Around the same time last year I witnessed the migration for the first time in the very south of Europe, from the Cazalla Observatory in Tarifa. This spring, due to the rain I had to wait until this weekend to head south. The weather forecast was not too bad, but when I arrived at around 11 am it was a bit misty. After a few hours the mist and clouds disappeared, but a rather strong easterly wind came along.
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| Black Kite |
Most birds crossing the Straits today were Booted Eagles and Black Kites, hundreds of them. Quite straightforward to identify using binoculars but to take decent photographs they had to come fairly close which only a few of them did.
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| Booted Eagle |
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Another Booted Eagle showing its two distinctive white shoulder patches
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| Sparrowhawk |
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| Yellow-legged Gull |
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| This is how crowded it got at times |
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| View to the west |
It wasn't the most spectacular day for birdwatching, but it's always interesting enough to see so many migrating raptors returning to Europe. Fingers crossed they make it safely to their final destination.
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| One of the uncountable wind farms posing a threat to migrating birds |
