Charca de Suarez, Granada Province.

A quiet but interesting day at the wetlands.

Black Percher (Diplacodes lefebvrii).

Jayne, Sam, Sue and I travelled down to Motril via Granada and arrived at the nature reserve at just after 10. We made our way around to the first hide looking over Laguna del Lirio where we soon located one of the introduced Red-knobbed Coots (Focha Moruna / Fulca cristata) along with Eurasian Coot (Focha Común / Fulica atra), Common Moorhen (Gallineta Común / Gallinulas chloropus), Mallard (Anade Azulón / Anas platyrhynchos), Little Grebe (Zampullín Común / Tachybaptus ruficollis) and Cetti's Warbler (Ruisenor Bastardo / Cettia cetti).

Red-knobbed Coot (Focha Moruna / Fulca cristata). 

Low over the water there were a few dragonflies, most were Black Perchers (Diplacodes lefebvrii) but they were seen along with Red-veined Darter (Sympetrum fonscolombii), Blue / Common Emperor (Anax imperator) and Violet Dropwing (Trithemis annulata).

Eurasian Coot (Focha Común / Fulica atra).

We walked on steadily around to the reserve checking the track down to the closed hide for dragons but found nothing so we continued on to the next hide which over looks Laguna de Trebol where we saw much the same species as before but added Pallid Swift (Vencejo Pálido /Apus pallidus), Reed Warbler (Carricero Común / Acrocephalus scrpaceus), Zitting Cisticola (Buitrón / Cisticola juncidis), Spotless Starling (Estornino Negro / Sturnus unicolor), Spotted Flycatcher (Papamoscas Gris / Muscicapa striata), Serin (Verdecillo / Serinus serinus), Sardinian Warbler (Curruca Cabecinegra / Sylvia melanocephala), Linnet (Pardillo Común / Carduelis cannabina), Little Ringed Plover (Chorlitejo Chico / Charadrius dubius), House Martin (Avión Común / Delichon urbica) and Barn Swallow (Golondrina Común / Hirundo rustica).

Gypsywort (Lycopus europeaus).

Out on the water and on the margins we saw lots more Black Perchers, a single male Long Skimmer (Orthetrum trinacria), Iberian Blue-tail (Ischnura graellsii), Scarlet Darter (Crocothemis erythraea) and a nice male Lesser Emperor (Anax parthenope). On the way around to the next hide we found quite good stands of Gypsywort (Lycopus europeaus), along with Rush Loosestrife (Lythrum junceum) and Branched Bur-reed (Sparganium erectum).

Iberian Blue-tail (Ischnura graellsii).

From the main hide we added Little Bittern (Avetorillo Común / Ixobrychus minutus), Western Swamp-hen (Calamon Común / Porphyrio porphyrio), Red-rumped Swallow (Golondrina Dáurica / Hirudo daurica), Spanish (Yellow) Wagtail (Lavandera Boyera / Motacilla flava iberiae) and  Turtle Dove (Tórtola Europea / Streptopelia turtur). After a while we moved on around the reserve heading towards the hide over looking Laguna del Taraje but on the way we found a young male Black Percher which was happy to have it´s photograph taken.

Western Swamp-hen (Calamon Común / Porphyrio porphyrio).

We continued on and found a lake that had been put in since my last visit , here we had good views of a nice male Long Skimmer which kept perching just out of range of the camera. On the water there were several Black-winged Stilt (Ciguenela Común / Himantopus himantopus), Common Sandpiper (Andarrios Chico / Actitis hypoleucos) and White Wagtail (Lavandera Blanca / Montacilla alba).

Mallard (Anade Azulón / Anas platyrhynchos).

We rejoined the main track and had a quick look from the last hide but added nothing but Speckled Wood (Pararge aegeria). 

From here we headed in to Almuñécar where after eventually found a parking place we had a very nice meal at a bar on the sea front before heading home.