Pantaneta de Alhama, Campo de Zafarraya, Embalse de Bermejalis and the Cacín Valley, Granada Province.

Steve, Lynn and Adams last day in the field before heading to Grazalema.

Adonis Blue (Lysandra bellargus).

We again headed out across country for a small pool just beyond Alhama de Granada called the Pantaneta de Alhama where we were hoping for some more dragonflies for Steve’s list. We were not disappointed but the only new species seen during the visit to the area was Copper Demoiselle (Calopteryx haemorrhoidalis). We started by having a look at the pool from by the two bars and out on the water we picked up several Common Pochards (Porrón Europeo / Aythya ferina), Mallard (Anade Azulón / Anas platyrhynchos), Little Grebe (Zampullín Común / Tachybaptus ruficollis), Eurasian Coot (Focha Común / Fulica atra) and Common Moorhen (Gallineta Común / Gallinu la Chloropus). We then walked down the hill and around to the lower view of the dam across the pool at the bottom of the dam wall, almost straight away we picked up a pair of Common Crossbills (Piquituerto Común / Loxia curvirostra) which were drinking from the stonework.
The male then flew up and landed in a conifer tree right next to us which had Steve’s camera going full blast but unfortunately the bird did not land in the right place and the light was not good! Next came a couple of Common Sandpipers (Andarrios Chico / Actitis hypoleucos) which chased each other around for a while, more Common Pochards and Eurasian Coots and a single Grey Wagtail (Lavandera Cascadena / Motacilla cinerea). Down on the concrete sides to the run off pool there was a nice male Orange-winged Dropwing (Trithemis kirbyi) and on a branch of a willow a male Violet Dropwing (Trithemis annulata).

Keeled Skimmer (Orthetrum coerulescens).

A little further on a few passerines were moving through the pine trees and they included Great (Carbonero Común / Parus major), Long-tailed (Mito / Aegithalos caudatus), Coal (Carbonero Garrapinos / Parus ater) and Blue Tits (Herrerillo Común / Parus caeruleus), Short-toed Treecreeper (Agateador Común / Certhia brachydactyla), Spotted Flycatcher (Papamoscas Gris / Muscicapa striata), Serin (Verdecillo / Serinus serinus) and Common Chaffinch (Pinzón Vulgar / Fringilla coelebs). We then walked down the dirt track along the far side of the pool passed the hide until we reached the far end of the car park. Just as we left the road we had good views of a male Sardinian Warbler (Curruca Cabecinegra / Sylvia melanocephala) and heard another couple of Short-toed Treecreepers calling.
We checked out a couple of areas of scrub along the waters edge and on the bank above us picking up good numbers of Adonis Blues (Lysandra bellargus) along with Clouded Yellow (Colias Común / Colias crocea), Bath White (Blanqiverdosa / Pontia daplidice), Southern Brown Argus (Aricia cramera), Iberian Scarce Swallowtail (Iphiclides feisthameli), Small Heath (Coenonympha pamphilus), Southern Gatekeeper (Pyronia cecilia) and Speckled Wood (Pararge aegeria). Red-veined Darters (Sympetrum fonscolombii) were also very common along this stretch including a couple with strangely coloured brown / grey flanks to the thorax, but we eventually had to give up trying to discover a new species.
Right down in the far corner of the car park we had a species which I had not seen at the site before in the shape of a female Keeled Skimmer (Orthetrum coerulescens) which eventually sat nicely for the camera until it was flushed by a male Blue / Common Emperor (Anax imperator). In the same area we had quite a few White Featherlegs (Platycnemis latipes) and a couple of Iberian Bluetails (Ischnura graellsii).

Visigoth graves.

We made our way back around to the dam and had a walk along the stream as far as the first bridge, the water was again tainted with sewage which is an all to common occurrence but still had good numbers of Copper Demoiselles flying along its banks. In this area we also had Iberian Green Woodpecker (Pito Real / Picus sharpei), Blackcap (Curruca Capirotada / Sylvia atricapilla) and just as we were leaving a male Goshawk (Azor Común / Accipitor gentillis) did a close fly passed giving us brief but superb views. We then sauntered back to the car and had lunch over looking the lake and afterwards headed towards Embalse de Bermejalis via the closed road which runs along the top of the gorge.

