Birds in Spain Blog

Aythya ferina x nyroca . PN Doñana, 20.2.2011 © Álvaro Díaz Pastor Álvaro Díaz informa de la observación de dos presuntos híbridos de porrón común y pardo en Doñana, del que se adjunta una fotografia: 'El pasado domingo 20.2.2011 en un periplo por Doñana, Virginia de la Torre, Víctor Giner, Estela Herguido, María Llorente y yo localizamos un más que presumible macho de híbrido de porrón pardo x común en las charcas de El Acebuche, en Doñana. Adjunto una foto que raya lo testimonial. El autor luego confirma por email que en realidad son dos aves, lo que concuerda con observaciones anteriores: En febrero de 2007 localizamos dos invididuos muy similares a éste en las mismas charcas. En febrero de 2008 encontramos otro ahí, quizá uno de los anteriores'. Álvaro Díaz, Madrid La observación de aves híbridas tiene interés dada su variabilidad por lo que dejamos constáncia aquí del interesante conjunto de observaciones. Abstract. Presumed hybrids Common Pochard x Ferruginous Duck at Doñ

On 25.2.2011 while looking for PVC ringed gulls at Riera de Maspujols beach, N Cambrils, Tarragona, Catalunya, I saw what looked as an odd 1w Common Gull ( L.canus ). If I had not seen an hour before another L.canus at Sèquia de Vila-Seca area, Tarragona, perhaps I had thought this bird might have been just an odd one compared with the average Common gull. But I realised there wass something reminding me both Black-headed Gull ( L.ridibundus ) and Mediterranean Gull ( L.melanocephalus ) too. Despite size was larger than those of nearby ridibundus or melanocephalus , therefore OK for canus , the structure was not so compact as in canus should be. The head, besides, was clearly incorrect for the average canus , with a look clearly recalling the smaller gulls nearby. A number of shots, including one of the Vila-Seca 'pure' canus for comparison purposes are included below. So far, the option L.canus x melanocephalus is perhaps the most suitable, with the 'odd' Larus

Gaviota patiamarilla ( Larus michahellis ) NMA4 en Illes Medes el 9.2.2011 (© Ricard Gutiérrez) El 9.2.2011 se pudo fotografiar un adulto de gaviota patiamarilla Larus michahellis en las inmediaciones del embarcador de la isla Meda Gran, L’Estartit, Girona (R.Gutiérrez). El ave presentaba una marca de PVC negro con letras blancas ‘ NMA4 ’. La tramitación de lecturas de anillas de pvc se debe de comunicar a la central anilladora que las gestione. Existen dos portales para tramitar dichas observaciones: El ICO, en Catalunya, tiene el portal ‘ Ocells amb marques especials ’ de donde procede la información de este post. Existe el portal oficial de la Oficina de Anillamiento de la EBD donde se deben de introducir también las anillas leídas correspondientes al remite estatal. Este portal a fecha 15.2.2011 presentaba 388704 anillas utilizadas de metal, 141947 anillas utilizadas de PVC, 130007 observaciones y 868 observadores registrados.

Larus delawarensis , Málaga 3.2.2011 © Adam Wilson Adam Wilson & Dominic Davidson saw a Ring-billed Gull ( Larus delawarensis ) at Guadalhorce river mouth, Málaga, on the 3rd of February 2011. In the report they sent to this blog and the rarities committe (despite the species is no longer a national rarity) they quote as follows: 'I picked up the bird preening and bathing at the edge of the river near the sea. I jogged within earshot of Dom, who was getting something from the car, and told him I had a Ring-billed Gull. We both then watched it for half an hour as it continued to bathe and preen. It was slightly bigger than the nearby Black-headed Gulls, and therefore clearly not one of the large white-headed gull species. The legs were pale green. The bill was broader than Common Gull. The basal two-thirds were yellow, sharply demarcated from the black distal part of the bill (almost a third), which was in turn sharply demarcated from the yellow tip. The bill wasn’t quite as ‘

Leucistic Red-billed Chough ( P.pyrrhocorax ). Mas de Matxerri, Castelldans, Lleida. 4.2.2011 (© Ricard Gutiérrez) Alerted by fellow birdwatcher Sergi Sales who had been watching the bird along the week, on the 4th of February 2011 afternoon we payed a visit to the Mas de Melons nature reserve, an steppe area in S Lleida comarque of Garrigues. When heading to the Matxerri valley of such reserve, we saw a flock of >40 Red-billed Choughs ( Pyrrhocorax pyrrhocorax ) which were foraging in the area. One of them, near the main group but somewhat to the edge of it, was showing the characters Sergi had told us: large milk & coffee coloured wings with otherwise regular coloured bare parts and black body. An aberrantly coloured Chough. While approaching the flock, two Red-legged Partridges ( Alectoris rufa ) flushed and soon afterwards the choughs followed them. Only in-flight record shots could be obtained (Emma Guinart, Ricard Gutiérrez). Leucistic wing feathers included secondaries,

Sortida al riu durant la 5ª edició 2010 (© Ricard Gutiérrez) Entre els dies 23 dels propers mesos de febrer i març de 2011 es celebra la sisena edició del curs d'iniciació a la identificació d'ocells al camp. Es tracta d'una exitosa iniciativa de l'àrea de Medi Ambient de l'ajuntament de L'Hospitalet de Llobregat que ja porta cinc anys seguits efectuant-se (el primer any es van fer dos cursos, la resta un cada any) i que pretèn acostar el món dels ocells als ciutadans, donant unes eines i coneixements per tal de capacitar-los per a identificar la fauna ornítica al camp. El curs és gratuït i només cal inscriure's previament al Centre Cultural de Sant Josep , a L'Hospitalet de Llobregat (telèfon 93 337 06 12). El centre és prop l'estació de Renfe de L'Hospitalet i les estacions de la L1 del metro de Can Serra i Rambla Just Oliveras, també accessible per la línia de bus L14 que connecta la zona amb la Diagonal i la Zona Universitària . El profess