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Saturday 15 January 2011

Winter Atlas work, Mesia area, Granada Province.

Another day with the local birds.

Visigoth graves.
Today I was surveying a route near the town of Mesia (Itineraries 1-5) and a small stretch of broom scrub near El Turro (6-8). Again I have just put in a list of the birds with the total for the day, pretty much in the order I saw them.
The only detour of the day was when I meet a Spanish gentleman call (I hope I am spelling this right) Manuel López Orten who lead me on a walk over some of the nearby fields to a large rock which we climbed up to the top of. On the highest surface there were two Visigoth graves hacked out of the solid rock, later he also showed me a ruin that he said could be an old Moorish baths. These little detours made the morning a lot more interesting.
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The Birds recorded.

Common Moorhen (Gallineta Común / Gallinula Chloropus) x6, Mistle Thrush (Zorzal Charlo / Turdus viscivorus) x15, Blackbird (Mirlo Común / Turdus merula) x13, Grey Wagtail (Lavandera Cascadena / Motacilla cinerea) x6, Spotless Starling (Estornino Negro / Sturnus unicolor) x35, Woodpigeon (Paloma Torcaz / Columba palumbus) x110, Great Tit (Carbonero Común / Parus major) x13, Collared Dove (Tórtola Turca / Streptopelia decaocto) x5, Mallard (Anade Azulón / Anas platyrhynchos) 3, White Wagtail (Lavandera Blanca / Montacilla alba) x19, House Sparrow (Gorrión Común / Passer Domesticus) x61, Robin (Petirrrojo / Erithacus rubecula) x6, Grey Heron (Garza Real / Ardea cinerea) x3, Cetti’s Warbler (Ruisenor Bastardo / Cettia cetti) x4, Common Chaffinch (Pinzón Vulgar / Fringilla coelebs) x68, Iberian Green Woodpecker (Pito Real / Picus sharpei) x1, Meadow Pipit (Bistita Común / Anthus pratensis) x25, Great Cormorant (Cormorán Grande / Phalacrocorax carbo) x5, Blue Tit (Herrerillo Común / Parus caeruleus) x1, Blackcap (Curruca Capirotada / Sylvia atricapilla) x2, Black Redstart (Colirrojo Tizón / Phoenicurus ochruros) x3, Crested Lark (Cogujada Común / Galerida cristata) x2, Iberian  Magpie (Rabilargo / Cyanopica cooki) x44, Serin (Verdecillo / Serinus serinus) x1, Common Buzzard (Busardo Ratonero / Buteo buteo) x4, Common Chiffchaff (Mosquitero Común / Phylloscopus collybita) x5, Common Magpie (Urraca / Pica pica) x1, Red-legged Partridge (Perdiz Roja / Alectoris rufa) x2, Greenfinch (Verderón Común / Carduelis chloris) x7, Brambling (Pizón Real / Fringilla montifringilla) x126, Sardinian Warbler (Curruca Cabecinegra / Sylvia melanocephala) x8, Goldfinch (Jilguero / Carduelis carduelis) x25, Song Thrush (Zorzal Común / Turdus philomelos) x4, Great Spotted Woodpecker (Pico Picapinos / Dendrocopos major) x 2, Short-toed Treecreeper (Agateador Común / Certhia brachydactyla) x1, Wren (Chochin / Troglodytes troglodytes) x2, Jackdaw (Grajilla / Corvus monedula) x13, Firecrest (Reyezuelo Listado / Regulus ignicapillus) x1, Linnet (Pardillo Común / Carduelis cannabina) x5, Thekla Lark (Cogujada Montesina / Galerida theklae) x8, Hoopoe (Abubilla / Upupa epops) x1, Blue Rock Thrush (Roquero Solitario / Monticola solitarius) x3, Common Crossbill (Piquituerto Común / Loxia curvirostra) x1, Black Wheatear (Collalba Negra / Oenanthe leucura) x4, Rock Bunting (Escribano Montesino / Emberiza cia) x1, Common Kestrel (Cernicalo Vulga / Falco tinnunculus) x1, Common Stonechat (Tarabilla Común / Saxicola torquata) x1, Cirl Bunting (Escribano Soteno / Emberiza cirlus) x3 and Crag Martin (Avión Roquero / Ptyonoprogne rupestris) x3.
Arab Baths.

Later in the evening I meet up with Beatriz and Juan at a site near Ogíjares where we spent the next hour counting Western Cattle Egrets (Garcilla Bueyera / Bubulcus ibis) coming in to roost. Just before Juan and Beatriz arrived I had seen a single White Stork (Ciguena Blanca / Ciconia ciconia) pass south heading down towards the coast, 2x Hoopoe, Black Redstart and large numbers of Jackdaws (Grajilla / Corvus monedula) which were heading in the right direction to join the large roost at the Airport. I counted 1400ish Egrets coming in from the North but Juan and Beatriz had about 3400 come in from the South, they could be seen heading towards us as two large clouds each containing over a thousand birds.

2 comments:

Unknown said...

They look like Visigoth graves Mick. We used to live near some almost identical in Castilla la Mancha, dug out of rock as well. Could be wrong though.

LojaWldlife said...

Thanks Paul. Always nice to put in some extra info.