John Cantelo
@johncantelo.bsky.social
Retired teacher & Kent birder (VP of the KOS) but obsessive about birding Cadiz Province. Editor/author @ Crossbill Guides
Awareness that a few Pallid Swifts turn up in the UK in late autumn is relatively new & probably boosts reports. It's a bit left-field but I wonder (esp after colonisation of mainland Portugal) whether the odd Plain Swift is being dismissed as Common but could we confidently identify lone birds?! 🪶
November 10, 2025 at 12:55 PM
Awareness that a few Pallid Swifts turn up in the UK in late autumn is relatively new & probably boosts reports. It's a bit left-field but I wonder (esp after colonisation of mainland Portugal) whether the odd Plain Swift is being dismissed as Common but could we confidently identify lone birds?! 🪶
Dusky Warbler on Thanet this AM which showed well intermittently. Also Whitethroat there. Then a desultory look for Pallid Swift (I see too many in Spain to be very bothered). Here's the habitat which held the Dusky - there's miles of similar stuff on Thanet which could hide a dozen Dusky Warblers!🪶
November 9, 2025 at 6:25 PM
Dusky Warbler on Thanet this AM which showed well intermittently. Also Whitethroat there. Then a desultory look for Pallid Swift (I see too many in Spain to be very bothered). Here's the habitat which held the Dusky - there's miles of similar stuff on Thanet which could hide a dozen Dusky Warblers!🪶
East Kent was awash with rarities today 8/11 - Desert Wheatear, Pallid Swifts, 2 Dusky, 2+ Yellow-browed & 5+ Pallas's Warblers. I only saw the Pallas's at Hope Point (Bockhill) - 3 brief glimpses - as it was very elusive covering every inch of the hawthorn scrub there.
November 8, 2025 at 5:28 PM
East Kent was awash with rarities today 8/11 - Desert Wheatear, Pallid Swifts, 2 Dusky, 2+ Yellow-browed & 5+ Pallas's Warblers. I only saw the Pallas's at Hope Point (Bockhill) - 3 brief glimpses - as it was very elusive covering every inch of the hawthorn scrub there.
A nice chap just knocked on my door in Canterbury & handed over my wallet -lost near Dover a few weeks ago. He apologised profusely for not being able to deliver it earlier (it's a 40-mile round trip). It's good to have your faith in humanity confirmed. I hope he enjoys the bottle of red I gave him!
November 5, 2025 at 1:02 PM
A nice chap just knocked on my door in Canterbury & handed over my wallet -lost near Dover a few weeks ago. He apologised profusely for not being able to deliver it earlier (it's a 40-mile round trip). It's good to have your faith in humanity confirmed. I hope he enjoys the bottle of red I gave him!
Interesting tour & wine tasting at Balfour Winery (Marden, Kent) yesterday (1/11). Good wine but most impressed by their concern for conservation/biodiversity. No need to drive - train to Marden & free shuttle bus. Great day out with kind weather.
November 2, 2025 at 9:42 AM
Interesting tour & wine tasting at Balfour Winery (Marden, Kent) yesterday (1/11). Good wine but most impressed by their concern for conservation/biodiversity. No need to drive - train to Marden & free shuttle bus. Great day out with kind weather.
Lost wallet - if any birding friends hear of a wallet being found at St Margaret's Bay/Pines Garden/South Forereland (Kent) yesterday, it's mine! Last used at the beach cafe. Cards stopped but don't want the hassle of getting a replacement driving licence, etc.
October 23, 2025 at 11:39 AM
Lost wallet - if any birding friends hear of a wallet being found at St Margaret's Bay/Pines Garden/South Forereland (Kent) yesterday, it's mine! Last used at the beach cafe. Cards stopped but don't want the hassle of getting a replacement driving licence, etc.
