Egyptian Vulture 10, Booted Eagle 11, Short-toed Eagle 1, Common Buzzard 1, with a Short-toed Eagle hunting to NW and a male Hobby up over the port to E. From 15:06-15:34 had over the beach Black Kite 15, Honey-buzzard 2, Red Kite 1, Egyptian Vulture 5, Short-toed Eagle 1, with a Common Kestrel male hunting over the dunes and a kind of party over the port to E where 6 Black Kite, 4 Lesser Kestrel and the Hobby were putting on a flying display in imminent farewell to Europe, maybe resting overnight before crossing. Then it all stopped! Total for all bird-types today was 37.

So totals for day were Black Kite 103, Honey-buzzard 21, Egyptian Vulture 23, Booted Eagle 19, Short-toed Eagle 6, Lesser Kestrel 4, Osprey 2, Spanish Imperial Eagle 1, Marsh Harrier 1, Common Buzzard 1, Red Kite 1, Hobby 1, Montagu's Harrier 1, with foraging birds – Griffon Vulture 3, Short-toed Eagle 1, Marsh Harrier 1, Common Kestrel 1, and storks 18 Black, 250 White. So that's 190 raptors of 15 types, 1 (the Hobby) new for trip bringing total to 19 types.

Black Kite

1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9  10  11  12  13  14  15  16  17  18  19  20  21  22  23  24  25 

Black Stork

26  27  28  29 

Bonelli's Eagle

30 

Booted Eagle

31  32  33  34  35  36  37  38  39  40 

Common Buzzard

41  42  43  44

Common Kestrel

 45  46 

Egyptian Vulture

47  48  49  50  51  52  53  54  55  56  57  58  59  60  61 

Griffon Vulture

62  63  64 

Honey-buzzard

65  66  67  68  69  70  71  72  73  74  75  76  77  78  79  80  81  82  83  84  85  86  87  88  89  90  91  92  93  94  95  96  97 

Marsh Harrier

98  99  100 

Raptors in Groups

101  102 

Red Kite

103 

Short-toed Eagle

104  105  106  107  108 

Tarifa Topology

109  110  111  112  113  114  115  116  117  118  119  120 

White Stork

121  122  123  124

September 11th: max 26C, min 19C, light W breeze up to 15:00, then became moderate NE breeze, sunny all day. Different conditions again with light W breeze at start of watch at 11:30, meaning orographic lift was out of question with thermals the main option left; these were clearly rising over the hills to N where the raptors were soaring to considerable height and gliding SE towards the Tarifa port and presumably from there gliding as far as possible over the Straits before having to flap when all height was lost. This is the classical migration routine across the Straits so good to witness it. Totals by the hour were 11:47-11:58: Honey-buzzard 14, Black Kite 3; 12:03-12:56: Honey-buzzard 34, Black Kite 7, Booted Eagle 3, Short-toed Eagle 2, Montagu's Harrier 4, all gliding SE after initial soar, with a Bonelli's Eagle and a Goshawk (female perched on pylon) foraging on N side and 47 White Stork SE; 13:05-13:59: Montagu's Harrier 3, Black Kite 5, Short-toed Eagle 1, Booted Eagle 2, Marsh Harrier 1 juvenile close over rough grassland at 13:49, eventually moving SE, with 2 Bonelli's Eagle hunting, 1 Griffon Vulture foraging and 47 White Stork SE; 14:13-14:45: Honey-buzzard 2, Black Kite 4, Booted Eagle 1, with 80 White Stork SE; 15:15-15:44 after wind change action now over hill to W – Black Kite 6, Egyptian Vulture 4, these drifting off S from hill to W, with also to NW – 2 Spanish Imperial Eagle (1 adult, 1 juvenile) foraging, 2 Short-toed Eagle hunting together, 1 Griffon Vulture floating, 1 Common Kestrel male hovering. A Swallowtail butterfly was seen 1: butterflies have been neglected in this visit, too much excitement with the raptors!

Grand totals for today are: Honey-buzzard 50 1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9  10, Black Kite 25 1  2  3  4, Booted Eagle 6 1  2  3  4, Short-toed Eagle 3 1  2  3  4  5  6, Montagu's Harrier 7 1, Marsh Harrier 1 1  2  3  4  5  6  7, Egyptian Vulture 4 1, all crossing Straits with 2 Bonelli's Eagle, 1 Goshawk 1  2  3, 2 Spanish Imperial Eagle 1  2  3, 2 Short-toed Eagle, 2 Griffon Vulture, 1 Common Kestrel staying on N side 1  2  3 and 127 White Stork SE 1  2  3  4  5  6. Also 6 Alpine Swift SE, 25 Pallid Swift SE and 27 Bee-eater resting 1  2. Total for raptors today is 106 birds of 13 types with total of 18 types of bird of prey for the trip. Needed a couple of bevvies after that lot! Total for all bird-types today was 32.

