It's a clear, bright Tuesday morning and with the new month upon us I'm off to Orgiva with a mate chasing supplies for a spot of building work. As always I'm keeping an eye out as we follow the twists and turns in the road along the valley, and I can't help reflecting on the changing of the seasons. You could be pretty much guaranteed to see Woodchat Shrikes along this route over the summer...the hirundines too have largely disappeared south, together with the flocks of Bee Eaters that perched on the telegraph wires along the road throughout July and August.

It's not just about the departures for wintering grounds in Africa though, and the hillsides around Lanjaron has still got some exotic surprises if you keep your eyes open. As we approached Orgiva a Hoopoe flashed across the road...unmistakably broad black and white wings, close enough for me to glimpse the long, curved probing beak and the "Red Indian" crest folded back against the bird's head. Excellent stuff! These flamboyant-looking birds, migratory over so much of their European range, are year-long residents in southern Spain and I'm really pleased we've started November's list with a personal favourite and a regional winter speciality. 

With other species arriving from further north, remember to check the blog regularly for all the latest news as the month unfolds. As always, we'll keep you posted.....

 It's a beautiful hazy October morning, and I'm working for the day on my old patch up on the hillside above the village. With fantastic views down the valley to the coast I've got one eye on the skies above me, hoping for a glimpse of something special to wrap the month up nicely. I have to say I wasn't prepared for what the day had in store...

A quick break from the cement mixer gave me a few minutes to spare and I just glanced up idly to check the skyline, and I have to say I was almost lost for words. There they were...sixteen Griffon Vultures, soaring silently over the valley, so close it felt like I could reach out and touch them. a truly spectacular sight, and one I had hoped I would be lucky enough to see since I arrived here back in February. I had seen my first Griffon from some distance three weeks earlier, but these were the views I had been waiting for. I could see every detail of their plumage, and with their buff-brown backs and distinctive white heads and necks they drifted effortlessly on the air currents overhead, making the tiniest adjustments with their long "fingers" as they circled and wheeled back up the mountain. Absolutely stunning, and one of the greatest birdwatching spectacles I have ever seen.

They reappeared above us maybe thirty minutes later, and this time I counted twenty before they finally moved on. With an eight foot wingspan these magnificent birds have to be seen to be believed, and we're still hoping for more photos before they move on. As always, watch this space for the latest news as we start the new month....

 With work commitments filling my time for a few days, it's been down to Kiersten to keep Birdwatchalpujarras out on patrol, making sure we're up to date with what's going on on our local patch.

With the summer season drawing to a close, it's nice to see some familiar residents still showing well. Some nice shots here...Stonechat continue to stand guard over their territories, ever vigilant, perched on stems and the tops of bushes in the dry scrub above the village. Crested Lark too continue to give great views, less wary and shy than so many of our other more common species.

As the weather finally starts to turn it's good to see (Northern) Wheatear still here...so many of our other summer visitors have headed south, but these beautiful birds seem to be holding on for now and for me they're always a nice addition to the month list. Our local Kestrels have also given Kiersten plenty of practice with the camera recently...these shots could be the pick of the bunch.

While it's good to see our regulars there were a couple of photos that came as a real surprise...our first ever Redstart! I have been lucky enough to see these summer migrants in some numbers back home, the breeding males are particularly striking and rank amongst my very favourite UK birds. On this occasion I thought at first I was looking at a Black Redstart, but the plumage was too buff-brown overall. Further north in Spain Redstarts are a widespread breeding species, but with their preference for broad-leaved woodland I wasn't certain I'd encounter them over the summer months. To find one locally, on passage in autumn plumage, was a real bonus and a brilliant addition to the month list.

As the month progresses I'm looking forward to getting back on the birdwatching trail. We'll keep you up to date with all the news as summer finally draws to an end.....

 With the month rolling on it's time to catch up with all the comings and goings "on the doorstep" as I take another look at birdwatching down in the valley below the village.

