Rare Birds in Spain Blog

Observer Richard Howard who is controlling the Egyptian Plover as being close to his residence in Murcia has sent us the following comments which seem interesting to take into account. I thought I’d drop you a note on my thoughts of whether a vagrant or escape, which may (or may not) be of interest to you. The Plover : a) Shows no signs of any feather damage or facial damage that you might expect had it been caged, in fact it is in pristine condition. b) Shows no sign of any wing clipping that may have been used to stop it escaping. According to my only reference (BWP), the adult only goes through a full moult in the summer. Hence it could not have just moulted, and then escaped. c) No identification rings on the legs. d) Although it will, when feeding, come quite close, you cannot approach it readily – if you do it flies to the opposite bank of the pool, and so is wary. e) It i...

Ver mapa más grande The Egyptian Plover seen last month in Albir beach, Alfàs del Pi, Alicante, was relocated on 19.6 (Antonio Jesús Hernández, Tomás Garcia Rubio; Jacinto Martinez; Diego Zamora; Jose Antonio Barba, Richard Howard et.al) and 20.6 (Richard Howard) at El Algar waste treatment plant, near Cartagena, Murcia. The distance between both places is 124 km in a straight line. New photos soon available in the website. Resumen: Pluvial egipcio relocalizado en El Algar, Cartagena. Se ha observado el 19 y 20.6 un pluvial egipcio en la planta depuradora de El Algar, cerca de Cartagena, Murcia (ver autores arriba). Se trata muy probablemente del mismo ejemplar visto a finales del mes pasado en Alfàs del Pi, Alicante, que dista 124 km en linea recta de El Algar.

A bird of this African species was seen and photographed at close distance on 29.5 at the stonebeach of Albir, in southern Altea, between Benidorm and Calpe, Alicante (Jesper Thomelius). The bird was also seen by some local observers in close dates: according to Avesforum list, the bird wad been found on 4th June 2008 at Albir beach, Alfàs del Pi, Alicante (Fernando Carmona). The bird was drinking on a small water pont and could be seen at 5-10 m distance. Some locals affirmed to Fernando that they had been givig water to the bird until 12 June 2008!. The bird has been relocated in mid June in Cartagena area. The information is being collected in the Rare Birds in Spain website. This would not be the 1st Spanish record though: there is an old reference of a bird collected around La Laguna, Tenerife, in the XIX century (quoted by Cabrera 1893 referenced in Martín & Lorenzo 2001, Aves del Archipiélago Canario ). The same authors quote however that the species can be object of trade...