September 10th: max 25C, min 20C, moderate W breeze, sunny all day, quite invigorating in the breeze off the Atlantic. No concerted raptor passage noted today in walk from 12:30-16:45 to NW of Tarifa on the boardwalk through the lagoons; went further today putting the walk up to 7km, making a rough area with ponds 1  2 at the far W, opposite the centre for the wind sports (surfing, windsurfing & kitesurfing) which are so popular here. Haven't got round to them yet! Earlier had good chat with N/D through hotel WiFi on Skype; no criticism this time, they were very critical of my Kenya trip though I remain defiant (good for mental health!). Had some good views of some raptors today, including a Montagu's Harrier juvenile flying along the beach at 14:13 1  2  3, before turning out over the Straits towards Morocco; a juvenile Marsh Harrier, hunting over marshland at 14:45 1  2  3  4  5; an Osprey coming out of trees at W end of beach and flying over headland to SW at 14:51 1  2 before crossing the Straits and another Osprey in power flight moving E along the beach at 14:57. More distant views were of a Black Kite hunting to N at 12:57, a Common Buzzard, presumed resident, hunting to N at 13:31, and a Black Kite hunting to N at 15:41. So that brings number of raptor types to 16 with the addition of Marsh Harrier. Other birds included Western Black-eared Wheatear 1, Hoopoe 1, Crested Lark 1, Calandra Lark 1  2  3, House Sparrow 1, Whimbrel 1, Oystercatcher 1, Little Egret 1. On the sand were 150 Mediterranean YLG 1  2  3  4  5  6  and 7 Audouin’s Gull (5 adult, 1 1w, 1 juvenile). Black Kite remains in the lead in terms of numbers with Honey-buzzard second. Hotel remains very comfortable: it is a new building so is well equipped in all respects and staff are very friendly and helpful. Wind goes E on Sunday and storms are forecast for Monday to Wednesday. Total for all bird-types today was 34.

September 9th: max 25C, min 21C, moderate W breeze, sunny all day. Out to the E today of Tarifa, revisiting the port area from 10:30-15:55. A quiet day for raptors at least for seeing them from the ground. Did though have 2 Griffon Vulture soaring to N, not going anywhere, at 10:35, 12 Black Kite soaring from 11:24-11:26 high into the sky from the arid hills immediately to N of hotel and moving S, a Booted Eagle powering its way over the W of the town to S at 11:26, a Black Kite low-down around the headland to E of the port at 13:06 moving off S 1  2  3, and 2 Lesser Kestrel in same area at 13:17, also moving S. One White Stork was soaring high to SW at 10:40 and a massive flock of 170 White Stork was moving SW on N side of Straits at 14:55 1  2  3  4. Swallow passage was massive and continuous with 400 SW. There's a good mixture of Atlantic 1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9  10  11  12  13  14  15  16  17  18  19 (69 counted) and Mediterranean YLG (240 counted) in the port area and recorded long calls of both; some shots held both types of gull 20  21  22  23  24  25. Also had a Caspian Tern 1, 9 Sand Martin SW, 1 Red-rumped Swallow S, 6 Ortolan Bunting S, 10 Bee-eater S, 3 Common Swift S, plus an Ocellated Lizard 1. Here's some landscapes: Morocco from Tarifa 1  2  3 , Tanger from Tarifa 4, Playa Lances Tarifa 5, sinister OSEGS HQ 6  7, Tarifa island 8 (last point in Europe before crossing to Africa), Tarifa port 9  10. Feeling very relaxed with all the fresh air and exercise; the breeze at Tarifa is very welcome for comfort. Tomorrow going to see N/D on Skype hopefully at 11:00 CEST. Total for all bird-types today was 31.