All those House Martins that hung on through the tail-end of summmer have finally really thinned out now...with just the last one or two joining their Crag Martin cousins in the skies over the ridge. The Bee Eaters too have left en masse and I haven't heard their familiar calls for at least a fortnight. All the Spotted Flycatchers seemed to disappear suddenly overnight towards the end of last month, as did the Alpine Swifts which had continued to arrive above the cliff and trill loudly into the night for weeks. A single pale-form Booted Eagle soared purposefully down the valley and headed for the coast, followed a couple of hours later by two more...I wonder if these individuals may be the last we'll see this season as they relocate to Africa for the winter.

This is however, only part of the picture. Our raucous Sardinian Warblers have been joined by huge numbers of wintering Blackcap, gorging themselves in the fruit trees nearby...I've never seen so many in one place at one time. Chiffchaff continue to show well, flicking their tails as they forage animatedly through the orchards and olive groves around the house. The flocks of Serin and Goldfinches seem to be getting larger and other regulars continue to show well...I've had great views of Blue Rock Thrush over the past fortnight, as this year's youngsters relocate through the valley from their parents' territories.

Robins have arrived in the last week or so, adding their sweet song to the familiar mix of warblers, finches, Great Tits and House Sparrows. The dawn chorus sounds like a spring morning and we're almost in November! Fantastic to have Black Redstart back with us too...always a highlight for me, it's only been a few days since they started to arrive but I'm seeing more and more now. With their jet black and sooty grey plumage and the red flash of their tails they're a great seasonal addition the list and I hope we'll be seeing them right through the coming months.

With other wintering birds on their way we will as ever keep all the news up to date. With trips in the pipeline we're looking to get the year-list up so watch this space for details!

 With our migrant eagles heading south for the winter the skies above Lanjaron have a slightly emptier feel to them, but that's not to say there isn't still plenty to look out for. While I have been working up on the hillside Kiersten has been equally busy watching for passage raptors and other new arrivals...and with Griffon Vultures passing through above the village, we're hoping for some more sightings and photos.

Today we had another welcome surprise. Sparrowhawks have been showing well recently around the village, giving Kiersten a chance to test that new camera lense once again...and we've had some really nice views in recent days.

Today however she returned with some all together more intriguing shots...a "mystery bird of prey" turned out to be nothing less than a Peregrine Falcon, a life-first tick for Kiersten and a brilliant addition to the month list. Excellent stuff. Hope you enjoy the photos! With this particular individual showing juvenile plumage, it raises the prospect that these fantastic birds nested locally. We'll be watching out for them as always, and we'll keep you up to date with the news...

It´s the first week of October, and I´m helping the Spanishhighs Mountain Guides crew with some work on their house above Lanjaron. As always, I´ve got one eye on the sky and I´m listening to the birdsong on the hillside around me. As ever, the Sardinian Warblers are clicking and churring in the olive trees, adding to the familiar white noise of the Serin and House Sparrows. Crag Martins and the last of the summer´s House Martins swooped and swirled overhead, giving Kiersten a chance to get to grips with a new camera lense...and it wasn´t long before she came up with a bit of a surprise. Barn Swallows...just one or two in amongst their hirundine cousins, their red cheeks and tail streamers just visible as they flashed by. The literature suggests a year-long presence for this species in parts of southern Spain. The population that nested in the village certainly left and went somewhere a couple of months ago, and I can´t help wondering where these stragglers arrived from....Scotland? Scandinavia? Intriguing stuff...

The appearance of a large bird of prey soaring high above us on the mountainside brought the work to a brief standstill, and I found myself straining to identify a speck on the skyline some distance away. Huge, that much was certain...with the migrant raptors on their way south I thought we could be looking at a Golden Eagle, but Kiersten managed to get the camera on it and the day took a major turn. Griffon Vulture! I couldn´t believe it...a life first for me and a bird I had been desperate to see since I arrived back in February. Absolutely fantastic! Richard and Kiersten had returned triumphantly from a mountain trek earlier this summer with these fabulous photos leaving me massively impressed and green with envy, so for me to catch up on life-list tick was a truly great moment.  Outstanding camera work from my birdwatching partners, hope you enjoy the images. With these magnificent birds on the move in the mountains above the village, we´ll keep you posted with the news as the month rolls on.....