We arrived at the lake which its self as usual was pretty much bird less except for some feeding House Martins and a few Barn Swallow (Golondrina Común / Hirundo rustica). On the very dried out margins and in the large concrete gullies we found more Orange-winged Dropwings, Broad Scarlets and a few Black-tailed Skimmer (Orthetrum cancellatum) but nothing more exiting. The time was drifting on so we had a drive north along the Cacín Valley doing some birding but being August it was quite quiet. We did however see more Iberian Magpies, Alpine Swift (Vencejo Real / Apus melba), Common Stonechat (Tarabilla Común / Saxicola torquata), Corn Bunting (Triguero / Emberiza calandra), Hoopoe (Abubilla / Upupa epops) and Melodious Warbler (Zarcero Común / Hippolais polyglotta).

Lynn and Adam at the Graves.

At the Embalse de Cacín and at the first bridge we picked up and added Bonelli’s Warbler (Mosquitero Papialbo / Phylloscopus bonelli), Cetti’s Warbler (Ruisenor Bastardo / Cettia cetti), Common Pochard, Common (Andarrios Chico / Actitis hypoleucos) and Green Sandpipers (Andarrios Grande / Tringa ochropus), Grey Heron (Garza Real / Ardea cinerea), Red-legged Partridge (Perdiz Roja / Alectoris rufa), Water Rail (Rascón Europeo / Rallus aquaticus) heard only and Willow Warbler (Mosquitero Musical / Phylloscopus trochillus). From here we headed back towards the house stopping briefly to have a look at the Visigoth graves near Moraleda, here we also saw a couple of Black Wheatears (Collalba Negra / Oenanthe leucura) and a Thekla Lark (Cogujada Montesina / Galerida theklae).

Rio Velez, Venta de Zafarraya and km 23, Loja road, Malaga and Granada Provinces.

Day Three of the trip, down on the coast and back through the mountains.

Blue / Common Emperor (Anax imperator) Male.

Steve, Lynn, Adam and I headed down to Rio Velez near to Torre-del-mar on the Malaga Coast to have a look for another of the species that Steve wanted to see. Our target was the small and quick moving Black Percher (Diplacodes lefebvrii), a fact that the person who ever it was that gave this insect its common name had not thought through, because the dam thing did not perch very much and when it did it was up again at the slightest movement.

Blue / Common Emperor (Anax imperator) Male.

Any way we arrived at the very slow flowing river and almost immediately found our target, a male was soon found but it played hard to get a shot of for quite some time. Whilst Steve was battling with this chap I saw several more species including Blue / Common Emperor (Anax imperator), Broad Scarlet (Crocothemis erythraea), Iberian Bluetail (Ischnura graellsii) and Red-veined Darter (Sympetrum fonscolombii). Plus several birds, with the best being a female Marsh Harrier (Aguilucho Lagunero Occidental / Circus aeruginosus), Spotted Flycatcher (Papamoscas Gris / Muscicapa striata), Little Ringed Plover (Chorlitejo Chico / Charadrius dubius) and several adult and immature Iberian form Spanish (Yellow) Wagtail (Lavandera Boyera / Motacilla flava iberiae).

Steve photographing Emperor (note the colour of the water).

Steve got some Ok shots so we started the wade along the river down towards the main pool, almost straight away we found a very well behaved Blue Emperor which posed on a dead bush for ages while we all got some very close up shots of it. The dragon posed well and was probably inwardly laughing too much at the two Muppets wading in the extremely smelly stagnant water which surrounded the stump to fly anywhere! We continued further along and thankfully out into some much more pleasant water where we saw more Black Perchers which were not much more helpful, Epaulet Skimmer (Orthetrum chrysostigma), Lesser Emperor (Anax parthenope) and a nice but none settling male Long Skimmer (Orthetrum trinacria).

Broad Scarlet (Crocothemis erythraea).

We turned up into another little spur where the water was quite clean and this was where Steve found a Percher which lived up to its name and he got the required shot, it was not a new species but one he had not seen since the arrival of digital cameras. During this walk we also saw several Zitting Cisticola’s (Buitrón / Cisticola juncidis), Yellow-legged Gull (Gaviota Patiamarilla / Larus Michahellis), Woodchat Shrike (Alcaudón Común / Lanius senator), Spotless Starling (Estornino Negro / Sturnus unicolor), a Kingfisher (Martin Pescador / Alcedo atthis) which did several fly pasts, Grey (Lavandera Cascadena / Motacilla cinerea) and White Wagtails (Lavandera Blanca / Montacilla alba), Grey Heron (Garza Real / Ardea cinerea), Common Moorhen (Gallineta Común / Gallinula Chloropus) and out on the pool near the beach Common Pochard (Porrón Europeo / Aythya ferina), Mallard (Anade Azulón / Anas platyrhynchos) and Eurasian Coot (Focha Común / Fulica atra).