September 8th: max 25C, min 21C, moderate W breeze, sunny all day. Out to the W again with the breeze off the Atlantic giving a fresher feel. As expected it was a quieter day raptor-wise as the birds are drifted further E towards Gibraltar on he W breeze; it's also possible that some birds may have drifted over at great height and not been seen at all though did keep a close watch on the ridges from 10:00-15:30. Today was the day of the White Stork and Montagu's Harrier. From 10:18-10:22: Egyptian Vulture 1, Honey-buzzard 8, Montagu's Harrier 6, Griffon Vulture 13 1  2, Black Kite 1, White Stork 2 (SW unlike raptors), broad-winged raptors using orographic lift off ridge to N before drifting SE at great height, still using orographic lift from ridges below; 11:11: White Stork 2, moving SW as all storks did during the day, probably not crossing until wind behind; 12:02: Honey-buzzard 16, Montagu's Harrier 6, Egyptian Vulture 4, Griffon Vulture 4, broad-winged raptors climbing on orographic lift from ridge to N, then continuing SW straight into the breeze, climbing higher and higher until lost to sight; 8 Griffon Vulture foraging to N with 1 to W and 1 Bonelli's Eagle hunting to E; 12:13-15:33: 38 White Stork moving SW, not seen crossing Strait, largest group 22; Sparrowhawk 1 juvenile male hunting on rough land just to W of hotels 1, both at 10:35 and 15:15, thought to be a local bird. Kept a close watch on coastal mountains to W, looking for any birds coasting from the Algarve but none seen; a Raven was seen here at 14:30. So day's total was: Black Kite 1, Honey-buzzard 24, Griffon Vulture 17, Egyptian Vulture 5, Montagu's Harrier 12, for migrants (broad-winged raptors moving SE/SW at height) and Griffon Vulture 10, Bonelli's Eagle 1, Sparrowhawk 1, for residents, making 71 raptors of 7 types. Total for White Stork was 40 SW with many piccies taken 1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9  10  11  12  13  14  15  16  17  18  19  20  21  22  23  24  25  26. Other birds included 11 Short-toed Lark 1, 7 Stonechat 1, 6 Zitting Cisticola 1, 90 Swallow SE, a Red-rumped Swallow SE, 3 Sand Martin SE, 12 Cattle Egret, a calling Chiffchaff, 300 Spotless Starling. A party of Dutch birders was visiting the area 1. Here's piccies of mountains to NW of Tarifa 1  2  3  4  5  6. Total for all bird-types today was 37.

Looking at the jizz of the Honey-buzzard, confirmed that some do indeed look like small vultures in the soar, particularly when near stalling: “They can also show a characteristic 'vulture' pose with wings pushed very well forward, tail fully fanned (and therefore looking shorter) and extended neck and protruding small head” http://nickrossiter.org.uk/hbweb/jizz.htm. Some do show long tails but can see why so many are misidentified as Buteo by beginners as on Trektellen in UK, particularly the juvenile http://nickrossiter.org.uk/hbweb2/misidentification%20juvenile%20honey-buzzard%20forsman.html and to a lesser extent females.

Trip running total is 64 bird-types, including 15 birds of prey and 13 waders. Getting on well with waiters, who I think are keener on improving their English than my getting to grips with Spanish though am improving on food terminology – vino tinto for instance, agua con gas, and cerveza! Think the whole of the Spanish tourist industry in Andalusia has been devastated by Covid and they're praying that they can have a good autumn to recover some of their losses. Hotel is busy and there are plenty of visitors out and about, including a 15-strong Dutch birdwatching group who I met in the hide this afternoon for a good chat; they had earlier seen the Montagu's Harrier up in the mountains. The Dutch speak better English than the English! Very few English people around; foreign visitors are mainly German, Dutch, French and Scandinavian, but would say half the visitors in the hotel are Spanish. Anyway good to see a better atmosphere developing.

