Mediterranean cruise May 12th-29th.

 Not long back from a cruise starting and returning to Southampton, taking in Spain, Malta, Italy Croatia and Corfu. As normal most of the birding on the days in port was very opportunistic, relying on any tours that took us into the countryside or simply what we came across when we went walkabout from the ship.
But at our first Port of Call, Cadiz I had arranged a day out with Javi Elorriaga of Andalucian Guides which produced an excellent variety of species. Thanks Javi !  Check out his blog here:
http://birdingthestrait.com/blog/

One of the highlights of this day out was being taken to Europe's only breeding colony of Little Swifts at Chipiona. Approximately  20 of these lovely birds were present. The species takes over House Martin nests.

Unfortunately Javi found a dead Little Swift chick on the ground, it had a discarded fishing line and hook attached to it's gape. This seemed puzzling at first but Javi explained that Little Swifts often take over House Martin nests that also have been used by House Sparrows, the sparrows collect items to line the nest from the nearby harbour area.