Short trip to Tarifa 19th-22nd of September 2018
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| Short-toed Eagle |
We had the annual autumn trip to Tarifa for raptor and stork migration. The weather was unusual hot, with prevailing Levante, meaning warm easterly winds. At times the wind was very strong, which prevented migration for many raptors. In addition the typical haze that comes with the Levante made it impossible to see the Moroccan shore at times.
The result is that you get a lot of raptors, especially Short-toed Eagles, congregating in the Tarifa area. At one time, I had almost a hundred Short-toeds soaring together without migrating. At times they get very low when coming in from the sea after having failed to cross the strait.
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| Short-toed Eagles can go very low over the terrain when coming in from the sea after an attempt to cross |
The other raptor dominating the third week of September is the Booted Eagle. They can be seen everywhere. I counted hundreds every day, however many failed the crossing and came in again so double-counts is a real problem here.
In addition to the two dominating species, there were still numbers of Black Kites and Honey Buzzards, where the juveniles were most numerous among the latter. As for harriers, there were some Marsh Harriers and very few Montague's. Of them, I had one black morph. As for storks, there were only Black Storks migrating, where one flock of about 200 was impressive.
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| Juvenile Honey Buzzard |
So where to locate yourself under the Levante? Well, the Cazalla watch point is where you get best overview, but birds tend to go high. So my advise is to drive down to the CIMA center (Fundacion Migres Center) close to the sea. Here you can have close encounters with the raptors both in autumn and in the spring. If you have westerlies, however, the Algarrobo watch point close to Algeciras is to prefer (horrible "road").
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| Birdwatching in Tarifa can be really hard... |
We usually stay at a hotel when in Tarifa. This time we in stead rented an apartment close to the beach and the city center. This proved to be excellent. I could watch raptors in the air from the terrace and out on the sea shearwaters, gulls and terns could be watched at the same time. Given this, you can also enjoy the convenience in having refreshments nearby!