September 7th: max 27C, min 22C, moderate E breeze, becoming light S late morning, light SW midday and light W for rest of day, sunny throughout. Learnt a lot today: how important orographic (ridge) lift is, even in these warmer climes where many more thermals if the wind allows them to form. So today no action off the eastern-facing hills to W with everything off the south-facing hills to N as the wind changed to S/SW. Typically flocks of mixed raptors (35 is a popular number) were climbing off the hills to the N using orographic lift and then gliding E using lift over further ridges before gliding S over Tarifa Island and crossing the Strait at moderate height. When the wind was still in the E, one group did move SW, going out to sea directly to W of Tarifa, so they were following the wind to facilitate the crossing. Raptor counts, with watch from 10:30-15:30, were: 10:44-10:59 Black Kite 6; 11:14-11:35 Black Kite 28, Honey-buzzard 14, Griffon Vulture 2, Eleonora's Falcon 1 (fast, moving SE in straight line), Common Buzzard (1 hunting), broad-winged raptors moving SW at height; 12:20-12:42 Black Kite 35, Honey-buzzard 6, Egyptian Vulture 2, Black Stork 5, Osprey 1 1  2  3 (moving W to E following coast), Goshawk 1 (flap-flap-glide over Tarifa and straight out to sea), broad-winged raptors moving SE at height; 13:30-13:37 Black Kite 3, Common Kestrel (2 juvenile hunting), 2 Montagu's Harrier (male ringtail) 1  2  3  4  5; 14:13-14:41 Black Kite 4, Honey-buzzard 62, Griffon Vulture 1, broad-winged raptors moving SE at height, earlier birds may have arrived a day or two ago, these looked like fresh arrivals, going straight over; 15:04-15:25 Black Kite 2, Honey-buzzard 31 1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8, Red Kite 1, Bonelli's Eagle 1 (hunting to N), Bee-eater 45 arrive from N and land in scrub. So day's total was: Black Kite 78, Honey-buzzard 113, Griffon Vulture 2, Eleonora's Falcon 1, Egyptian Vulture 2, Montagu's Harrier 2, Osprey 1, Goshawk 1, Red Kite 1 for migrants (broad-winged raptors moving SE at height) and Common Kestrel 2, Common Buzzard 1, Bonelli's Eagle 1, for residents, making 205 raptors of 12 types. Gulls were good today having 700 Mediterranean Yellow-legged Gull in big flocks on the sands 1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9  10  11  12  13  14  15  16  17  18, 5 Audouin's Gull (2 ad, 2 1s, 1 juv) 1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9  10  11 and a LBBG graellsii adult 1  2. A Little Egret got caught up in the Yellow-legged Gull flock 19 with 4 heron types noted in all: 3 Cattle Egret, 2 Little Egret, 1 Great White Egret, 1 Grey Heron 1  2. Waders included 200 Sanderling 1  2, 40 Ringed Plover 1  2, 4 Dunlin 1  2, 5 Redshank, 1 Oystercatcher and 5 Grey Plover. Here's views to W 1  2  3 including bushes close to hotel 4  5.

Finished at 15:30 as fancied a couple of bevvies! Hotel is going well, staff very chatty and friendly (in English!). Dining well but not excessively so, as keen to get a bit fitter with long walks (another 5km today) and more Mediterranean diet! Resisted siesta today, disrupts night-time sleeping, even though very tempting! Hotel room is fully air-conditioned so very comfortable.

Running total for raptors is: Black Kite 248, Honey-buzzard 149, Egyptian Vulture 13, Griffon Vulture 9, Booted Eagle 3, Common Kestrel 3, Bonelli's Eagle 2, singles for Lesser Kestrel, Eleonora's Falcon, Common Buzzard, Osprey, Goshawk, Red Kite; that's 433 birds of 13 types. Exceeding expectations! Total for all bird-types today was 40.

September 6th: max 26C, min 23C, fresh E breeze, cloudy morning but then sunny afternoon and evening. Tarifa is so windy, with today blowing sand everywhere. The Playa Lances is enormous and very impressive 1  2  3  4. Near the harbour on Atlantic side were Atlantic Yellow-legged Gull adult and juvenile 1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9 in total of 4 seen. Also saw 30 Mediterranean Yellow-legged Gull. At its shortest the Strait is only 13km wide but because of wind drift most birds might travel 25-30km over the sea, so less than the English Channel at about 35km but it seems to be more challenging because of the way the winds are concentrated through the Straits. Yesterday walked 5km out to the west, today went east through the harbour area 1  2  3 to the coastal walk on the E side, complete with wind farm 1 and fields 1  2. Here’s maps 1  2 and sign 1. This area to E is recommended as the birds come in lower as the ridges are set further back inland. The grey morning may have put some birds off but did have 1 Black Kite over Tarifa at 10:35 1  2  3  4, 3 Black Kite around 11:09-12:15 on the rocks by the sea 5  6  7  8  9  10  11, obviously grounded yesterday evening on the N side and delaying the crossing until today. Then started picking up Black Kite coming from the N 12  13  14  15 and going right over the island off the S tip of Tarifa (and of Europe mainland) and flying straight out to sea at high speed in very choppy and breezy conditions. Had 12 Black Kite and a Honey-buzzard male 1 from 12:51-13:30 in small groups of 2-3 either coasting, moving back E to recover ground lost in drift, or flying straight out to sea. The largest group came over at 13:36 of 5 Black Kite and a Honey-buzzard male 2  3 gliding over the island and straight out to sea with much flapping. From 14:33-15:30 had 2 more Black Kite going straight out to sea. So that's total of 23 Black Kite and two Honey-buzzard. Other migrants were 20 Bee-eater overhead moving S and 43 Swallow of which 30 S. At 15:40 while settling down to my beer by the hotel pool over came a male Common Kestrel flying N, presumed resident. Main finding was how powerful Black Kite are in handling the breeze; they are sometimes portrayed as the wimps of the crossing but no sign of that today. They were drifting SW with the following breeze so might be doing the 30-35km to Tanger on the Morocco side. Other birds included a Turnstone on the rocks 1, a Collared Dove on wires 1, a Stonechat male on a bush 1. Was out from 11:00-15:30 for 6km walk. Total for all bird-types today was 17.

