Saturday, 22nd February 2025, 11:38 a.m.
Unnamed Road, Beja, Mértola, Beja, Portugal
Jarmo Jalava
| 3 | Red-legged PartridgeAlectoris rufa |
| 1 | Great Spotted CuckooClamator glandarius audio |
| 1 | Eurasian HoopoeUpupa epops audio and photos |
| 6 | Iberian MagpieCyanopica cooki |
| 8 | Barn SwallowHirundo rustica |
| 1 | Dartford WarblerCurruca undata |
| 1 | Spotless StarlingSturnus unicolor |
| 9 | House/Spanish SparrowPasser domesticus/hispaniolensis |
| 3 | Corn BuntingEmberiza calandra |
| 1 | Emberiza sp.Emberiza sp. If I weren't a visiting birder with no past experience with southern Iberian Peninsula avifauna, in it wasn't such an exceptional observation, I would be 95% sure I saw an alternate-plumaged male Yellowhammer (which I have seen in the past in northern Europe) here. The bird appeared to be a relatively long-tailed bunting (thrush-like GISS in flight) with distinctive yellow head/face with limited bold black markings on the sides of the head (possibly malar), and much yellow overall (e.g., on the belly). I noted white markings on the tail, and dark streaking on the flanks and back. I saw it from a distance of about 50 m. It was visible to me for perhaps 10 seconds total, first in flight from the north (during which I got the best views) when it flew into a deciduous tree, then briefly as it flew from the tree to ground where it remained hidden by graminoid vegetation for a few minutes, and again when it flushed and flew south out of view. I tried, but was unable, to get photos. |