Watch the video:-

With the end of the month upon us the offer of a couple of days work has taken me up the mountain above the village, and I´m back on my favourite patch on the hillside once again.  I learnt to keep one eye skywards early on during my time up here...with beautiful views down towards the coast and the sea it´s always been a fantastic spot for raptors and the local Booted and Short-toed Eagles showed well throughout the summer months. 

The year has rolled on however and these migrants have headed south to their wintering grounds in Africa, so the appearance of a large bird of prey soaring over the house immediately caught my attention. With a dark brown chest and distinctive long tail the bird´s control in the air was effortless, minute adjustments in the ¨fingers¨ of its wingtips were all it required to patrol lazily overhead. Golden Eagle. Glorious! Great to see this hugely impressive bird close up, and a terrific end to the birding month.

Even Golden Eagles sometimes encounter unexpected complications, and don´t always have everything their way. Today the local Kestrels were out and about, and clearly took a dim view of this intrusion into their territory. I watched a Golden Oriole furiously see a Golden     Eagle off further up the valley over the summer, and today the pair of falcons were every bit as indignant. They mobbed the eagle mercilessly, showing no respect at all despite being dwarfed by its bulk. With timeless patience the Goldie drifted off, maintaining its dignity throughout. Talk about composure! Anything for a quiet life, I guess. Another special moment in the hills above Lanjaron. I just hope these magnificent birds stay with us through the winter...... 

With the marauding Sparrowhawk having failed to reappear for a day or so and after a distinct improvement in the weather it would appear to be "business as usual" down here in the valley below Lanjaron. A walk back down the hill this morning brought the now familiar trills of Alpine Swifts over the cliff-face above the river...I counted ten, swirling as usual above the ridge. I suspect these may well be new arrivals from further north, on a short stay before following our other earlier flocks south.

Bee Eaters too would seem to be on the move...I counted a noisy group of about forty this afternoon. No gliding and swooping to feed today though. They flew high up, in tight formation with that slower, more measured flight that gives the distinct feeling that they're "going somewhere", as they headed down the valley towards the coast.

Parties of Goldfinch and Serin pass through all day, adding to the "white noise" of the House Sparrows. Our Spotted Flycatchers are showing no signs of moving off just yet and continue to snatch passing insects from favourite perches around the house. Sardinian Warblers are showing well and I've had great views of both female and male Blackcap, largely absent through the heat of the summer months. The "hoo-wit" calls of Willow Warblers show no sign of thinning out just yet, I'm now seeing them regularly throughout the day.Towards dusk a Chiffchaff sang from cover only yards from where I was working, adding to my conviction that both these Phylloscopus warblers have arrived in some numbers.

As the light started to fade I was even more surprised by the strident, metallic call of a Cetti's Warbler, impossibly close by, and yet completely hidden from view...of course I made the futile gesture of actually looking for it, and it called again enthusiastically as I packed up for the day. Brilliant!

With the prospect of trips out further afield in the coming days I can't wait to see what's happening outside Lanjaron...as ever we'll keep the updates coming in through the weeks ahead!..........

 Friday morning...and there was something odd going on the terraces around the house today. Most of the usual suspects were, I thought, around as normal but there was a sense of unrest about everything. I counted first one, then two, three and maybe a fourth Spotted Flycatcher, but their "tzick...tzick" alarm calls had a tense feeling of "high alert" about them. Then the penny slowly dropped. No Serin, no Goldfinches...even the House Sparrows were surprisingly quiet.

The Sardinian Warblers had fallen off the grid completely, I could hear that familiar scolding, rattling call but they had all but disappeared from view. Weird. 

I walked round the side of the house and in a flash everything made sense. Sparrowhawk! Swooping silently into a Walnut tree beside me, so close it was if I could have reached out and touched it. Immaculate female plumage, clean slate grey with pencil-line fine barring across her chest, pale eye stripe and broad dark bands under her tail...she looked at me for a second through one bright yellow eye and darted off as swiftly as she had arrived. Finally! My first ever in Spain, and a brand new raptor for the year list. Fabulous.

