Spanish BIrding 1 - Fuengirola

I've just returned from a holiday in Spain, not a nature watching expedition but more of a relaxing sunny break kind of affair. Despite that I managed to get out and about every day even if it was just for a couple of hours in the morning. Fuengirola, our base, is not the most promising prospect for nature spotting particularly if you're arriving for the first time. The large number of high rises and other developments can look all but nature free but I'm happy to say that their are some worthwhile sights to catch up with.

Familiar rooftop sights, Spotless Starling and Yellow-legged Gulls.

We stay in the western part of the resort and from here it's a short walk to both the castle park and the Rio Fuengirola. Following the river can take you out in to the countryside and on into a walk through hilly and scrubby country between the town and the Hippodrome.

New arrivals, Monk Parakeets and Common Waxbill.

I'm not going to give a day by day of account of stuff, rather I'll mention the highlights in case it's of use to anyone else taking a family holiday here. You won't fail to notice both Yellow-legged Gulls and Spotless Starlings on the rooftops while House Sparrows are common. At this time of year the flocks of swifts have gone but there were groups of Crag Martins feeding between the buildings. They roost on both the castle and particularly on sea front buildings where the first rays of the rising sun hit. The tick tick of Robins and the alarms of Blackbirds could be heard, a few are resident but numbers are swelled by migrants from the north.

Female Sardinian Warbler and immature male Black Redstart.

It's these northern migrants that provided interest around the castle park where species such as Meadow Pipits, Grey Wagtails and Black Redstarts joined a small number of wintering Hoopoes and various finches which included Crossbill. On my visit numbers remained low as many are still making their way south though I did notice an increase in both Chiffchaffs and Blackcaps. Most of the Summer migrants had gone but there was still a trickle of passage birds moving through. Pied and Spotted Flycatchers were found and a Yellow Wagtail graced one morning's stroll. Kestrels showed well both here and in the general area, I didn't find a Lesser but they could be around.

Crested lovelies, Crested Lark and Hoopoe.

The Rio Fuengirola was dry for most of its length and that despite a series of thunderstorms that caused damaging floods on other parts of the Costa. The small stretch of water had attracted numbers of Mallards and a few Moorhens while waders included Common and Green Sandpipers. Little Egrets were regular and I saw one Cattle Egret, these are commoner in the horse breeding countryside nearby. Kingfishers were seen on each visit and so too Common Waxbills. Despite having visited this area for many years I had never seen this noisy little species before but on this trip they seemed to be everywhere. I can only imagine that this naturalised species has only just arrived in the area but they may well be here to stay. Another facet of this trip was the large number of Mediterranean Gulls making their way inland from the beach to feed on flying ants with Black-headeds and Spotless Starlings.

Little and Cattle Egrets.

The countryside away from the river  while interesting at other times of the year was rather dull, the commoner finches and Crested Larks making up most of the list with buzzing and rattling Sardinian Warblers and also Great Tits for company. No account of Fuengirola is complete without mention of the Monk Parakeets that abound on this coast. Large and noisy flocks roam throughout though truly impressive numbers can be found in the castle grounds, it doesn't take long to get bored of the things!

Morning glories, Med Gulls and Crag Martin.