Travelling back to Huétor via La Janda, Soto Grande and Zapata.

A travelling day with some frustrating Dragons on the way.

Kate and Jim Day Five.

Little Ringed Plover (Chorlitejo Chico / Charadrius dubius).

We set off from the El Paso for the final time saying goodbye to Sandra and her family before headed across to the Benalup track again but we did not see the Black-winged Kite (Elanio Común / Elanus caeruleus) we had hoped for but there was a Tree Pipit (Bisbita Arbóreo / Anthus trivialis) in the reeds when we arrived but flew off calling after a couple of minutes. 

In the same area we saw White Stork (Ciguena Blanca / Ciconia ciconia), Griffon Vulture (Bultre Leonado / Gyps fulvus), Little (Garceta Común / Egreeta garzetta) and Western Cattle Egret (Garcilla Bueyera / Bubulcus ibis), Zitting Cisticola (Buitrón / Cisticola juncidis) and just as we were leaving I had very brief views of a small bird flying just above the rice and dropped back in again, my first impression was a crake but not one I could put a name to but it was deffinatly brown and streaky.

We moved on and drove south to Soto Grande where we had a short walk along a track out to the beach, on the way we had a male Long Skimmer (Orthetrum trinacria), African Grass Blue (Nina esmaltada / Zizeeia knysna), Geranium Bronze (Cacyreus marshalli), Clouded Yellow (Colias Común / Colias corcea), Small White (Pieris rapae), Monk Parakeet (Cotorra Argentina / Myiopsitta monachus), Sparrowhawk (Gavilán Común / Accipiter nisus), Spotless Starling (Estornino Negro / Sturnus unicolor), Yellow-legged Gull (Gaviota Patiamarilla / Larus Michahellis), Northern Gannet (Alcatraz Atlántico / Morus bassanus) and Sardinian Warbler (Curruca Cabecinegra / Sylvia melanocephala).

Lesser Emperor (Anax parthenope).

We motored along the coastal toll roads missing the worst of the costa and had some lunch before we spent the rest of the afternoon at Zapata try to get some shots of the flighty Lesser Emperor (Anax parthenope) which were not helpful. I was lucky but Kate and Jim were not. We did see Scarlet Darter (Crocothemis erythraea), Red-veined Darter (Sympetrum fonscolombii), Blue / Common Emperor (Anax imperator), Epaulet Skimmer (Orthetrum chrysostigma), Violet Dropwing (Trithemis annulata) and a later than expected male Ringed Cascader (Zygonyx torridus).

Bird wise we can up with Green (Andarrios Grande / Tringa ochropus) and Common Sandpiper (Andarrios Chico / Actitis hypoleucos), Little Ringed Plover (Chorlitejo Chico / Charadrius dubius), Little Egret, Grey Heron (Garza Real / Ardea cinerea), Kingfisher (Martin Pescador / Alcedo atthis), Common Waxbill (Estrilda Ondulada / Estrilda astrild), Reed Warbler (Carricero Común / Acrocephalus scrpaceus), Mallard (Anade Azulón / Anas platyrhynchos), Eurasian Coot (Focha Común / Fulica atra), Common Moorhen (Gallineta Común / Gallinulas chloropus) and Crested Lark (Cogujada / Galerida cristata).