June around Lanjaron...Short-toed Treecreepers and Red-rumped Swallows 21st June 2009

We're in the third week of June already and it's getting hotter every day. Working on the mountain above the village continues to bring great birdwatching as residents and summer migrants alike busy themselves with the hard work of nesting and rearing their young.

The olive groves are alive with the calls of finches...large numbers of Chaffinch, Goldfinch and Serin provide a constant soundtrack, adding to the equally familiar calls of Blackbirds and Great Tits. Parties of Long-tailed Tits, a common bird back home but one I never tire of seeing, pass through regularly, their high, thin "tsee...tsee" calls instantly recognizable. Perhaps of greater interest are the Short-toed Treecreepers, working their way up the tree trunks in the constant search for insects, sometimes in pairs or in the company of passing Long-tailed Tits.

Swifts, Swallows and House Martins continue to put on a remarkable aerial display overhead, but I was especially pleased to see some Red-rumped Swallows on a walk down the hill a few days ago. Not the first time I've seen these birds but it was nice to see them on my doorstep.

The huge concentrations of Blackcap have thinned out dramatically over the last few weeks, but the Sardinian Warblers remain in some numbers, their scratchy rattling song giving the hillside a distinctive Mediterranean feel. Seeing Hoopoe regularly recently has certainly been one of the month's highlights, and Bee Eaters continue to show but not in the large flocks of weeks gone by. Finding the nesting colonies of these spectacular seasonal visitors remains one of my priorities!

I think if one bird has captured my imagination this month it would have to be the Golden Oriole. They appear on the hillside where I work regularly, heard more often than seen, their tropical calls and Jay-like screeches a wonderful addition to any day. I'm off on a mission today to try and get some decent photos of a pair nesting locally, with luck I'll have something for website later this evening. Watch this space...