Cacín Valley, Huétor Fields and Zafarraya road, Granada Province.

A final days birding with Bob and a trip around the local area.

Day Six with Bob Ruvolo from New York, USA.

Black-bellied Sandgrouse (Ganga Ortega / Pterocles orientalis).

We started the day on the fields near to Moraleda where we quickly located the main target bird the Black-bellied Sandgrouse (Ganga Ortega / Pterocles orientalis) on a recently ploughed field amongst the Almond groves. In the same area we picked up Crested (Cogujada / Galerida cristata) and Thekla Larks (Cogujada Montesina / Galerida theklae), Corn Bunting (Triguero / Emberiza calandra), Northern Wheatear (Collalba Gris / Oenanthe oenanthe), Whinchat (Tarabilla Nortena / Saxicola rubetra) and Common Stonechat (Tarabilla Común / Saxicola torquata), Little Owl (Mochuelo Europeo / Athene noctua), Spotless Starling (Estornino Negro / Sturnus unicolor), Woodpigeon (Paloma Torcaz / Columba palumbus), Collared Dove (Tórtola Turca / Streptopelia decaocto), Jackdaw (Grajilla / Corvus monedula), Common Kestrel (Cernicalo Vulgar / Falco tinnunculus), Barn Swallow (Golondrina Común / Hirundo rustica) and Serin (Verdecillo / Serinus serinus). 

Whinchat (Tarabilla Nortena / Saxicola rubetra).

Our next stop was on the fields near Huétor Tajar where we checked some ditches and Fields adding Snipe (Agachadiza Común / Gallinago gallinago), Western Cattle Egret (Garcilla Bueyera / Bubulcus ibis), Reed Warbler (Carricero Común / Acrocephalus scrpaceus), House Sparrow (Gorrión Común / Passer domesticus), Blackbird (Mirlo Común / Turdus merula), Common (Urraca / Pica pica) and Iberian  Magpie (Rabilargo / Cyanopica cooki) and eventually the elusive flock of Little Bustards (Sisón Común / Tetrax tetrax).

Whinchat (Tarabilla Nortena / Saxicola rubetra).

The final couple of stops were along the Western side of the Sierra de Loja, the first was in some roadside fields where we found several spikes of Autumn Lady's Tresses's (Spiranthes spiralis). A little further along the road just past Zafarraya we had a walk along the disused railway line and picked up Red-billed Chough (Chova Piquirroja / Pyrrhocorax pyrrhocorax), Rock Bunting (Escribano Montesino / Emberiza cia), Blue-rock Thrush (Roquero Solitario / Monticola solitarius), Black Wheatear (Collalba Negra / Oenanthe leucura), Black Redstart (Colirrojo Tizón / Phoenicurus ochruros), Crag Martin (Avión Roquero / Ptyonoprogne rupestris) and Spanish Ibex (Cabra pyreaica hispanica).