Alarming start to today's birding - my phone hadn't charged overnight so no news, etc. Luckily, my passenger Nick B wanted to look for Y-b W in Ramsgate Cemetery (my 1st visit). Got there just as y'days Red-flanked Bluetail was refound. 😁 No photos - here's a similar one I drew (decades) earlier 🪶
October 19, 2025 at 3:18 PM
Alarming start to today's birding - my phone hadn't charged overnight so no news, etc. Luckily, my passenger Nick B wanted to look for Y-b W in Ramsgate Cemetery (my 1st visit). Got there just as y'days Red-flanked Bluetail was refound. 😁 No photos - here's a similar one I drew (decades) earlier 🪶
A glorious autumnal day in Kent so I cycled from Canterbury to Reculver & back via Chambers Wall & Hoath. Few birds about so stopped at the charming & clearly much-loved Hoath church. Perhaps over-restored in the 19thC but we'd have fewer surviving Medieval parish churches without the Victorians!
October 9, 2025 at 3:55 PM
A glorious autumnal day in Kent so I cycled from Canterbury to Reculver & back via Chambers Wall & Hoath. Few birds about so stopped at the charming & clearly much-loved Hoath church. Perhaps over-restored in the 19thC but we'd have fewer surviving Medieval parish churches without the Victorians!
Double jabbed flu/covid AM then several hours PM looking for an elusive juv PALLID HARRIER at Reculver/Shuart (Kent) finally seeing it late afternoon. 🤞🏼it winters. Now reacting to the jabs & feeling a bit ropey ☹️🪶
October 7, 2025 at 9:25 PM
Double jabbed flu/covid AM then several hours PM looking for an elusive juv PALLID HARRIER at Reculver/Shuart (Kent) finally seeing it late afternoon. 🤞🏼it winters. Now reacting to the jabs & feeling a bit ropey ☹️🪶
£6,000! Thanks to the generosity of the birding community, my 300pp guide to Birding Cadiz Province has now raised 6x more in donations to the @alzheimerssoc.bsky.social in Liz's memory than I dared hope. PM me with your email address if you'd like a copy. Please share! Heartfelt thanks to all 🪶
October 7, 2025 at 8:27 AM
£6,000! Thanks to the generosity of the birding community, my 300pp guide to Birding Cadiz Province has now raised 6x more in donations to the @alzheimerssoc.bsky.social in Liz's memory than I dared hope. PM me with your email address if you'd like a copy. Please share! Heartfelt thanks to all 🪶
My good friend in Alcala de los Gazules, Bob Lloyd, has just posted this excellent analysis of Ai on his FB page. It's so good that I have to share it here.
October 4, 2025 at 10:35 AM
My good friend in Alcala de los Gazules, Bob Lloyd, has just posted this excellent analysis of Ai on his FB page. It's so good that I have to share it here.
I birded this AM then PM cycled out to Patrixbourne to marvel at one of Kent's finest Norman church doorways (2nd only to Barfreston). What must it have looked like when freshly carved? Iron gateway to the lord of the manor's abode, a sad reminder of the demolished (in '45) Georgian Bifrons House.
October 2, 2025 at 5:36 PM
I birded this AM then PM cycled out to Patrixbourne to marvel at one of Kent's finest Norman church doorways (2nd only to Barfreston). What must it have looked like when freshly carved? Iron gateway to the lord of the manor's abode, a sad reminder of the demolished (in '45) Georgian Bifrons House.
Oceanic sprites dancing on the rolling swell - a short account (with my naff photos) of the Wilson's Storm-petrel bonanza I enjoyed this September off Chipiona - the last of my 4 autumnal updates. 🪶 birdingcadizprovince.weebly.com/cadiz-birdin...
Autumn 2025 Update 4 - all at sea (again)
A pelagic trip is now a fixed part of my schedule when in Spain in autumn. Places are relatively few and they are very popular so it's best to book well in advance and even then I have sometimes...
birdingcadizprovince.weebly.com
October 1, 2025 at 1:34 PM
Oceanic sprites dancing on the rolling swell - a short account (with my naff photos) of the Wilson's Storm-petrel bonanza I enjoyed this September off Chipiona - the last of my 4 autumnal updates. 🪶 birdingcadizprovince.weebly.com/cadiz-birdin...
