Spain Tarifa Day 1

Short-toed Eagle just arrived in off the sea at Tarifa from Morocco

 It's been four years since I last visited the coastal town of Tarifa, south west Spain, and with a £67 return from Bristol to Gibraltar, I made the decision to make a return. I arrived just east of Tarifa before goin to where I was staying at, Tarifa South Hostel. I joined the many birders already present in the car park looking over towards the mountains of Morocco, waiting for the raptors to arrive. It was a strong easterly and Short-toed Eagle and Black Kite were arriving. In the three hours that I was there, I teamed up with Barry Murray and his wife and from Germany, Simon and his girlfriend. It was later while chatting to Simon that I discovered that I bumped into him and his mate four years ago just up the road! I remember it well because the raptors were coming in fast at very close range as we perched on top of a hill. He also told me that I haven't changed. I can assure you that the jeans I was wearing then are not the ones I'm wearing now!
  I left after a few hours and in total I saw 1 Booted, 30+Short-toed Eagle, 120+Black Kite and single Sparrowhawk and Egyptian Vulture. It was good to back!

The Black Kite were too high to get a decent shot as they came in

A Short-toed Eagle struggling with the wind as it makes land fall from Morocco!

  After dropping my rucksack off at the hostel, I made the short walk to where the Lesser Kestrels hang out at Tarifa Castle and also search for the Common Bulbuls nearby. No luck with the bulbul but the pair of kestrel showed very well being very active and vocal. As I returned home I heard Corn Bunting, Sardinian Warbler and Fan-tailed Warbler all over the shop. Overhead, both Short-toed Eagle and Black Kite were still moving through and I continued to watch them from the rooftop of the hostel into the evening.

A pair of Lesser Kestrel were at Tarifa Castle

Fan-tailed Warbler

Corn Bunting

Male Stonechat

Wax Taylor linking up with another one of favourite bands, Tricky! Wax Tailor is one of the leading voices of the instrumental hip-hop and downtempo scenes. With 6 albums under his belt as well as 2 live albums, over 800 shows in 60 countries, he entices fans worldwide with a unique musical blend of Hip-Hop, Soul and Funk enhanced by a sense of storytelling akin to a film director's.