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| Western Cattle Egrets (Garcilla Bueyera / Bubulcus ibis). |
Jayne dropped me off at the start of the road out to Mesia and I started to walk further out of town towards the fields checking the ditches along the way. On this first stretch I picked up
Spotless Starling (Estornino Negro / Sturnus unicolor),
House Sparrow (Gorrión Común / Passer domesticus),
Crested Lark (Cogujada / Galerida cristata),
Cetti's Warbler (Ruisenor Bastardo / Cettia cetti),
White Wagtail (Lavandera Blanca / Montacilla alba),
Tree Sparrow (Gorrión Molinero / Passer montanus),
Hoopoe (Abubilla / Upupa epops),
Woodpigeon (Paloma Torcaz / Columba palumbus),
Corn Bunting (Triguero / Emberiza calandra),
Collared Dove (Tórtola Turca / Streptopelia decaocto) and on the first water filled ditch a single
Green Sandpiper (Andarrios Grande / Tringa ochropus) which flew off calling loudly.
Next came a very smart
Kingfisher (Martin Pescador / Alcedo atthis) which sat on a low stump in the mud and a couple
Meadow Pipits (Bisbita Pratense / Anthus pratensis) which came up from a roadside Lucerne field.
A little further along the road I turned off on to the right hand track and checked the ditches, first up came a couple of
Snipe (Agachadiza Común / Gallinago gallinago) which flew off calling and dropped down into the Arroyo Vilano nearby. In the ditch I also found a fine male
Bluethroat (
Ruiseñor Pechiazul / Luscinia svecica),
Reed Warbler (Carricero Común / Acrocephalus scrpaceus) and a couple of
Zitting Cisticola's (Buitrón / Cisticola juncidis).
On the track on the far side of the track I saw
Western Cattle Egret (Garcilla Bueyera / Bubulcus ibis),
Common Magpie (Urraca / Pica pica),
Red-legged Partridge (Perdiz Roja / Alectoris rufa),
Goldfinch (Jilguero / Carduelis carduelis),
Blackbird (Mirlo Común / Turdus merula),
Jackdaw (Grajilla / Corvus monedula) and
Iberian Magpie (Rabilargo / Cyanopica cooki). I followed the bank of the Arroyo around to the road adding
Grey Wagtail (Lavandera Cascadena / Motacilla cinerea),
Great Tit (Carbonera Común / Parus major), a second male
Bluethroat and
Serin (Verdecillo / Serinus serinus) to the list.
I walked along the road and then along the track back towards the railway checking the ditch and pools on the track side, the first bird seen was the
Jack Snipe (Agachadiza Chica / Lymnocriptes minimus) which had turned up again a few days earlier. I saw it in the ditch for a few seconds before it saw me and flushed off across the fields and dropped down in the far ditch, I also saw 2 more
Kingfishers,
Blackcap (Curruca Capirotada / Sylvia atricapilla),
Greenfinch (Verderón Común / Carduelis chloris),
Linnet (Pardillo Común / Carduelis cannabina),
Black Redstart (Colirrojo Tizón / Phoenicurus ochruros),
Zitting Cisticola,
Skylark (Alondra Común / Alauda arvensis),
Common Kestrel (Cernicalo Vulgar / Falco tinnunculus),
Small (Artogeia rapae) and
Bath Whites (Pontia daplidice),
Long-tailed Blues (Lampides boeticus) and
Iberian Water Frogs (Rana Común / Rana Perezi).
I walked further along the track crossing the railway line and the Huétor road and on up to the banks of the Arroyo Vilano where I scanned the fields on the far side picking up a small flock of 25
Little Bustards (Sisón Común / Tetrax tetrax), a
Grey Heron (Garza Real / Ardea cinerea),
Iberian Grey Shrike (Alcaudón Real Meridional / Lanius meridionalis),
Sparrowhawk (Gavilán Común / Accipiter nisus) and a
Common Buzzard (Busardo Ratonero / Buteo buteo). In a small garden with several Fig trees there was a flock of about 40
Iberian Magpie, lots of
Blackcaps,
Tree Sparrows and a very nice
Hawfinch (Picogordo / Coccotraustes coccotrauetes) which was feeding on the ground below a small Walnut tree.
I passed the bar and headed off up to the house, I did not see any new species of bird but I was very pleased to see a cracking
Southern / Blue Hawker (Aeshna cyanea) which flew around my feet for a few seconds before heading off in to our garden and a couple of
Western Willow Spreadwing (Lestres viridis) which were in a large Ivy hedge in a friends garden.