Goats and the Man in charge.

At this point we started to walk back towards the car and almost straight away we had cracking views of an adult Squacco Heron (Garcilla Cangrejera / Ardeola ralloides) which waded out into the water and took a perched Lesser Emperor Dragonfly, Steve got some nice shot at this point and I managed some a little later at our second encounter with this cracking little Heron.

Lynn showing that is was not just the lads that got there feet wet!

Continuing on we saw several Violet Dropwings (Trithemis annulata), a Viperine Snake (Culebra viperina / Natrix maura) and masses of Iberian Water Frogs (Rana Común / Rana Perezi). Butterflies were quite scarce but we did see Speckled Wood (Pararge aegeria), Swallowtail (Papilio machaon), Large White (Pieris brassicae) and the tiny African Grass Blue (Zizeeia knysna).

Squacco Heron (Garcilla Cangrejera / Ardeola ralloides).

Other birds included European Bee-eater (Abejaruco Común / Merops apiaster), Monk Parakeet (Cotorra Argentina / Myiopsitta monachus), Western Cattle Egret (Garcilla Bueyera / Bubulcus ibis), Cetti’s Warbler (Ruisenor Bastardo / Cettia cetti) and Greenfinch (Verderón Común / Carduelis chloris). We then drove back up towards the disuse railway line at Venta de Zafarraya but on the way Lynn notice a plume of smoke coming from out of one of the valleys off to the East which got bigger and bigger until by the time we reached the railway line car park there were 10+ helicopters and two plane fighting a quite large wildfire on some very inaccessible slopes.

My best side.

We had a walk along the track until we were around 200m beyond the tunnel, due to the time of day things were quite quiet but we did see several Black Wheatear (Collalba Negra / Oenanthe leucura), Red-billed Chough (Chova Piquirroja / Pyrrhocorax pyrrhocorax), Red-rumped Swallow (Golondrina Dáurica / Hirundo daurica), Alpine Swift (Vencejo Real / Apus melba) and a nice Striped Grayling (Pseudotergumia fidia).

The Fire.

From here we took the road towards Loja and stopped in the Oak woodlands along the way looking for some butterfly species, the first and by far the commonest was Purple Hairstreak (Quercusia Quercus) with several individuals flying around each tree. 

Purple Hairstreak (Quercusia Quercus).

Further along the track we came across Tree Grayling (Neohipparchia statilinus), Southern Gatekeeper (Pyronia cecilia), Small Copper (Lycaena phlaeas), Iberian Scarce Swallowtail (Iphiclides feisthameli), Sage Skipper (Muschampia proto), Meadow Brown (Maniola jurtina), Common / Southern Blue (Polyommatus icarus / celina), Clouded Yellow (Colias crocea), Southern Brown Argus (Aricia cramera), Bath White (Pontia daplidice), Adonis Blue (Lysandra bellargus) and a very large Bush Cricket Species.

Tree Grayling (Neohipparchia statilinus).

Birds included both Spotted and Pied Flycatchers (Papamoscas Cerrojillo / Ficedula hypoleuca), Bonelli’s Warbler (Mosquitero Papialbo / Phylloscopus bonelli) and Sardinian Warbler (Curruca Cabecinegra / Sylvia melanocephala). From here we continued on back to the house seeing Booted Eagle (Aguililla Calzada / Hieraaetus pennatus), Hoopoe (Abubilla / Upupa epops), Lesser Kestrel (Cernicola Primilla / Falco naumanni) and Iberian Grey Shrike (Alcaudón Real Meridional / Lanius meridionalis) on the way.

Padul, Mesia and Balsa del Regidor, Granada Province.

Day Two of Steve's visit.

Iberian Bluetail (Ischnura graellsii).

