top of page

Photographic report of a birding trip to Costa Ballena

Today I visited Costa Ballena in Rota, after a short and disappointing visit to El Bercial in El Puerto de Santa Maria, where there were construction works hence no interesting bird activity. There is no such thing as a routine visit to Costa Ballena, you always witness something special.



Black Redstart
A fabulous Black Redstart

I spent half an hour trying to get some sharp shots of Crag Martins that were flying low over the water. This was a difficult task, as the birds were moving very quickly. I used a shutter speed of only 1/1600s to compensate for an aperture of F/13. With these settings, the camera used an auto ISO of 6400, but I managed to get some decent photos. Nevertheless I will try to use a much faster shutter speed next time.




Crag Martin flying low over the water
Crag Martin

Crag Martin flying low over the water



Crag Martin drinking in flight
Very close to the shot I was after



Male Kestrel sitting on a wooden post
Male Kestrel overlooking the dunes


Kestrel with a catterpillar
Soon coming back with a caterpillar

I already have a whole collection of a wide variety of prey in the claws of Kestrels: Barn Swallows, Geckos, Grashoppers, but today I added a beautiful caterpillar to that. In nature, beauty does not save your life, unfortunately: the Kestrel had a delicious meal right in front of my eyes.


Today was the first time after the summer that the cold was clearly noticeable. The low temperatures and the chilly wind did not seem to affect the presence of many birds though: I counted 38 different species, a high but normal number for this fascinating birding hotspot.




Cormorant looking at a palm tree
This Cormorant was melancholically longing to next summer


Monk Parakeet
The ever-present noisy Monk Parakeet


Black-headed Gull
Black-headed Gull


Kestrel sitting in a palm tree
One of four Kestrels I saw today



Kestrel flying through the air
'One man's death is another man's bread'


Two Ruddy Turnstones
Ruddy Turnstone


Shoveler
Shoveler


Magpie standing in the grass
Magpie


Black Redstart
Black Redstart


Male Kestrel spreading its wings in flight
Male Kestrel



0 comments

Related Posts

See All

Comments


bottom of page