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Saturday 6 August 2011

RAM, Motril Fish Port and Cerro Gordo, Granada Province.

A new Granada tick for Juan and Myself.

Audouin's Gull (Gaviota de Audouin / Larus audouinii).
I met Juan Pérez Contreras at the usual spot in Granada and we made our way down to the coast to carry out the monthly sea birds survey near Motril. We started at 07:30 and continued for the next two hours seeing very good numbers of Cory's Shearwaters (Pardela Cenicienta / Calonectris diomedea), a few Balearic Shearwaters (Pardela Balear / Puffinus mauretanicus), a couple of immature Northern Gannet (Alcatraz Atlántico / Morus bassanus), quite a few Audouin's (Gaviota de Audouin / Larus audouinii), some early Lesser Black-backed (Gaviota Somria / Larus fuscus) and as usual loads of Yellow-legged Gulls (Gaviota Patiamarilla / Larus Michahellis). 
Slender-billed Gull (Gaviota Picofina / Larus genei).
A Peregrine Falcon (Halcón Peregrino / Falco peregrinus) did a flyby which stirred up all the local Pallid Swifts (Vencejo Pálido / Apus pallidus). We also saw Sardinian Warbler (Curruca Cabecinegra / Sylvia melanocephala), Spotless Starling (Estornino Negro / Sturnus unicolor), Red-rumped Swallow (Golondrina Dáurica / Hirundo daurica), House Martin (Avión Común / Delichon urbica), Common Kestrel (Cernicalo Vulga / Falco tinnunculus), Crested Lark (Cogujada Común / Galerida cristata) and a Hoopoe (Abubilla / Upupa epops).
We then moved on to the port to look for ringed Gulls, on the concrete pans we saw a large group of mainly Audouin’s (300ish), a few Black-headed (Gaviota Riedora / Larus ridibundus), Lesser Black-backed and Yellow-legs. They were joined by small numbers of Sandwich Terns (Charrán Patinegro / Sterna sandvicensis) including some immature birds still beckoning the adults for food and a single immature Slender-billed Gull (Gaviota Picofina / Larus genei) which was my new bird for the Province. 
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The Slender-billed was ringed as were twenty odd of the Audouin’s.
We then continued on down the coast to Cerro Gordo where I had seen a couple of White-rumped Swifts (Vencejo Cafre / Apus caffer) a few weeks ago. As we arrived 7 Black Kites (Milano Negro / Milvus migrans) circled in the fog / mist coming in off the sea and they drifted of west. We spent some tome looking from the area near the bar but only picked up Pallids, so we moved around the headland a bit further and located two White-rumped Swifts which appeared to be entering a nest site along with some Pallids, this was Juan’s new bird. 
Juan watching the Swifts.
We also saw Black Wheatear (Collalba Negra / Oenanthe leucura), Blue Rock Thrush (Roquero Solitario / Monticola solitarius), Crag Martin (Avión Roquero / Ptyonoprogne rupestris) and Spotted Flycatcher (Papamoscas Gris / Muscicapa striata).

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