Sierra de Loja, Granada Province.

A rest day for Deb and Renate and a day with Paul and Muriel Speak on the hill.

Ladder Snake (Rhinechis scalaris).

I meet Paul and Muriel just down the road and then we headed through Loja and then up the Sierra, our first stop was just short of the motorway bridge where we started the list off with Serin (Verdecillo / Serinus serinus), Spotless Starling (Estornino Negro / Sturnus unicolor), Woodpigeon (Paloma Torcaz / Columba palumbus), Mistle Thrush (Zorzal Charlo / Turdus viscivorus), Great Tit (Carbonera Común / Parus major) and Common Chaffinch (Pinzón Vulgar / Fringilla coelebs).

Near the lower quarry we heard a singing male Orphean Warbler (Curruca Mirlano / Sylvia hortensis) but only got brief views, Black Wheatear (Collalba Negra / Oenanthe leucura), a little further down the track we saw a couple of Dartford Warbler (Curruca Rabilarga / Sylvia undata), Common Stonechat (Tarabilla Común / Saxicola torquata), Long-tailed Tit (Mito / Aegithalos caudatus), House Martin (Avión Común / Delichon urbica) and Sardinian Warbler (Curruca Cabecinegra / Sylvia melanocephala).
Along the track we also saw Blue Spotted Hairstreak (Satyrium spini), Spanish Gatekeeper (Pyronia bathseba), Mallow / False Mallow Skipper (Carcharodus alceae / tripolinus), Red-underwing Skipper (Spialia sertorius), Clouded Yellow (Colias croceus), Panoptes Blue (Pseudophilotes panoptes), Provence Orange-tip (Anthocharis euphenoides) and Southern Blue (Polyommatus celina).

Black-eared Wheatear (Collalba Rubia / Oenanthe hispanica).

In the same area we saw Pyramidal Orchid (Anacamptis pyramidalia), Brown Bluebell (Dipcadi serotinum), Common Stork's-bill (Erodium cicutarium), Ground-pine Germander (Teucrium pseudochamaepitys), Mediterranean Kidney Vetch (Anthyllis vulneraria), Navel-wort (Omphalodes commutata), Star of Bethlehem (Ornithogalum umbellatum), White Rockrose (Helianthemum apenninum) and White Mignonette (Reseda Alba).
On the cliffs we could not locate the Eagle Owl (Buho Real / Bubo bubo) but we did catch up with Jackdaw (Grajilla / Corvus monedula), Crag Martin (Avión Roquero / Ptyonoprogne rupestris) and Common Kestrel (Cernicalo Vulgar / Falco tinnunculus). We dropped back down to the main track and started to head further up the hill seeing a couple of Iberian  Magpie (Rabilargo / Cyanopica cooki) in the last of the pines and a Ladder Snake (Rhinechis scalaris) which was trying to warm up on the track.

Rock Bunting (Escribano Montesino / Emberiza cia).

Once we were out on to the flatter tops we started to see Thekla Larks (Cogujada Montesina / Galerida theklae), Black-eared Wheatear (Collalba Rubia / Oenanthe hispanica), Red-legged Partridge (Perdiz Roja / Alectoris rufa) and Linnet (Pardillo Común / Carduelis cannabina). We made a shortstop on the way up in the broom scrub and soon had a singing Spectacled Warbler (Curruca Tomillera / Sylvia conspicillata) on the list. We eventually reached the pools at Charca del Negra, over the pool we saw Blue / Common Emperor (Anax imperator), Red-veined Darter (Sympetrum fonscolombii) and Black-tailed Skimmer (Orthetrum cancellatum).

Griffon Vultures (Bultre Leonado / Gyps fulvus).

We also checked the low crags nearby and had the days first Rock Buntings (Escribano Montesino / Emberiza cia), Rock Sparrows (Gorrión Chillón / Petronia petronia), Crag Martins (Avión Roquero / Ptyonoprogne rupestris), Black Redstart (Colirrojo Tizón / Phoenicurus ochruros) and Blue-rock Thrush (Roquero Solitario / Monticola solitarius).
In the pools we saw Sharp-ribbed Salamander (Pleurodeles waltl) and on the rocks we saw a juv Ocellated Lizard (Lacerta lepida). On the rocks below the crags we had a couple of Andalucian Wall Lizard (Podarcis vaucheri), in the air there were several noisy Red-billed Choughs (Chova Piquirroja / Pyrrhocorax pyrrhocorax) and a late Spanish Festoon (Zerynthia rumina). We moved on around past the Goat cave and checked the cliffs further on and eventually got nice views of a male and female Rufous-tailed Rock Thrushes (Roquero Roja / Monticola saxatilis).

Pyramidal Orchids (Anacamptis pyramidalia).

From here we went back along the track past the cave and the pools and decided to go right across to Salar and during the first part of the drive we had a Golden Eagle (Águila Real / Aquila chrysaetos) flash across in front of us and away around a nearby peak.
A few minutes later we had the first of ten Griffon Vulture (Bultre Leonado / Gyps fulvus) a little further down the track we stopped near a large Marble quarry and the 10 Griffon circled above us and in the same area we saw a male Subalpine Warbler (Curruca Carrasquena / Sylvia cantillans), Wren (Chochin / Troglodytes troglodytes) and Hoopoe (Abubilla / Upupa epops). As we dropped down towards Salar we stopped a couple of times and added Lizard Orchid (Himantoglosum hircinum), Montpellier Snake (Malpolon monspessulanus), Bath (Pontia daplidice), Black-veined  (Aporia crataegi) and Large Whites (Pieris brassicae), Small Heath (Coenonympha pamphilus), Spanish Marbled White (Melanargia ines), Woodchat Shrike (Alcaudón Común / Lanius senator), Spotted Flycatcher (Papamoscas Gris / Muscicapa striata) and Mistle Thrush (Zorzal Charlo / Turdus viscivorus).

Lizard Orchids (Himantoglosum hircinum).

Once we were down near the town we stopped for the last time near a small stream and heard or saw Nightingale (Ruisenor Común / Luscinia megarhynchos), Blackcap (Curruca Capirotada / Sylvia atricailla), Barn Swallow (Golondrina Común / Hirundo rustica), Cetti's Warbler (Ruisenor Bastardo / Cettia cetti), Crested Lark (Cogujada / Galerida cristata), Golden Oriole (Oropéndola / Oriolus oriolus) and Turtle Dove (Tórtola Europea / Streptopelia turtur). We went through Salar and back to the house.