John Cantelo
@johncantelo.bsky.social
Retired teacher & Kent birder (VP of the KOS) but obsessive about birding Cadiz Province. Editor/author @ Crossbill Guides
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.
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.
Where did Trump get his inspiration for cluttering up his nation's capital with oversized, self-aggrandising, neoclassical kitch buildings?
October 23, 2025 at 5:18 PM
Where did Trump get his inspiration for cluttering up his nation's capital with oversized, self-aggrandising, neoclassical kitch buildings?
A cleaned up & more muted version of the original better reflects the appearance of today's bird
October 19, 2025 at 4:09 PM
A cleaned up & more muted version of the original better reflects the appearance of today's bird
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!
£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.
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 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 🪶
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! 🪶
Waxbills may not be a native European species but that doesn't stop them from being pretty little it's when seen up close 🪶
September 9, 2025 at 11:33 AM
Waxbills may not be a native European species but that doesn't stop them from being pretty little it's when seen up close 🪶
After fruitlessly checking Valcargado track y'day & La Janda this AM, a last gasp attempt at Castillo de Torrestrella (Medina Sidonia) came up trumps with 4 Spanish Imperial Eagles circling high. My guest Jonno Cook (@sussexornitholo.blue.sky) was rather pleased 😄
September 8, 2025 at 4:31 PM
After fruitlessly checking Valcargado track y'day & La Janda this AM, a last gasp attempt at Castillo de Torrestrella (Medina Sidonia) came up trumps with 4 Spanish Imperial Eagles circling high. My guest Jonno Cook (@sussexornitholo.blue.sky) was rather pleased 😄
Rubbish BoC shot of a dark morph Montagu's Harrier in Cadiz - always great birds to see but made better still as it was a lifer for Jonno Cook, Gemma's RSPB colleague & @sussexornitholo.bsky.social committee member
September 7, 2025 at 9:22 PM
Rubbish BoC shot of a dark morph Montagu's Harrier in Cadiz - always great birds to see but made better still as it was a lifer for Jonno Cook, Gemma's RSPB colleague & @sussexornitholo.bsky.social committee member
It's always good to see Rufous Bushchat regardless of what we're supposed to call them these days! My favourite site near Trebujena amongst low intensity vineyards, rarely disappoints even this late in the season! 🪶
September 5, 2025 at 12:36 PM
It's always good to see Rufous Bushchat regardless of what we're supposed to call them these days! My favourite site near Trebujena amongst low intensity vineyards, rarely disappoints even this late in the season! 🪶
I walked 2 km up to Laguna de Jeli from the A 390 this AM hoping to find that the winter's rains had revitalised it. Sadly, it's now 100% enveloped by tamarisks. No water now visible from the hide. Fancy "observatios" are pointless without actively managing the reserve accordingly.
September 4, 2025 at 3:55 PM
I walked 2 km up to Laguna de Jeli from the A 390 this AM hoping to find that the winter's rains had revitalised it. Sadly, it's now 100% enveloped by tamarisks. No water now visible from the hide. Fancy "observatios" are pointless without actively managing the reserve accordingly.