I've just finished revising my free Birding Cadiz Guide (but donations via my Just Giving page to Alzheimer's Society are very welcome). No major changes, just minor updates (corrections are also posted on my blog - birdingcadizprovince.weebly.com/cadiz-birdin...)
October 1, 2025 at 1:26 PM
I've just finished revising my free Birding Cadiz Guide (but donations via my Just Giving page to Alzheimer's Society are very welcome). No major changes, just minor updates (corrections are also posted on my blog - birdingcadizprovince.weebly.com/cadiz-birdin...)
Twitched R-n Phalarope at RSPB Lydden this morning ... by bike! Avoided the busy A257 (Canterbury-Sandwich road) by taking minor roads via Bekesbourne, Staple & Eastry to Worth (c34-mile round trip). Rewarded myself with lunchtime baguette at Chalkpit Farm cafe. Home in time for an afternoon nap 🙂🪶
September 30, 2025 at 1:48 PM
Twitched R-n Phalarope at RSPB Lydden this morning ... by bike! Avoided the busy A257 (Canterbury-Sandwich road) by taking minor roads via Bekesbourne, Staple & Eastry to Worth (c34-mile round trip). Rewarded myself with lunchtime baguette at Chalkpit Farm cafe. Home in time for an afternoon nap 🙂🪶
A fabulous birthday w/e, courtesy of daughters Gemma & Anna. 1st a visit to Hawkinge Battle of Britain Museum (so many excavated Merlin engines!) & then a moving visit to the BofB monument (Dad was RAF in WW2). Supper at the superb (& absurdly underpriced) www.nepalikitchen.co.uk in Sandgate.
September 28, 2025 at 6:28 PM
A fabulous birthday w/e, courtesy of daughters Gemma & Anna. 1st a visit to Hawkinge Battle of Britain Museum (so many excavated Merlin engines!) & then a moving visit to the BofB monument (Dad was RAF in WW2). Supper at the superb (& absurdly underpriced) www.nepalikitchen.co.uk in Sandgate.
Another blog post updating my Birding Cadiz Guide mainly concerning water levels & access along the Gudalquivir between Trebujena & Algaida. More to follow. Pleased to top-and-tail my spring-autumn season with Rufous Bushchat! 🪶 birdingcadizprovince.weebly.com/cadiz-birdin...
Autumn 2025 Updates - Trebujena - Bonanza
Trebujena Having seen one of the first Rufous Bushchats to arrive in April, I was keen to visit the Trebujena area again in September to find one before they left on migration. Knowing that they...
birdingcadizprovince.weebly.com
September 25, 2025 at 4:37 PM
Another blog post updating my Birding Cadiz Guide mainly concerning water levels & access along the Gudalquivir between Trebujena & Algaida. More to follow. Pleased to top-and-tail my spring-autumn season with Rufous Bushchat! 🪶 birdingcadizprovince.weebly.com/cadiz-birdin...
Another date for my insomniac friends to note - I'll be giving a talk entitled "Fabulous February - Birding in SW Andalucia in Winter" at Sandwich Bay Bird Observatory this Thursday (25/09) at 19.00 🪶
September 23, 2025 at 10:57 AM
Another date for my insomniac friends to note - I'll be giving a talk entitled "Fabulous February - Birding in SW Andalucia in Winter" at Sandwich Bay Bird Observatory this Thursday (25/09) at 19.00 🪶
I've started to post blog updates re. Birding Cadiz Province after my recent visit (my guide will be updated anon). First up, a comparison of two lagunas - L de Medina ( wet & brilliant) and L de Jeli (disappointing - now invisible from the hide) 🪶 birdingcadizprovince.weebly.com/cadiz-birdin...
