Sierra Morena, Jaen Province.

A day looking for the rare Iberian Lynx and what a day !!!

Iberian Lynx (lince iberico/ Lynx pardina).

Steve and I were out just on dawn and drove out to the site where we were going to look for the Iberian Lynx (lince iberico/ Lynx pardina), on the way we picked up Red Deer (Ciervo común / Cervus elaphus) in the headlights as well as Rabbit (Conejo / Oryctolagus cuniculus).

Iberian Lynx (lince iberico/ Lynx pardina) checking the scent on the bush.

Once we were on site at around 08:45 we set our selves up and started to find new species including Firecrest (Reyezuelo Listado / Regulus ignicapillus), Long-tailed (Mito / Aegithalos caudatus), Great (Carbonera Común / Parus major) and Blue Tits (Herrerillo Común / Parus caeruleus), Common Chaffinch (Pinzón Vulgar / Fringilla coelebs), Robin (Petirrojo Europeo / Erithacus rubecula),Iberian  Magpie (Rabilargo / Cyanopica cooki) and Common Magpies (Urraca / Pica pica), Red-legged Partridge (Perdiz Roja / Alectoris rufa), Blackbird (Mirlo Común / Turdus merula), Sardinian (Curruca Cabecinegra / Sylvia melanocephala) and Dartford Warbler (Curruca Rabilarga / Sylvia undata), Iberian Green Woodpecker (Pito Real / Picus sharpei), Woodpigeon (Paloma Torcaz / Columba palumbus), Blue-rock (Roquero Solitario / Monticola solitarius) and Song Thrush (Zorzal Común / Turdus philomelos). 

Steve (AKA Kermit) photographing the Crag Martins.

Just before 10:00 Steve had walked a couple of hundred meters along the road and I walked back a short way in the opposite direction to check a raucous group of Common Magpies when I picked up a male Lynx moving along a nearby ridge. 

Red-legged Partridge (Perdiz Roja / Alectoris rufa).

I managed to get Steve's attention and then went to look for it again and made sure another group got onto it as well, I rushed back to the car grabbed my camera and locked it before returning to the rest of the group. 

Fallow Deer (Gamo común / Dama dama).

What happened next was fantastic, the Lynx dropped out of sight over the ridge and then reappeared right next to us, no more than 10-15 meters away and walked past us up the hill, under the road and out onto a clear area above us where it checked a bush for scent for a few minutes, right out in the open before moving off into cover up the hill. 

Río Jándula Dam.

The whole experience was amazing and all 8 of us were over the moon with the views this stunning animal allowed us.

Otter (Nutria / Lutra lutra).

After a while we decided to go down to the dam at the far end of the track but we did not see much apart from lots of Crag Martins (Avión Roquero / Ptyonoprogne rupestris) sat on the dam wall.

Otter (Nutria / Lutra lutra).

Later we drove off the site seeing Fallow Deer (Gamo común / Dama dama) on the way and down to the Río Jándula where we ate a sandwich (a bit of a monster) we had got on the way at the picnic area near the road and added Nuthatch (Trepador Azul / Sitta europaea), Common Chiffchaff (Mosquitero Común / Phylloscopus collybita), Blackcap (Curruca Capirotada / Sylvia atricailla), Spotless Starling (Estornino Negro / Sturnus unicolor), White (Lavandera Blanca / Montacilla alba) and Grey Wagtails (Lavandera Cascadena / Motacilla cinerea) and Grey Heron (Garza Real / Ardea cinerea).

Otter (Nutria / Lutra lutra).

After finishing the Pork monster we drove to the dam and spent some time on the bridge nearby where we had great views of a very smart Otter (Nutria / Lutra lutra) along with both European Black (Buitre Negro / Aegypius monachus) and Griffon Vulture (Bultre Leonado / Gyps fulvus), a pair of soaring Spanish Imperial Eagles (Aguila Imperial Ibérica / Aguila adalberti) and a couple of Hawfinches (Picogordo / Coccotraustes coccotrauetes).

Río Jándula.

Around mid afternoon we decided to drive south and back home but not before we found a rather hairy looking Wild Boar (Jabalí / Felis silvestris) near the bridge.

Wild Boar (Jabalí / Felis silvestris).