Rio Grande and other spots above Malaga, Malaga Province.

Attempted Dragonfly trip but with out much success with the camera.

Southern Skimmer (Orthetrum brunneum).

I dropped Jayne and Alan in the city and headed out towards the Rio Grande where I spent a while just checking the dry river bed near the bridge but did not see a lot except for thousands of dead and dying fish and a very full looking Viperine Snake (Culebra Viperina / Natrix maura) so I drove further on and stopped by another small river.

Black-winged Stilt (Ciguenela Común / Himantopus himantopus).

I parked in a new spot and dropped down to the river with Chika, straight away I found good numbers of Epaulet Skimmers (Orthetrum chrysostigma), Broad Scarlet (Crocothemis erythraea), Orange-winged (Trithemis kirbyi) and Violet Dropwings (Trithemis annulata), single Small Pincertail (Onychogomphus forcipatus) and Blue / Common Emperor (Anax imperator) and several Copper Demoiselles (Calopteryx haemorrhoidalis).

Black-winged Stilt (Ciguenela Común / Himantopus himantopus).

Birds included a small flock of Common Waxbills (Estrilda Ondulada / Estrilda astrild), Nightingale (Ruisenor Común / Luscinia megarhynchos), Jay (Arrendajo / Garrulus glandarius), Serin (Verdecillo / Serinus serinus), Sardinian Warbler (Curruca Cabecinegra / Sylvia melanocephala), Goldfinch (Jilguero / Carduelis carduelis) and a very nice adult Night Heron (Marinete Común / Nycticorax nycticorax) which flew along the river.

Little Ringed Plover (Chorlitejo Chico / Charadrius dubius).

I dropped back to the Rio Grande area but went to a new part of the river which was recommended by Christophe Brochard from Holland who visited the site a few weeks ago. Chika and I wandered around the area for around three hours and saw at least two Faded Pincertails (Onychogomphus costae) but it was so windy at the site that the insects were not settling for the camera.

European Bee-eater (Abejaruco Común / Merops apiaster).

In the same area I had two very nice Long Skimmers (Orthetrum trinacria) which as with most other species just whizzed by along with Southern Skimmer (Orthetrum brunneum), Iberian Blue-tail (Ischnura graellsii), White Featherleg (Platycnemis latipes) and Red-veined Darter (Sympetrum fonscolombii) all of which were new for the day. All of the species seen at the first site were also seen here except for the Small Pincertail.

Chika.

Birds at the site included Little Ringed (Chorlitejo Chico / Charadrius dubius) and Kentish Plovers (Chorlitejo Patinegro / Charadrius alexandrinus), Black-winged Stilt (Ciguenela Común / Himantopus himantopus), Little  (Garceta Común / Egreeta garzetta) and Western Cattle Egrets (Garcilla Bueyera / Bubulcus ibis), Grey Heron (Garza Real / Ardea cinerea), Hoopoe (Abubilla / Upupa epops), Crested Lark (Cogujada / Galerida cristata), Cetti's (Ruisenor Bastardo / Cettia cetti) and Reed Warblers (Carricero Común / Acrocephalus scrpaceus), Turtle Dove (Tórtola Europea / Streptopelia turtur), Pallid (Vencejo Pálido /Apus pallidus) and Common Swifts (Vencejo Común / Apus apus), Barn (Golondrina Común / Hirundo rustica) and Red-rumped Swallows (Golondrina Dáurica / Hirudo daurica), Spotless Starling (Estornino Negro / Sturnus unicolor) and Greenfinch (Verderón Común / Carduelis chloris).

Blue Water Speedwell (Veronica anagallis-aquatica).

My last stop was back by the bridge where I parked on the track side and took some shots of a group of European Bee-eaters (Abejaruco Común / Merops apiaster) and also added White (Lavandera Blanca / Montacilla alba) and Spanish (Yellow) Wagtail (Lavandera Boyera / Motacilla flava iberiae), Common Moorhen (Gallineta Común / Gallinulas chloropus), House Martin (Avión Común / Delichon urbica) and House Sparrow (Gorrión Común / Passer domesticus) to the day list.

Exuvia probably from a Red-veined Darter (Sympetrum fonscolombii).

Other species seen during the day included Blue Water Speedwell (Veronica anagallis-aquatica), Clouded Yellow (Colias corcea), African Grass Blue (Zizeeia knysna), Bath (Pontia daplidice) and Small Whites (Artogeia rapae), Mammoth Wasp (Megascolia maculata), Stripe-necked Terrapin (Mauremys leprosa), Iberian Water Frog (Rana Común / Rana Perezi), Rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus) and Iberian Brown Hare (Lepus europaeus / capensis).