Autumn Update 1 2025 - Lagunas de Medina & de Jeli
Laguna de Medina The complexes of lagunas that dot (or used to dot) Cadiz Province (also edging into Seville Province) represent an important ecosystem of wetlands long famed for harbouring some of...
birdingcadizprovince.weebly.com
September 20, 2025 at 3:54 PM
I've started to post blog updates re. Birding Cadiz Province after my recent visit (my guide will be updated anon). First up, a comparison of two lagunas - L de Medina ( wet & brilliant) and L de Jeli (disappointing - now invisible from the hide) 🪶 birdingcadizprovince.weebly.com/cadiz-birdin...
Remarkably empty skies above Alcala de los Gazules this morning - a LK, a handful of Griffons and the odd phalanx of Alpine Swifts arcing over - saved by the late appearance of two Black Storks. They decently remained long enough for me to nip downstairs for my camera & get some record shots🪶
September 14, 2025 at 10:44 AM
Remarkably empty skies above Alcala de los Gazules this morning - a LK, a handful of Griffons and the odd phalanx of Alpine Swifts arcing over - saved by the late appearance of two Black Storks. They decently remained long enough for me to nip downstairs for my camera & get some record shots🪶
3 hrs birding nr Castillo de Torrestrella (Medina Sidonia) this afternoon. Last 3 visits have produced Spanish Imperial Eagles (up to 4) within minutes. Arranged to show the site to a friend today who wanted to show SIEs to the birding group he's leading. Naturally, they didn't show! Whose law?🪶
September 12, 2025 at 3:52 PM
3 hrs birding nr Castillo de Torrestrella (Medina Sidonia) this afternoon. Last 3 visits have produced Spanish Imperial Eagles (up to 4) within minutes. Arranged to show the site to a friend today who wanted to show SIEs to the birding group he's leading. Naturally, they didn't show! Whose law?🪶
Few raptors (& all very high) over my terrace in Alcala de los Gazules this AM but swarms (hundreds) of Alpine Swifts tracing a path across the sky.
September 12, 2025 at 8:46 AM
Few raptors (& all very high) over my terrace in Alcala de los Gazules this AM but swarms (hundreds) of Alpine Swifts tracing a path across the sky.
A beautifully sunny yet cool morning with a light cooling breeze here in the shade on my terrace in Alcala de los Gazules. I decided to do an Ebird list once I saw my first raptor but I'm still waiting (a rare event here). 20+ Alpine Swifts low overhead was some compensation 🪶
September 11, 2025 at 9:18 AM
A beautifully sunny yet cool morning with a light cooling breeze here in the shade on my terrace in Alcala de los Gazules. I decided to do an Ebird list once I saw my first raptor but I'm still waiting (a rare event here). 20+ Alpine Swifts low overhead was some compensation 🪶
Somewhat miffed to dip Ruppell's Vulture at Laja de Zarga yet again (seen once in a dozen visits) but pleased to see two at Cazalla later. My birding day ended with 2 (possibly 3) Spanish Imperial Eagles south of Medina Sidonia. One being mobbed by a Bonelli's Eagle as I got out of the car🪶
September 11, 2025 at 7:49 AM
Somewhat miffed to dip Ruppell's Vulture at Laja de Zarga yet again (seen once in a dozen visits) but pleased to see two at Cazalla later. My birding day ended with 2 (possibly 3) Spanish Imperial Eagles south of Medina Sidonia. One being mobbed by a Bonelli's Eagle as I got out of the car🪶
Y'day Bee-eaters flew above me at tree-top level but it was a strain to hear them. A few moments ago 50-60 flew over the terrace only a little higher up in, as far as I could tell, complete silence. Hearing loss really impacts on birding☹️ but the view here is still great! 🪶
September 9, 2025 at 3:31 PM
Y'day Bee-eaters flew above me at tree-top level but it was a strain to hear them. A few moments ago 50-60 flew over the terrace only a little higher up in, as far as I could tell, complete silence. Hearing loss really impacts on birding☹️ but the view here is still great! 🪶