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Thursday 17 October 2013

Above Trabuco, Malaga Province.

Sat in the Oak woods.

Coal Tit (Carbonero Garrapinos / Parus ater).
I dropped Jayne off at the Trabuco Craft group meeting and went upin to the Oak Woodlands not far from the town where I dug out the folding chair from the boot and sat down in it for the next 3 hours or so until the birds got used to me a bit and came down to drink at a water tank put out for the local goats. The commonest species by far were Coal Tit (Carbonero Garrapinos / Parus ater), closely followed by Common Crossbill (Piquituerto Común / Loxia curvirostra) and Great Tit (Carbonera Común / Parus major).
Common Crossbill (Piquituerto Común / Loxia curvirostra).
Whilst I was sat there I also saw lesser numbers of Crested (Herrerillo Capuchino / Parus cristatus) and Blue Tits (Herrerillo Común / Parus caeruleus), Nuthatch (Trepador Azul / Sitta europaea), Jay (Arrendajo / Garrulus glandarius), Blackbird (Mirlo Común / Turdus merula) and Great Spotted Woodpecker (Pico Picapinos / Dendrocopos major).
Crested Tit (Herrerillo Capuchino / Parus cristatus).
On the way home we went across country and came in towards Loja down the Western side of the hill on the road to Venta del Raya, along here we had corking views of a male Northern Goshawk (Azor Común / Accipitor gentillis), Iberian  (Rabilargo / Cyanopica cooki) and Common Magpies (Urraca / Pica pica), Song Thrush (Zorzal Común / Turdus philomelos), Crested Lark (Cogujada / Galerida cristata), Meadow Pipit (Bisbita Pratense / Anthus pratensis), White Wagtail (Lavandera Blanca / Montacilla alba) and Spotless Starling (Estornino Negro / Sturnus unicolor).

Tuesday 15 October 2013

Rio Fuengirola, Malaga Province.

Down on the coast.

Ruddy Turnstone (Vuelvepiedras Común / Arenaria interpres).
Jayne and I headed down to Fuengirola to sort out a few bits that needed sorting and to do some shopping. Whilst Jayne went into the centre I went along to El faro and had a walk along the beach where I soon has several nice species on the list including Sanderling (Correlimos Tridáctilo / Calidris alba), Ruddy Turnstone (Vuelvepiedras Común / Arenaria interpres), Kentish (Chorlitejo Patinegro / Charadrius alexandrinus) and Ringed Plovers (Chorlitejo Grande / Charadrius hiaticula), Little Egret (Garceta Común / Egreeta garzetta), White (Lavandera Blanca / Montacilla alba) and Grey Wagtails (Lavandera Cascadena / Motacilla cinerea), Northern Gannet (Alcatraz Atlántico / Morus bassanus), along with Yellow-legged (Gaviota Patiamarilla / Larus Michahellis), Lesser Black-backed (Gaviota Sombria / Larus fuscus) and Black-headed Gulls (Gaviota Riedora / Larus ridibundus).
Ruddy Turnstone (Vuelvepiedras Común / Arenaria interpres).
Once I had finished on the beach I went and checked out the concrete lagoon near the shopping centre before meeting Jayne, here I soon had nice views of a flock of Common Waxbills (Estrilda astrild), Meadow Pipit (Bisbita Pratense / Anthus pratensis), Blackbird (Mirlo Común / Turdus merula), Serin (Verdecillo / Serinus serinus), Goldfinch (Jilguero / Carduelis carduelis), Greenfinch (Verderón Común / Carduelis chloris), Common Chiffchaff (Mosquitero Común / Phylloscopus collybita), Sardinian Warbler (Curruca Cabecinegra / Sylvia melanocephala), Monk Parakeet (Cotorra Argentina / Myiopsitta monachus), Common Moorhen (Gallineta Común / Gallinulas chloropus) and a couple more Little Egrets.
Little Egret (Garceta Común / Egreeta garzetta).
There were also several species of Dragonfly still on the wing including Orange-winged Dropwing (Trithemis kirbyi), Red-veined Darter (Sympetrum fonscolombii), Epaulet Skimmer (Orthetrum chrysostigma), both Blue / Common (Anax imperator) and Lesser Emperor (Anax parthenope), Broad Scarlet (Crocothemis erythraea) and Iberian Blue-tail (Ischnura graellsii).