A dip on the Sandgrouse target but a new Butterfly for my local patch.
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| Western Cattle Egret (Garcilla Bueyera / Bubulcus ibis). |
I started the day by having a look at the fields and ditches around Huétor and in the 30 minutes or so I had there before meeting Bob, Steve and Elena at the Cortijo de Tajar hotel I saw Bluethroat (Pechiazul / Luscinia svecica) x1 male, Cetti's Warbler (Ruisenor Bastardo / Cettia cetti), Spanish (Yellow) Wagtail (Lavandera Boyera / Motacilla flava iberiae), Zitting Cisticola (Buitrón / Cisticola juncidis), Spotless Starling (Estornino Negro / Sturnus unicolor), Sardinian Warbler (Curruca Cabecinegra / Sylvia melanocephala), Pied Flycatcher (Papamoscas Cerrojillo / Ficedula hypoleuca), Little Ringed Plover (Chorlitejo Chico / Charadrius dubius), Common Sandpiper (Andarrios Chico / Actitis hypoleucos), Common Waxbill (Estrilda Ondulada / Estrilda astrild), Iberian Magpie (Rabilargo / Cyanopica cooki) and Western Cattle Egrets (Garcilla Bueyera / Bubulcus ibis).
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| Northern Wheatear (Collalba Gris / Oenanthe oenanthe). |
Bob, Steve and Elena arrived at the Cortijo and after a coffee we headed slightly east and started to search for the
Black-bellied Sandgrouse (Ganga Ortega / Pterocles orientalis) and over the next few hours we covered all the areas where I have been seeing these birds regularly recently but as hard as we tried we could not get even flight views.
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| Northern Wheatear (Collalba Gris / Oenanthe oenanthe). |
How ever during the morning we did see some nice species including
Calandra (Calandria / Melanocorypha calandra),
Crested (Cogujada / Galerida cristata),
Thekla (Cogujada Montesina / Galerida theklae),
Greater Short-toed (Terrera Común / Calandrella brachydactyla) and
Skylark (Alondra Común / Alauda arvensis) all in good umbers,
Tawny Pipit (Bisbita campestre / Anthus campestris),
Whinchat (Tarabilla Nortena / Saxicola rubetra),
Northern Wheatear (Collalba Gris / Oenanthe oenanthe),
Little Owl (Mochuelo Europeo / Athene noctua),
Jackdaw (Grajilla / Corvus monedula),
Hoopoe (Abubilla / Upupa epops),
Iberian Grey Shrike (Alcaudón Real Meridional / Lanius meridionalis),
Iberian Green Woodpecker (Pito Real / Picus sharpei),
Corn Bunting (Triguero / Emberiza calandra),
Common Buzzard (Busardo Ratonero / Buteo buteo),
Common Kestrel (Cernicalo Vulgar / Falco tinnunculus),
Common Magpie (Urraca / Pica pica),
Collared Dove (Tórtola Turca / Streptopelia decaocto),
Bonelli's Warbler (Mosquitero Papialbo / Phylloscopus bonelli),
Blackbird (Mirlo Común / Turdus merula),
Barn Swallow (Golondrina Común / Hirundo rustica),
Common Redstart (Colirroja Real / Phoenicurus phoenicurus),
European Bee-eater (Abejaruco Común / Merops apiaster) heard only,
Goldfinch (Jilguero / Carduelis carduelis),
Greenfinch (Verderón Común / Carduelis chloris),
Serin (Verdecillo / Serinus serinus),
White Wagtail (Lavandera Blanca / Montacilla alba) and
Woodpigeon (Paloma Torcaz / Columba palumbus).
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| Tawny Pipit (Bisbita campestre / Anthus campestris). |
We eventually gave in on the Sandgrouse and went just down the road to Balsa de Regidor to see what Dragonflies were on the wing and we soon found lots of tandem pairs of
Red-veined Darters (Sympetrum fonscolombii) egg laying as well as
Violet (Trithemis annulata) and
Orange-winged Dropwing (Trithemis kirbyi),
Small Red-eyed (Erythromma viridulum),
Scarlet Darter (Crocothemis erythraea),
Iberian Blue-tail (Ischnura graellsii),
Blue / Common (Anax imperator) and
Lesser Emperors (Anax parthenope) plus
Clouded Yellow (Colias Común / Colias corcea),
Large White (Pieris brassicae) and
Lang's Short-tailed Blue (Leptotes pirithous).
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| Little Owl (Mochuelo Europeo / Athene noctua). |
Bird species included
Willow (Mosquitero Musical / Phylloscopus trochillus) and
Reed Warblers (Carricero Común / Acrocephalus scrpaceus),
Red-rumped Swallow (Golondrina Dáurica / Hirudo daurica),
House Martin (Avión Común / Delichon urbica),
Grey Wagtail (Lavandera Cascadena / Motacilla cinerea),
Northern Shoveler (Pato Cuchara / Anas clypeata),
Mallard (Anade Azulón / Anas platyrhynchos),
Little Grebe (Zampullín Común / Tachybaptus ruficollis),
Eurasian Coot (Focha Común / Fulica atra),
Common Moorhen (Gallineta Común / Gallinulas chloropus) and
Grey Heron (Garza Real / Ardea cinerea).
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| Red-veined Darters (Sympetrum fonscolombii). |
Instead of jumping on to the motor way we stayed on the service road down to the Mesia junction as I wanted to quickly check an area of Caper plants that I had seen just in case there were any of the uncommon
Desert Orange-tip (Colotis evagore) butterflies.
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| Red-veined Darters (Sympetrum fonscolombii). |
Before we had even got out of the car we spotted the first and by the time we were leaving we had seen at least 8 of the smart little insects, well pleased with this find so close to home and well and truly on the local patch.
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| Desert Orange-tip (Colotis evagore). |
Thanks to Steve for driving us around for the morning and to Bob and Elena for their company.
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