Today started with a visit to the market at Santa fe on the out skirts of Granada where we had a walk around a rather depleted number of stalls due to there being a local fiesta on at the same time. After the market the plan was to drop Jayne off in the city and for the rest of us to go down to the Padul wetlands but Lynn and Adam decided to join Jayne in the city. Once we had dropped the others off Steve and I headed south to Padul where we started our visit from the access track along the main canal. In the area where we parked we soon picked up Reed Warbler (Carricero Común / Acrocephalus scirpaceus), Serin (Verdecillo / Serinus serinus), Corn Bunting (Triguero / Emberiza calandra) and in one of the fig trees a nice Great Reed Warbler (Carricero Tordal / Acrocephalus arundinaceus). We started to make our way along the stream at the side of the main track which we were surprised to find was mainly made up of raw sewage and stank badly which for a part of a well know nature reserve did not give a good first impression and this stench continued right down to the hide. On the way we picked up several Red-veined Darter (Sympetrum fonscolombii), Broad Scarlet (Crocothemis erythraea) and a Lesser Emperor (Anax parthenope) which considering the water quality we thought we were doing quite well! From the hide the birds included Eurasian Coot (Focha Común / Fulica atra), Common Moorhen (Gallineta Común / Gallinula Chloropus), Mallard (Anade Azulón / Anas platyrhynchos), a single immature Black-winged Stilt (Ciguenuela Común / Himantopus himantopus) and several Water Rails (Rascón Europeo / Rallus aquaticus) most were heard but one did show quite nicely along the back edge in the reeds.
Whist we were watching the birds a nice female Black-tailed Skimmer (Orthetrum cancellatum) sat on a reed in front of us and several Iberian Bluetails (Ischnura graellsii) and a single White Featherleg (Platycnemis latipes) moved around in the dense marginal plants.

Mediterranean Skipper (Gegenes nostrodamus).

We then left the hide and retraced our steps back to the foot bridge but then continued on around the boardwalk to the lake. On the first stretch we found the first of many Mediterranean Skippers (Gegenes nostrodamus), a couple of Iberian Scarce Swallowtail (Iphiclides feisthameli), Mallow / False Mallow Skipper (Carcharodus alceae / tripolinus) and Small Copper (Lycaena phlaeas). Dragons included Blue / Common Emperor (Anax imperator), Common Blue Damselfly (Enallagma cyathinerum) and a single Long Skimmer (Orthetrum trinacria) which was the first time I had seen this species at this site.
In the flooded woods we heard and saw Woodpigeon (Paloma Torcaz / Columba palumbus), Turtle Dove (Tórtola Europea / Streptopelia turtur), Spotted Flycatcher (Papamoscas Gris / Muscicapa striata), Spotless Starling (Estornino Negro / Sturnus unicolor), Short-toed Treecreeper (Agateador Común / Certhia brachydactyla), Sardinian Warbler (Curruca Cabecinegra / Sylvia melanocephala), Nightingale (Ruisenor Común / Luscinia megarhynchos), Long-tailed Tit (Mito / Aegithalos caudatus), Hoopoe (Abubilla / Upupa epops) and Great Spotted Woodpecker (Pico Picapinos / Dendrocopos major). We reached the covered seating area and a single Cardinal Fritillary (Pandora / argynnis Pandora) behaved nicely for Steve’s camera as did one of the many Med Skippers we were seeing. We continued on along the trail to an area of fresh flowing water were we both got some nice shots of a male Keeled Skimmer (Orthetrum coerulescens) before checking out the lake margins from an area which was screened by reed fencing.
Here we added White Wagtail (Lavandera Blanca / Montacilla alba), Grey Heron (Garza Real / Ardea cinerea), Western Cattle Egret (Garcilla Bueyera / Bubulcus ibis), Common Pochard (Porrón Europeo / Aythya ferina) and Great Crested Grebe (Somormujo Lavanco / Podiceps cristatus) to the day list along with male Black-tailed Skimmers and Bath White (Blanqiverdosa / Pontia daplidice), Clouded Yellow (Colias Común / Colias crocea), African Grass Blue (Niña esmaltada / Zizeeia knysna), Small White (Artogeia rapae), Swallowtail (Papilio machaon), Southern Gatekeeper (Pyronia cecilia) and Speckled Wood (Pararge aegeria).

Keeled Skimmer (Orthetrum coerulescens).

