Huétor Fields, Granada Province.

A new species for the local patch and a few new arrivals.

John and Sharon, Day Four.

Sparrowhawk (Gavilán Común / Accipiter nisus).

After catching up with loads of jobs during the morning Sharon, John and I headed out in the late afternoon on to the local fields and straight to the fields where the wintering Little Bustards (Sisón Común / Tetrax tetrax) had started to collect. We found that the flock had reached 30+ birds but the counting was difficult as the birds were ducking in and out of the Lucerne. In the same area we also had Spanish (Yellow) Wagtail (Lavandera Boyera / Motacilla flava iberiae), Collared Dove (Tórtola Turca / Streptopelia decaocto), Serin (Verdecillo / Serinus serinus), Sardinian Warbler (Curruca Cabecinegra / Sylvia melanocephala), Corn Bunting (Triguero / Emberiza calandra), Whinchat (Tarabilla Nortena / Saxicola rubetra), Northern Wheatear (Collalba Gris / Oenanthe oenanthe) and Spotless Starling (Estornino Negro / Sturnus unicolor).

We moved on around to the Mesia road side of the site and parked next to one of the irrigation and John soon found a female Common Redstart (Colirroja Real / Phoenicurus phoenicurus) on a concrete post and this was followed by a male Ortolan Bunting (Escribano Hortolano / Emberiza hortulana) which was a new species for the fields but just as I got on to it it flew up and quickly away. In the same area we found Grey Wagtail (Lavandera Cascadena / Motacilla cinerea), Red-rumped Swallow (Golondrina Dáurica / Hirudo daurica), Zitting Cisticola (Buitrón / Cisticola juncidis), Reed (Carricero Común / Acrocephalus scrpaceus) and Cetti's Warblers (Ruisenor Bastardo / Cettia cetti), Meadow Pipit (Bisbita Pratense / Anthus pratensis), Barn Swallow (Golondrina Común / Hirundo rustica) and Pied Flycatcher (Papamoscas Cerrojillo / Ficedula hypoleuca).

Sparrowhawk (Gavilán Común / Accipiter nisus).

We moved to the other side of the Rio and scanned along the edge of a maze stand seeing dozens of  Willow Warblers (Mosquitero Musical / Phylloscopus trochillus) feeding on the ground and flycatching, a single Garden Warbler (Curruca Mosquitera / Sylvia borin), Blackcap (Curruca Capirotada / Sylvia atricailla), Hoopoe (Abubilla / Upupa epops), Red-legged Partridge (Perdiz Roja / Alectoris rufa), Western Cattle Egret (Garcilla Bueyera / Bubulcus ibis), Water Rail (Rascón Europeo / Rallus aquaticus) heard only, 2x Bluethroats (Pechiazul / Luscinia svecica) 1 male and a female, Crested Lark (Cogujada / Galerida cristata), Common Kestrel (Cernicalo Vulgar / Falco tinnunculus), Sparrowhawk (Gavilán Común / Accipiter nisus), Whinchat x3, Greenfinch (Verderón Común / Carduelis chloris) and Common Magpie (Urraca / Pica pica).

Meadow Pipit (Bisbita Pratense / Anthus pratensis).

We again moved on and visited the rio a bit further up stream and recorded Iberian  Magpie (Rabilargo / Cyanopica cooki), Linnet (Pardillo Común / Carduelis cannabina), Common Moorhen (Gallineta Común / Gallinulas chloropus), Common Chaffinch (Pinzón Vulgar / Fringilla coelebs), Blackbird (Mirlo Común / Turdus merula), European Bee-eater (Abejaruco Común / Merops apiaster), Spotted Flycatcher (Papamoscas Gris / Muscicapa striata), Woodpigeon (Paloma Torcaz / Columba palumbus), Turtle Dove (Tórtola Europea / Streptopelia turtur) and on the way back to the house we finished off the day list with a nice male Cirl Bunting (Escribano Soteno / Emberiza cirlus).