September 5th: max 26C, min 23C, fresh E breeze, sunny all day, Tarifa is so windy, increasing the challenge to birds crossing into Africa. Fantastic day with the raptors seeing heavy passage including Black Kite (commonest), Honey-buzzard, Egyptian Vulture, Booted Eagle 1, Lesser Kestrel with Griffon Vulture, Bonelli's Eagle also noted. Will give totals tomorrow but grand total is c200 birds, most moving over the wind-farm to W of the Lances beach 1  2  3; how do the greens justify building wind-farms on one of the most important raptor migration routes in the world? Here’s wind-farms to NW/N 4  5  6. Here’s some signage: coastal paths 1, nature reserve 2  3  4, dogs on lead 5. Some interesting birds other than raptors: Audouin’s Gull (2 adult) 1, Great White Egret 1, Zitting Cisticola 2  3, Stonechat 4, and some ponies 5. Here’s Honey-buzzard piccies: male 1  2  3, male with Black Kite 4, male with 2 Black Kite 5, four birds 6, male with Black Kite, Griffon Vulture, Booted Eagle 7. Some raptors came right over Tarifa and then could be seen flying out to sea in wild conditions. The main flow was over the mountain to W where the orographic lift from the fresh E breeze enabled them to climb to a great height before gliding off to S over the hostile Straits. Marvellous atmosphere to the sightings, hope their stay in Africa goes well! Hotel is very friendly and efficient. Was out from 10:10-14:30 and enjoyed a couple of beers on return before a little siesta! Staying at well appointed Hotel Playa de los Lances 1 on W edge of Tarifa https://hoteltarifalances.com-hotel.com/en/.

Running totals over first 2 days are 213 raptors of 7 types: Black Kite 155 (yesterday 7, today 124 S Los Alcornocales coastal, 24 S Tarifa NW), Honey-buzzard 35 (0, 29, 6), Egyptian Vulture 11 (0, 11,0), Griffon Vulture 7 (0, 6 rest,1 rest), Booted Eagle 3 (0,1,2), Bonelli's Eagle 1 (0, 0, 1 juv rest), Lesser Kestrel 1 (0,0,1). Fantastic! Total for all bird-types today was 37.

September 4th: max 26C, min 22C, moderate E breeze, sunny all day. Caught up a bit with the migrating raptors, up at 03:50 in Hilton at Airport, catching 06:05 NCL-LHR T5, 10:35 LHR T5-GIB, all on time. Landing at GIB is specialised pilot-wise with rapid loss of height in final stages, burying the plane in the runway to avoid drift in the breeze and hammering on reverse thrust to bring the plane to a rapid halt. Had completed a passenger locator form, including vaccination status, to be allowed in. Had lateral flow test for Covid on arrival, in a cabin outside the Airport. Then crossed the border to Spain on foot (La Linea); had to produce my vaccination certificate and have my passport stamped. At this point things stopped going smoothly! Phone went very slow, mobile data ceased as Gibraltar and Spanish systems interfered with each other. And Uber which does not serve Gibraltar was giving confusing messages. So walked another km through La Linea further into Spain and restarted phone. First got an email with good news on the Covid test (not detected). Second Uber did now respond and in 20 min was in car (Skoda!) on way to Tarifa. That cost €64 plus €10 tip for relief at sorting! Driver was Moroccan and he proudly pointed out the impressive scenery on the other side of the Straits in Africa. It's a 42km, 40 min journey, arriving at 17:00 (CEST). Hotel Tarifa Lances is amazing: very spacious, good food and drink, very friendly atmosphere and close to beach and hills. Did see some raptors: a total of 7 Black Kite, including one 100m from the hotel. Also had an adult male Kestrel at LHR. Planning a good walk tomorrow morning to recover from all the sitting around! Tarifa is on the Costa de la Luz, my favourite part of Spain with its Atlantic flavour and amazing light! So back on the Atlantic flyway!

Nick Rossiter 2021-2023

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