We then retraced our steps and headed back towards the car, on the way seeing Red-rumped Swallow (Golondrina Dáurica / Hirundo daurica), Crested Lark (Cogujada Común / Galerida cristata), Woodchat Shrike (Alcaudón Común / Lanius senator), Common Stonechat (Tarabilla Común / Saxicola torquata), Iberian Magpie (Rabilargo / Cyanopica cyanus), Common Chaffinch (Pinzón Vulgar / Fringilla coelebs) and House Martin (Avión Común / Delichon urbica) for the bird list plus Iberian Water Frog (Rana Común / Rana Perezi), Viperine Snake (Culebra viperina / Natrix maura), Spanish Terrapin (Mauremys leprosa) and what looked like a great many very tall spikes of Fen Ragwort (Senecio paludosus).
We then made our way around to a couple of the more open canal on the more agricultural parts of the area but only saw more Red-veined Darters and not a great deal else until we reached the other side of the lake where we had a quick walk along the margins, we did not see any new dragons but did add a very nice couple of Short-toed Eagles (Culebrera Europeo / Circaetus gallicus) one of which was carrying a rather large snake, lots of European Bee-eater (Abejaruco Común / Merops apiaster), Little Grebe (Zampullín Común / Tachybaptus ruficollis) and a male Marsh Harrier (Aguilucho Lagunero Occidental / Circus aeruginosus). We then headed back into the city to pick the wanderers up before heading back to the house.

Night Herons (Marinete Común / Nycticorax nycticorax) by Steve.

Later Steve and I headed out again to a couple of local sites, the first was where the Rio Cacín joins the Genil at Mesia, here we saw several more White Featherlegs and a single Southern Skimmer (Orthetrum brunneum) but not a lot else. So we made our way across country on the dirt tracks towards Balsa del Regidor a small well naturalized man made water deposito on the side of the A92 near Moraleda. On the way we saw several flocks of Iberian Magpies along with a few of the less common Common Magpie (Urraca / Pica pica), a single male Golden Oriole (Oropéndola / Oriolus oriolus) which was rapidly leaving a small fig tree as we drove passed and several more European Bee-eaters.
Steve then spotted a couple of Raptors above us which when we stopped and got out had moved away but were quite obviously a pair of Northern Goshawks (Azor Común / Accipitor gentillis), the female disappeared quickly behind the olive trees but the males showed nicely as it drifted towards the A92. We eventually arrived at the pool where we quickly picked up a good number of Common Pochards, a few Northern Shovelers (Cuchara Común / Anas clypeata), 30+ Little Grebes and a couple of Western Cattle Egrets which had climbed to around 25 by the time we were leaving due to birds coming into roost.
We walked along the northern shore and out onto the concrete jetty where we saw the first dragonflies, these were a trio of Lesser Emperors which were chasing each other around the rush tussocks. One of the males landed nicely for Steve to get what he thought would be his best shots of this species so far. We also had a few male Black-tailed Skimmers, Violet Dropwings and Red-veined Darters. I then had a scan along the western shoreline where I was surprised to find two adult Night Herons (Marinete Común / Nycticorax nycticorax) which were only the second and third birds of this species I had seen at this site and the first adults. Steve managed quite a nice shot even though they were quite distant. We then went back to the car and back to the house via the supermarket.

Laguna Chica, Salinas, Malaga Province.

A days local Dragon hunting with friends.

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Steve Jones (The Cornish county Dragonfly recorder), Lynn his wife and there son Adam arrived yesterday to stay for a few days and to spend some time looking for some of the Dragonfly species I had seen recently. The first day of there stay found us at Laguna Chica a site just over the boarder in Malaga province, we parked under one of the Oak trees on the hill above the site and Steve’s camera was straight to work getting some shots of some of the passing Honey Buzzards (Aberjero Europeo / Pernis apivorus) which had spent the night roosting in the Tamarisks around the pool. In all we saw around 30 birds including a few which were still in the trees, there were also a small number of Short-toed Eagles (Culebrera Europeo / Circaetus gallicus) in the area which had spent the night in the more substantial Oak trees.

Steve, up to his bits in Laguna Chica.

In the air over the Laguna there were good numbers of both adult and juvenile European Bee-eaters (Abejaruco Común / Merops apiaster), Alpine (Vencejo Real / Apus melba) and Pallid Swifts (Vencejo Pálido / Apus pallidus), House Martins (Avión Común / Delichon urbica) and Barn Swallows (Golondrina Común / Hirundo rustica). We headed straight for the dried out margins which I was soon to discover were not quite as dry as I had first thought, here we soon started the Dragon list with Red-veined Darter (Sympetrum fonscolombii), Common Blue Damselfly (Enallagma cyathinerum), Iberian Bluetail (Ischnura graellsii), both Blue / Common Emperor (Anax imperator) and Lesser Emperors (Anax parthenope) and several Small Red-eyeds (Erythromma viridulum) which got Steve wading in to the water quite deep to get some good shots.

