Charca del Suarez and the Cacín Valley, Granada Province, Spain.

Dragonflies down on the coast and birds in the Cacín Valley.

Steve, Lynn and Adam, Day Five.

Black Percher (Diplacodes lefebvrii) immature male.

The four of us set off down to the coast for our visit to Charca del Suarez where we were hoping to see one of the Mediterranean Chameleons (Chamaeleo chamaeleon) that Juan and I had seen in the past few months. On the way down we had views of Jackdaw (Grajilla / Corvus monedula), Little Owl (Mochuelo Europeo / Athene noctua), Collared Dove (Tórtola Turca / Streptopelia decaocto), Woodpigeon (Paloma Torcaz / Columba palumbus), European Bee-eater (Abejaruco Común / Merops apiaster), Jay (Arrendajo / Garrulus glandarius) and Western Cattle Egret (Garcilla Bueyera / Bubulcus ibis).

Black Percher (Diplacodes lefebvrii) immature female.

We arrived at the reserve and met up with Juan Perez and Beatriz, we started to make our way around the circular walkway in an anti-clockwise direction and called in at the first hide but it was quite quiet. We did get the day list for birds and dragons off to a start, birds included Mallard (Anade Azulón / Anas platyrhynchos), Eurasian Coot (Focha Común / Fulica atra), Common Moorhen (Gallineta Común / Gallinulas chloropus), Little Grebe (Zampullín Común / Tachybaptus ruficollis), Reed Warbler (Carricero Común / Acrocephalus scrpaceus), Great Tit (Carbonera Común / Parus major), Barn Swallow(Golondrina Común / Hirundo rustica), House Martin (Avión Común / Delichon urbica) and a single Grey Heron (Garza Real / Ardea cinerea). The first dragons were Blue / Common Emperor (Anax imperator) and Red-veined Darter (Sympetrum fonscolombii).

Steve photographing the Black Perchers (Diplacodes lefebvrii).

From here we moved on around to the hide that has been closed for some time and checked the areas along side the approach track and we soon found the first of quiet a few Black Perchers (Diplacodes lefebvrii), during the day I managed to get some decent shots of both immature males and females but the adult insects stayed well out of range. We also saw Goldfinch (Jilguero / Carduelis carduelis), Greenfinch (Verderón Común / Carduelis chloris), Common Kestrel (Cernicalo Vulgar / Falco tinnunculus) and Turtle Dove (Tórtola Europea / Streptopelia turtur). We again continued on to the next hide round the circuit but there were several photographers using it so we had a quick look at one of the introduction Red-knobbed Coots (Focha Moruna / Fulca cristata) which was hiding away in the far corner of the pool near the hide that is closed. From here we also saw Green Sandpiper (Andarrios Grande / Tringa ochropus), Grey Wagtail (Lavandera Cascadena / Motacilla cinerea), Western Swamp-hen (Calamon Común / Porphyrio porphyrio) and both Common (Vencejo Común / Apus apus) and Pallid Swifts (Vencejo Pálido /Apus pallidus).

Iberian Blue-tail (Ischnura graellsii) female.

Our next stop was at the main hide where we spent quite a while looking for the Chameleons but did not have any luck so we had a scan of the large lake for the birds and soon added Gadwall (Anade Friso / Anas strepera), Red Avadavat (Bengali Rojo / Amandava amandava), Black-headed Gull (Gaviota Riedora / Larus ridibundus), Lesser Black-backed Gull (Gaviota Sombria / Larus fuscus), Common Pochard (Porrón Común / Aythya ferina), Red-rumped Swallow (Golondrina Dáurica / Hirudo daurica), Cetti's Warbler (Ruisenor Bastardo / Cettia cetti), Nightingale (Ruisenor Común / Luscinia megarhynchos) and Sardinian Warbler (Curruca Cabecinegra / Sylvia melanocephala). Also out on the main pool were several more Black Perchers, lots of Broad Scarlets (Crocothemis erythraea), Lesser Emperor (Anax parthenope), Iberian Blue-tail (Ischnura graellsii) and a nice male Black-tailed Skimmer (Orthetrum cancellatum). We continued on around the track checking the area of sugar cane on the way where we got some nice shots of an immature female Iberian Blue-tail.

The storm coming in over Cortijo Capitano.

Further along the track we stopped at the small hide next to the long pool where almost straight away we were watching a very nice immature Little Bittern (Avetorillo Común / Ixobrychus minutus), along with Reed Warblers, calling Western Swamp-hen and a flyby Kingfisher (Martin Pescador / Alcedo atthis).
After spending while here we said goodbye to Juan and Beatriz and started a second walk around the reserve, we did not call at the first hide as it was quite quiet the first time, a little way past here we found several immature Black Perchers including both males and females. Going on we had a second look for the Chameleons but again with no luck, however we did see a couple of Spotted Flycatchers (Papamoscas Gris / Muscicapa striata) in the willow trees.

The Storm arrives.

At 13:00 we exited the reserve and headed back North to a spot near the river where we had our lunch before continuing on back towards Granada and then across country to the Cacín Valley, it was a very hot afternoon and a couple of quite sharp thunder storms started to develop so we did not see a lot but enjoyed the views on the way back to the House. During the evening we all sat out on the terrace and had a few drinks and a chat whilst we looked through the days Photographs.