Huétor Fields, Granada Province.

Out on the local patch Snipe hunting (only with the camera !!!).

Common Waxbills (Estrilda Ondulada / Estrilda astrild).

I went down to the spot where I had seen the Jack Snipe (Agachadiza Chica / Lymnocriptes minimus) a few days early hoping but not expecting to see it again whilst making sure the camera was ready this time. I arrived and checked all along the roadside ditch where the bird first flushed up from but only saw a dozen or so Common Chiffchaffs (Mosquitero Común / Phylloscopus collybita), Little Egret (Garceta Común / Egreeta garzetta), Collared Dove (Tórtola Turca / Streptopelia decaocto), House Sparrow (Gorrión Común / Passer domesticus) and White Wagtail (Lavandera Blanca / Montacilla alba).

Common Waxbills (Estrilda Ondulada / Estrilda astrild).

I continued on along the track crossing the Mesia road and checked the channel that side, I soon found a good flock of very active and quite noisy Common Waxbills (Estrilda Ondulada / Estrilda astrild) which were flitting around between the nearby trees, a Lucerne fieldand the channel. In this area I also saw a couple of Grey Herons (Garza Real / Ardea cinerea), Western Cattle Egret (Garcilla Bueyera / Bubulcus ibis), Barn Swallow (Golondrina Común / Hirundo rustica), Iberian  Magpie (Rabilargo / Cyanopica cooki), Common Kestrel (Cernicalo Vulgar / Falco tinnunculus), Common Stonechat (Tarabilla Común / Saxicola torquata), Spotless Starling (Estornino Negro / Sturnus unicolor), Zitting Cisticola (Buitrón / Cisticola juncidis), Song Thrush (Zorzal Común / Turdus philomelos) and Black Redstart (Colirrojo Tizón / Phoenicurus ochruros).

Common Waxbills (Estrilda Ondulada / Estrilda astrild).

I then turned around and headed back to the car checking the channel again, once back I walked out to the small pools in the field but found nothing. on the way back I looked amongst the reeds near the road and had brief views of at least two  Bluethroats (Pechiazul / Luscinia svecica) a white spotted one and another with a completly blue throat, both males. I sat on the side of the irrigation channel for the next hour or so hoping that the Bluethroats may show a bit better for the camera but they stayed hidden. In the area I did see Snipe (Agachadiza Común / Gallinago gallinago), Crested (Cogujada / Galerida cristata) and Skylarks (Alondra Común / Alauda arvensis), Sardinian (Curruca Cabecinegra / Sylvia melanocephala) and Cetti's Warblers (Ruisenor Bastardo / Cettia cetti), Common Magpie (Urraca / Pica pica), Goldfinch (Jilguero / Carduelis carduelis), Greenfinch (Verderón Común / Carduelis chloris), Linnet (Pardillo Común / Carduelis cannabina), Serin (Verdecillo / Serinus serinus), Hoopoe (Abubilla / Upupa epops) and Grey Wagtail (Lavandera Cascadena / Motacilla cinerea) before heading home.