Fabulous for me, that is... rather more of a problem for the garden's songbird community! They are one of the more frequently seen birds of prey back in the UK, occurring in parks, larger gardens and even city centres, but despite what would seem to be perfect local habitat and a resident breeding range that covers the whole of Spain for some reason they've eluded me until today. Definitely a bird from the top of the "so where exactly are they?" list. I'd never have believed it if I had been told I would arrive in the Alpujarras and wait this long for a Sparrowhawk. I wonder if there is some seasonal local movement that means we may see more of them through the winter months. I look forward to finding out.

We had great views of the local male Kestrel through the afternoon, calling loudly from the far side of the valley, and slowly as the day progressed the finches, warblers and other songbirds started to show again after the Sparrowhawk incident. Later, a familiar "cronk...cronk" had me looking skywards and a Raven flapped effortlessly across the valley, slowing for some plunging display swoops over the cliff-face opposite, calling loudly all the way. It's the first time I've seen one of these huge crows below the village. A juvenile perhaps, relocating and looking for its own territory after leaving its parents higher up in the mountains. I think the crags down here deserve a Raven, and I hope it stays on. As always, we'll keep you posted....

 Thursday morning, and as usual I'm "doing the rounds" and checking out what's going on before I start work. It was the beautiful, bright song of a Blackcap that got me out of the flat today, I tracked its calls from tree to tree around to the back of the house as it stayed in deep cover all the way...but as is often the case with these elusive birds, on this occasion it just didn't want to be seen.

I was soon distracted by other activity and the "hoo-wit" call of a Phylloscopus warbler soon brought great views of...a Chiffchaff? Definitely a flush of lemon yellow around the chest on this one, eye stripe good and strong, but it took pale yellow-brown legs put it beyond any doubt. Willow Warbler! Great views here as it flitted between the foliage of the orange trees, and a brand new passage species confirmed for the season in Spain. Excellent!

The weather was kinder this morning and all the usual regulars showed well...a noisy party of Great Tits passed through, adding to the background chatter of the House Sparrows and the curious "R2-D2" beeps and buzzes of the Spotless Starlings higher up the hill. A juvenile Blue Rock Thrush showed well yards from the house yesterday, but today it was a Grey Wagtail that caught my eye, pecking around on the drive of the property next door.

Serin and Chaffinches always add a splash of colour and as ever I could hear Sardinian Warblers calling from cover, but I've been concentrating on the new arrivals these past few days. Another Phylloscopus warbler showed well now, almost identical to the Willow Warbler of moments earlier, but I'm certain I can see the slightest of differences in tone in the plumage and there was no hint of pale yellow here. Difficult birdwatching this! Black legs would have wrapped it up beyond any doubt but for now I'm as confident as I can be that this was a Chiffchaff and that both closely related species are currently here. 

A walk with the household's dogs down the river and beyond was a chance for me to map out some new paths and off we went. A handful of House Martins and the odd Red-rumped Swallow are still swooping and swirling around the cliff-face above the river but I was pleased to see good numbers of Crag Martins today, rather sombre, grey-brown year-long residents but every bit as expert in the air as their migratory cousins.

A single Grey Wagtail passed overhead and the inevitable calls of Bee Eaters accompanied us along the way. A flock of about forty or so circled above us calling constantly, with some darting down to join the hirundines hunting over the river bed. We passed through an olive grove and I finally got the views of a Firecrest that I've been waiting for. A pair this time, ignoring me completely as they flitted animatedly between the olive leaves, giving their "zeet, zeet" calls  and showing their fiery crests and bold white eyestripes superbly. Good stuff.

Further uphill we passed a stand of broom and giant flowering grasses and I heard a call I thought I might have heard closer to the river. The metallic, explosive song of a Cetti's Warbler, almost echoing off the rocky slope behind it...a few minutes spent waiting for even a brief glimpse proved predictably pointless as this secretive bird stayed firmly hidden.

A nice walk today, with a new route for me to follow in the future. With the Willow Warbler now in the season's mix of course I suspect the confusion isn't entirely over. As always, we'll keep you posted!.....