Rare Birds in Spain Blog

Aspect of the area where the bird was seen. Deltebre, Tarragona, 9.1.2015 (Ricard Gutiérrez) A bird was seen at the suburban areas of Deltebre, Tarragona, by the river Ebre, on 6.1.2015 (Iain Hartley). The bird was seen intermitently and was elusive. Many local birders visited the area until 10.1.2015 without further relocation of the bird. Until 9.2.2015 (see below). After contacting the observer, Iain supplied a full account of the observation included below plus record shots of the bird in the bushes which show a bird which looks like a medium sized shrike. 1st contact was made on 31.12.2014 . Iain Hartley account as follows with our capitals or bolds: Since there don't seem to have been any further records, I thought I should contact you around the circumstances of the finding of the brown shrike in Deltebre and explain why I was not able to release the news sooner.  On 31st December , I went for a short walk along the River Ebre from my wife's family hous...

The record of a male Common Yellowthroat in Trebujena,Cádiz on 19.9.2014 afternoon by Juan de Dios Andrade has won the poll 'Rarest of the Rare 2014' in Spain, with 72 votes, 52% of the total. 137 votes have been collected and this American vagrant has beaten 2nd classified, the Girona December 2014 Pygmy Cormorant, also a 1st for Spain (29 votes, 21%) and the 3rd, the Fuerteventura Abyssinian Roller from June with 21 votes, 15%. Details of the original observation as reported in the website are repeated below. All three podium species have been 1sts for the country. Congratulations and thanks for voting.  *** Mascarita común, 'la más rara de las raras 2014'. La cita del macho de Mascarita común en Trebujena, Cádiz, el 19.9.2014 (Juan de Dios Andrade) ha ganado la encuesta 'El más raro de los raros 20140, con 72 votos, el 52% del total. Se han recogido un total de 137 votos y este divagante americano, primera cita para España, ha quedado por dela...

Rarest of the rare contest is back again! In its 5th year in-a-row edition , you'll find enclosed below a selection of of perhaps the rarest sightings obtained in the country during 2014 chosen by the webmaster of Rarebirdspain.net according to scarcity or singularity of the record.  This year, Rare Birds in Spain , in its 14 year-in-a-row has published until 26th December 2014 news on 978 national rarity sightings and has published 427 large (720 pixels wide) original photos, 16 videos and 414 small sized (thumbnails) supporting photos kindly sent by the authors . A major step towards a better understanding of the occurrence of rare birds in Spain. It therefore has not been easy to choose a selection of the rarest birds recorded amongst those 978 records and 857 media received, but once again the rarest of the rare is below and it's up to you choose which will be. Please vote  the poll (right side of the blog) to see which species sighting can be considered ...

Un zorzal patagón ( Turdus falcklandii ) en Galicia: un engaño fotográfico Cosme Damián Romay Cousido cdromay@gmail.com [ Austral Thrush Turdus falcklandii at Galicia, NW Spain: a fake photograph. Other languages: use the automatic translation applet in the right side column]  © Mónica Soto     El 21 de diciembre de 2014 salió publicada una fotografía de un zorzal en la página de Facebook del programa “O Tempo” de la Televisión de Galicia (“O Tempo TVG”) (Anónimo, 2014). La autora, Mar Ferreiro, ilustraba con la foto una estampa otoñal, tal y como recogería el texto de esta imagen (“ Un zorzal de Lourenzá. Nubes baixas pero con temperaturas suaves no último suspiro do outono. Foto de Mar Ferreiro”).  Javier Estévez Cortizo vio la fotografía y comentó que “ Semella ser un tordo americano ( Turdus rufopalliatus )” . Esta especie es residente en México, siendo divagante en el extremo suroeste de los Estados Unidos (Swick, 2012). ...