Birds and Butterflies today but no Orchids.
Ebird List for Rambla Morales.
Ebird List for Torre Garcia.
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Rambla Morales from the beach.
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We were off to Almeria today and our main target there was the tiny but beautiful
Common Tiger Blue (Tarucus theophrastus), we arrived earlier than expected and it was still quite cool so we went around to Rambla Morales where we did some birding picking up a few wader species including
Avocet (Avoceta Común / Recurvirostra avosetta),
Black-winged Stilt (Ciguenela Común / Himantopus himantopus), Little Ringed (Chorlitejo Chico / Charadrius dubius) and
Ringed Plover (Chorlitejo Grande / Charadrius hiaticula),
Wood (Andarrios Bastardo / Tringa glareola),
Green (Andarrios Grande / Tringa ochropus) and
Common Sandpiper (Andarrios Chico / Actitis hypoleucos),
Common Redshank (Archibebe Común / Tringa totanus),
Greenshank (Archibebe Claro / Tringa nebularia),
Sanderling (Correlimos Tridáctilo / Calidris alba),
Dunlin (Correlimos Común / Calidris alpina) and a year tick
Collared Pratincole (Canastera Común / Glareola pratincola).
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| Greater Flamingo's (Flamenco Común / Phoenicopterus roseus). |
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| Slender-billed Gull (Gaviota Picofina / Larus genei). |
Gulls and Terns were flying in and out all the time we were there, the commonest were the 75 or so
Slender-billed Gulls (Gaviota Picofina / Larus genei) as well as smaller numbers of
Black-headed (Gaviota Riedora / Larus ridibundus),
Audouin's (Gaviota de Audouin / Larus audouinii), Lesser Black-backed (Gaviota Sombria / Larus fuscus) and
Yellow-legged Gulls (Gaviota Patiamarilla / Larus Michahellis), plus Sandwich (Charrán Patinegro / Sterna sandvicensis),
Gull-billed (Pagaza Piconegra / Gelochelidon nilotica) and Whiskered Terns (Fumarel Cariblanca / Chilidonias hybridus).
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| Ononis natrix. |
On the water we picked out
Common Pochard (Porrón Común / Aythya ferina),
Mallard (Anade Azulón / Anas platyrhynchos),
White-headed Duck (Malvasia Cabeciblanca / Oxyura leucocephala),
Shelduck (Tarro Blanco / Tadoma tadorna),
Eurasian Coot (Focha Común / Fulica atra),
Little (Zampullín Común /
Tachybaptus ruficollis) and Black-necked Grebe (Zampullín Cullinegro / Podiceps nigricollis) and
Greater Flamingo's (Flamenco Común / Phoenicopterus roseus). |
| Reichardia tingitana. |
Other species seen included Mediterranean / Lesser Short-toed (Terrera Marismena / Calandrella rufescens) and
Thekla Lark (Cogujada Montesina / Galerida theklae),
Sand Martin (Avión Zapador / Riparia riparia),
Barn Swallow (Golondrina Común / Hirundo rustica),
Sardinian Warbler (Curruca Cabecinegra / Sylvia melanocephala),
Spanish (Yellow) Wagtail (Lavandera Boyera / Motacilla flava iberiae) and then in some bushes along side the Rambla we found both
Spotted (Papamoscas Gris / Muscicapa striata) and
Pied Flycatcher (Papamoscas Cerrojillo / Ficedula hypoleuca) which were newly in and feeding up before they move on further north. |
| Common Tiger Blue (Tarucus theophrastus). |
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| Common Tiger Blue (Tarucus theophrastus). |
We moved on around to Torre Gracia and went down to the beach where we sat and ate our lunch and then went for a walk around the nearby scrub and after a while even though it was cloudy we found a couple of very smart Common Tiger Blues (Tarucus theophrastus), one of which sat very nicely for us and gave us some nice photographic chances.
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| 8907 Grammodes bifasciata. |
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Berberomeloe insignis.
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| Moorish Gecko (Tarentola mauritanica). |
In the same area we saw
Northern Gannet (Alcatraz Atlántico / Morus bassanus), European Bee-eater (Abejaruco Común / Merops apiaster),
Common Kestrel (Cernicalo Vulgar / Falco tinnunculus), Iberian Grey Shrike (Alcaudón Real Meridional / Lanius meridionalis),
Jackdaw (Grajilla / Corvus monedula),
Greenfinch (Verderón Común / Carduelis chloris),
Small White (
Pieris rapae), 8907
Grammodes bifasciata,
Berberomeloe insignis,
Rabbit (Conejo / Oryctolagus cuniculus), Spiny-footed Lizard (Acanthodactylus erythrurus), Moorish Gecko (Tarentola mauritanica),
Cynomorium (Cynomorium coccineum),
Lobularia maritima,
Yellow Sea Aster (Asteriscus maritimus) and
Lycium intricatum.
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Sneaking through the vegetation after a Tiger.
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Steve photographing the Common Tiger Blue.
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We returned to the car and then headed west along the coast and made a stop at Castell de Ferro where we went to a spot where I have seen our second main target of the day the
Desert Orange-tip (Colotis evagore) but I was not confident we would see it as it was early in the season.
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| Long Skimmer (Orthetrum trinacria). |
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| Spanish Festoon (Zerynthia rumina). |
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| Spanish Festoon (Zerynthia rumina). |
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| Spanish Festoon (Zerynthia rumina). |
We walked out to the site picking up
Long Skimmer (Orthetrum trinacria), Red-veined Darter (Sympetrum fonscolombii), Clouded Yellow (Colias corceua),
Spanish Festoon (Zerynthia rumina),
Western Dappled White (Euchloe crameri),
Bath White (Pontia daplidice) and then the first of around 4
Desert Orange-tips (Colotis evagore) Steve's second lifer of the day.
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| Lang's Short-tailed Blue (Leptotes pirithous). |
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| African Grass Blue (Zizeeia knysna). |
As we walked back down we had good views of both
African Grass (Zizeeia knysna) and
Lang's Short-tailed Blue (Leptotes pirithous).
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| Desert Orange-tip (Colotis evagore). |
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| Desert Orange-tip (Colotis evagore). |
We headed back to the house and then later went out for something to eat down in Huétor.
