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Thursday 6 November 2014

Near Villanueva del Trabuco, Malaga Province.

A few hours in the new hide.

Rock Bunting (Escribano Montesino / Emberiza cia).
I went with Jayne to Trabuco where she went to the Craft Group meeting whilst I went up into the hills nearby and did a bit of photography from the new hide. In the woods there were good numbers of Crested (Herrerillo Capuchino / Parus cristatus), Coal (Carbonero Garrapinos / Parus ater), Blue (Herrerillo Común / Parus caeruleus) and Great Tits (Carbonera Común / Parus major), along with Nuthatch (Trepador Azul / Sitta europaea), Short-toed Treecreeper (Agateador Común / Certhia brachydactyla), Jay (Arrendajo / Garrulus glandarius), Goldfinch (Jilguero / Carduelis carduelis), Common Chaffinch (Pinzón Vulgar / Fringilla coelebs), Common Crossbill (Piquituerto Común / Loxia curvirostra), Iberian  Magpie (Rabilargo / Cyanopica cooki), Firecrest (Reyezuelo Listado / Regulus ignicapillus), Mistle Thrush (Zorzal Charlo / Turdus viscivorus), Great Spotted Woodpecker (Pico Picapinos / Dendrocopos major), Song Thrush (Zorzal Común / Turdus philomelos), Blackbird (Mirlo Común / Turdus merula) and Wren (Chochin / Troglodytes troglodytes) but nothing came in close enough due to the very strong wind which was ripping branches off the trees above me so I thought it was a good idea to move after a while.
Greenfinch (Verderón Común / Carduelis chloris).
 I dropped down the hill to a more sheltered area and in an area of Hawthorn bushes found several Ring Ouzels ( Mirlo Capiblanco / Turdus torquatus), Blackcap (Curruca Capirotada / Sylvia atricailla), a nice male Black Wheatear (Collalba Negra / Oenanthe leucura), Corn Bunting (Triguero / Emberiza calandra), Greenfinch (Verderón Común / Carduelis chloris), Hoopoe (Abubilla / Upupa epops), Sardinian Warbler (Curruca Cabecinegra / Sylvia melanocephala), Iberian Grey Shrike (Alcaudón Real Meridional / Lanius meridionalis) and masses of Meadow Pipits (Bisbita Pratense / Anthus pratensis).
Cirl Bunting (Escribano Soteno / Emberiza cirlus).
I again moved on along the valley towards the Loja road and out on to the western slopes where I checked the roadside Hawthorns and the skies.
In this area I added Griffon Vulture (Bultre Leonado / Gyps fulvus), Bonelli's Eagle (Aguila-azor / Hieraetus faciatus), Common Kestrel (Cernicalo Vulgar / Falco tinnunculus), Common Stonechat (Tarabilla Común / Saxicola torquata), Cirl (Escribano Soteno / Emberiza cirlus) and Rock Buntings (Escribano Montesino / Emberiza cia), a single fly over Hawfinch (Picogordo / Coccotraustes coccotrauetes) and Long-tailed Tit (Mito / Aegithalos caudatus).
Blackcap (Curruca Capirotada / Sylvia atricailla) female.
As I walked along the road I picked up large numbers of Sparrows out on a freshly ploughed field and I spent the best part of an hour searching the flock after raising my bins for the first view and finding a fine male Spanish Sparrow (Gorrión Moruno / Passer hispaniolensis) perched on a barbbed wire fence on the edge of the field.
I had hoped to find more but it turned out to be the only one but there were 200+ House (Gorrión Común / Passer domesticus), 60+ Rock (Gorrión Chillón / Petronia petronia) and at least 45 Tree Sparrows (Gorrión Molinero / Passer montanus) in the flock with a good scattering of both Rock and Cirl Buntings thrown in it was quite an impressive gathering.
Snipe (Agachadiza Común / Gallinago gallinago).
Other species seen at this end of the walk were Woodpigeon (Paloma Torcaz / Columba palumbus), White Wagtail (Lavandera Blanca / Montacilla alba), Spotless Starling (Estornino Negro / Sturnus unicolor), Serin (Verdecillo / Serinus serinus), Robin (Petirrojo Europeo / Erithacus rubecula), Raven (Cuervo / Corvus corax) and Crested Lark (Cogujada / Galerida cristata).
Water Pipit (Bisbita Alpino / Anthus spinoletta).
At around 16:30 I went back and met Jayne, on the way home we called at one of the ladies houses that she had been at craft group with and then headed off home. On the way home we crossed the fields to the North of Huetor Tajar and added Water Pipit (Bisbita Alpino / Anthus spinoletta), Western Cattle Egret (Garcilla Bueyera / Bubulcus ibis), Grey Heron (Garza Real / Ardea cinerea), Jackdaw (Grajilla / Corvus monedula), Little Bustard (Sisón Común / Tetrax tetrax), Stone Curlew (Alcaraván Común / Burhinus oedicnemus), Snipe (Agachadiza Común / Gallinago gallinago) and Green Sandpiper (Andarrios Grande / Tringa ochropus).