Cream-coloured Courser at Tarifa

One of the rarest waders to turn up in Europe was found by a teacher with a party of schoolchildren out on a field trip on Tarifa beach on the morning of the 12th of April 2012. The teacher knew that it was an unusual bird and phoned Fundación Migres, a local NGO that studies bird migration on The Strait of Gibraltar and described the bird to them. A search was made and the bird was re-located a short distance from the original location. I heard about the sighting around midday but unfortunately I was with French clients over on the other side of the county at the Guadalquivir River.

Cream coloured Courser 5727 — Later that evening I travelled down to Tarifa and made a search, finally locating the Cream-colored Courser (Cursorius cursor). These are some of the photos I managed to take just as the sun was going down behind a stormy sky.

Cream coloured Courser Tarifa 5720 — The Cream-colored Courser, Cursorius cursor, is a wader in the pratincole and courser family, Glareolidae.Although classed as waders, these are birds of dry open country, preferably semi-desert, where they typically hunt their insect prey by running on the ground.

Cream coloured Courser close 5746 — Cream-colored Courser (Cursorius cursor) are generally quite confiding birds and blend in really well against a sandy background. It’s normally their running around that gives them away

Cream coloured Courser Tarifa 5703 — Cream-colored Courser (Cursorius cursor)

Cream coloured Courser Tarifa 5714 — Cream-colored Courser, Cursorius cursor

Visit my website to learn more about my activities as a guide in the Andalucia region of Spain.

Stephen Daly

Stephen Daly, has been birding since he was eight years old in his native Scotland. After living in Germany and France he established Andalucian Guides the successful birding and wildlife tour company on The Strait of Gibraltar in Spain and has been living here since 2001. Photographing birds in flight is one passion and his photos can be found in many books, magazines and journals. Studying bird behaviour and bird migration are two other positive aspects of being based on one of the busiest migration routes on Earth.

Dive in!

Discover hidden wildlife with our FREE newsletters

Stephen Daly

Share this post with your friends

Leave a Reply