Huétor Fields, Granada Province.

New Years day walk with the Loja RBL.

Just 6 of us dragged our selves out for this walk but I was not surprised when I saw the weather fist thing. We started from near the bridge over the Rio Genil in Huétor Tájar and headed off anti-clockwise around the town until we turned right just after the duck bar and contined out into the fields to the east of the town. On this first stretch I picked up few species including House Sparrow (Gorrión Común / Passer domesticus), Great Tit (Carbonera Común / Parus major), Serin (Verdecillo / Serinus serinus) and a small group of five Siskins (Lúgano / Carduelis spinus) which were feeding in some Alder type trees near the duck bar. Out on the fields the commonest species were the Larks including Thekla (Cogujada Montesina / Galerida theklae), Crested (Cogujada / Galerida cristata) and Skylarks (Alondra Común / Alauda arvensis).
We then skirted a poplar plantation and coninued on along the banks of the Arroya del Vilano, the mud along here made walking a bit more intresting but the birds were quite good. The best were Brambling (Pizón Real / Fringilla montifringilla), Grey Wagtail (Lavandera Cascadena / Motacilla cinerea), Green Sandpiper (Andarrios Grande / Tringa ochropus), Short-toed Treecreeper (Agateador Común / Certhia brachydactyla) and Northern Lapwing (Avefria Europea / Vanellus vanellus). We then made our way back along the far bank and then onwards to Mesia where we had a coffee in one of the local bar. On the way we saw Iberian  Magpie (Rabilargo / Cyanopica cooki), Common Magpie (Urraca / Pica pica), Blackcap (Curruca Capirotada / Sylvia atricailla), Meadow Pipit (Bisbita Pratense / Anthus pratensis), White Wagtail (Lavandera Blanca / Montacilla alba), Goldfinch (Jilguero / Carduelis carduelis), Common Stonechat (Tarabilla Común / Saxicola torquata), Spotless Starling (Estornino Negro / Sturnus unicolor) and Blue Tit (Herrerillo Común / Parus caeruleus).
We had a lukewarm coffee in a bar which oviously ignores the no smoking ban as at least three chaps playing cards in the one room had them lit up. We continued on through the town and then on along the river to the bridge where we crossed and headed off into the campo back towards Huétor. On the return march we added Cattle Egret (Garcilla Bueyera / Bubulcus ibis), Sparrowhawk (Gavilán Común / Accipiter nisus), Peregrine Falcon (Halcón Peregrino / Falco peregrinus), Common Kestrel (Cernicalo Vulgar / Falco tinnunculus), Grey Heron (Garza Real / Ardea cinerea), Cetti's Warbler (Ruisenor Bastardo / Cettia cetti), Corn Bunting (Triguero / Emberiza calandra) and Song Thrush (Zorzal Común / Turdus philomelos). We arrived back at the cars at about 14:00 and we all made our way home