Rio Velez, Torre del Mar, Malaga Province.

A visit to the Dentist and an hour of the Rio Velez.

After a visit to the dentist on the way down to the coast we had a walk around Torre and did a bit of shopping before having a very very nice Menu del Dia . I then dropped Jayne at the Shopping Centre nearby and went and had a quick look at the river and beach. I parked and walked stright out to the beach dodging the wierdo's lerking in the bushes and checking what was on the sea and pool. On the walk out I saw at least 3 Speckled Woods (Pararge aegeria) and several Small Whites (Artogeia rapae). On the sea I soon had Yellow-legged (Gaviota Patiamarilla / Larus Michahellis), Lesser Black-backed (Gaviota Sombria / Larus fuscus) and Mediterranean Gulls (Gaviota Cabecinegra / Larus melanocephalus) and on the beach amongst several hundred roosting birds I also found both Black-headed (Gaviota Riedora / Larus ridibundus) and Audouin's Gulls (Gaviota de Audouin / Larus audouinii), Northern Gannet (Alcatraz Atlántico / Morus bassanus) and Balearic Shearwater (Pardela Balear / Puffinus mauretanicus).

On the beach pools I saw 3x Sanderlings (Correlimos Tridáctilo / Calidris alba), 2x Common Sandpiper (Andarrios Chico / Actitis hypoleucos), Common Moorhen (Gallineta Común / Gallinulas chloropus), Eurasian Coot (Focha Común / Fulica atra), Grey Heron (Garza Real / Ardea cinerea), Little (Garceta Común / Egreeta garzetta) and Western Cattle Egret (Garcilla Bueyera / Bubulcus ibis), Mallard (Anade Azulón / Anas platyrhynchos), Northern Shoveler (Pato Cuchara / Anas clypeata) and Cetti's Warbler (Ruisenor Bastardo / Cettia cetti).

I then walked back up the river for a few hundred meters and soon found the first of a couple of dozen Zitting Cisticola (Buitrón / Cisticola juncidis) along with Serin (Verdecillo / Serinus serinus), Goldfinch (Jilguero / Carduelis carduelis), 5x Snipe (Agachadiza Común / Gallinago gallinago), Great Cormorant (Cormorán Grande / Phalacrocroax carbo), a male Bluethroat (Pechiazul / Luscinia svecica), Great Tit (Carbonera Común / Parus major), Robin (Petirrojo Europeo / Erithacus rubecula), White Wagtail (Lavandera Blanca / Montacilla alba), Meadow Pipit (Bisbita Pratense / Anthus pratensis), Blackbird (Mirlo Común / Turdus merula), Common Chiffchaff (Mosquitero Común / Phylloscopus collybita), Common Waxbill (Estrilda Ondulada / Estrilda astrild), Monk Parakeet (Cotorra Argentina / Myiopsitta monachus), Spotless Starling (Estornino Negro / Sturnus unicolor), Jackdaw (Grajilla / Corvus monedula), Crag Martin (Avión Roquero / Ptyonoprogne rupestris) and Black Redstart (Colirrojo Tizón / Phoenicurus ochruros). Later I returned to the car and picked Jayne up and we headed home, on the way we saw Iberian  Magpie (Rabilargo / Cyanopica cooki), Mistle Thrush (Zorzal Charlo / Turdus viscivorus), Iberian Grey Shrike (Alcaudón Real Meridional / Lanius meridionalis), Red-legged Partridge (Perdiz Roja / Alectoris rufa), Crested Lark (Cogujada / Galerida cristata) and Woodpigeon (Paloma Torcaz / Columba palumbus).