Long Skimmer (Orthetrum trinacria).

Out on the water there were several Common Pochards (Porrón Europeo / Aythya ferina), Mallard (Anade Azulón / Anas platyrhynchos), Eurasian Coot (Focha Común / Fulica atra), Common Moorhen (Gallineta Común / Gallinula Chloropus) and Little Grebe (Zampullín Común / Tachybaptus ruficollis). We then moved out into the drier area on the other side of the reedbeds and almost straight a way picked up a female Long Skimmer (Orthetrum trinacria) which settled very nicely whilst it chewed on a male Red-veined Darter which it had just caught.

Adonis Blue (Lysandra bellargus).

Steve was particularly pleased with this find and the way it behaved as it was a new species for him. In the same area we picked up Adonis Blue (Lysandra bellargus), Bath White (Pontia daplidice), Southern Gatekeeper (Pyronia cecilia) and Sage Skipper (Muschampia proto). We also added a few more birds to the day list which included Iberian  Magpie (Rabilargo / Cyanopica cooki), Turtle Dove (Tórtola Europea / Streptopelia turtur), Woodpigeon (Paloma Torcaz / Columba palumbus), Red-rumped Swallow (Golondrina Dáurica / Hirundo daurica) and Reed Warbler (Carricero Común / Acrocephalus scirpaceus). As we moved along the shore line several Grasshopper species were seen including Blue-winged (Oedipoda caerulescens) and Red-winged (Arphia pseudonietana) plus at least one which remains unnamed.

Grasshopper species still to be named.

We continued on along the edge of the reeds and soon picked up another of the species on Steve’s wanted list which was a male Small Spreadwing (Lestes virens) which posed nicely for his camera. At the far end of the lake we spent quite a long while searching for one of the Black Pennants (Selysiothemis nigra) which I had seen at the end of July with Sue and Sam but we were out of luck on this visit but we did added a fine male Violet Dropwing (Trithemis annulata) which perched well for both us. The tamarisk bushes that run right along the edge of water held loads of Red-veined Darters, a few Broad Scarlet’s and a couple more Lesser Emperors.

Sage Skipper (Muschampia proto).

More birds were added in the surrounding trees and bushes including Corn Bunting (Triguero / Emberiza calandra), Blackbird (Mirlo Común / Turdus merula), Zitting Cisticola (Buitrón / Cisticola juncidis), Long-tailed Tit (Mito / Aegithalos caudatus), Spotted Flycatcher (Papamoscas Gris / Muscicapa striata), Bonelli’s Warbler (Mosquitero Papialbo / hylloscopus bonelli) and Crested Lark (Cogujada Común / Galerida cristata). On the walk back to the car Adam found a very nice Large Psammodromus (Emys orbicularis) which stayed on the top of a large rock and then scuttled away into a hiding hole. We got back to the car had our packed lunches and headed over to the near by site just to the north of Salinas where I was disappointed to find that all the stream margins had been strimmed.

Keeled Skimmer (Orthetrum coerulescens).

Even though the site had been badly damaged by the work we still found lots of dragons flying in the area including two new species for the site which were Keeled Skimmer (Orthetrum coerulescens) and Western Willow Spreadwing (Lestres viridis) with there being quite a few of the former seen and just three of the latter. We spent some time walking along side and in the ditches tying to get some decent shots, whilst we were doing this we saw more Violet Dropwings, Broad Scarlet, Red-veined Darters, Lesser Emperor, Iberian Bluetails, Blue / Common Emperors and added Mercury Bluet (Coenagrion mercuriale), Southern Skimmers (Orthetrum brunneum) and Orange-winged Dropwing (Trithemis kirbyi) to the trip list.

Water Scorpion (Nepa cinerea).

In the water we also saw several Viperine Snakes (Culebra viperina / Natrix maura) none of which wanted to be on film and a Water Scorpion (Nepa cinerea) which Steve found between his toes when he came out of the ditch. We also saw more Iberian Magpies here along with Woodchat Shrike (Alcaudón Común / Lanius senator), Sardinian Warbler (Curruca Cabecinegra / Sylvia melanocephala), Mistle Thrush (Zorzal Charlo / Turdus viscivorus) and Common Kestrel (Cernicalo Vulga / Falco tinnunculus).