A few hours on the Eastern end of the Patch on the way back from Granada.
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| A distant Short-toed Eagle (Culebrera Europeo / Circaetus gallicus). |
After a visit to the Solicitor's in Granada which went much quicker than expected I decided to have a run out to the Eastern end off El Temple, my first stop was along a country road just a KM or so from Granada's big rubbish dump.
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| Montagu's Harrier (Aguilucho Cenizo / Circus pygargus). |
I parked up and watched a female
Montagu's Harrier (Aguilucho Cenizo / Circus pygargus) as it flew past and off towards the dump. I walked along the road for a while and the list grew nicely with Woodpigeon (Paloma Torcaz / Columba palumbus),
Common Magpie (Urraca / Pica pica),
Common Chaffinch (Pinzón Vulgar / Fringilla coelebs), Crested Lark (Cogujada / Galerida cristata), Dartford (Curruca Rabilarga / Sylvia undata) and
Sardinian Warbler (Curruca Cabecinegra / Sylvia melanocephala),
Great Tit (Carbonera Común / Parus major), Thekla Lark (Cogujada Montesina / Galerida theklae),
Iberian Grey Shrike (Alcaudón Real Meridional / Lanius meridionalis),
Pallid Swift (Vencejo Pálido /Apus pallidus),
Iberian Green Woodpecker (Pito Real / Picus sharpei) x2 heard only, a
Short-toed Eagle (Culebrera Europeo / Circaetus gallicus) which was sat on a pylon and as I walked back down the hill I scanned the ridges picking up 2x
Booted Eagles (Aguila Calzada / Aquila pennatus) one of each morph, a pair of Bonelli's Eagles (Aguila Perdicera / Aquila faciatus) as well as Goldfinch (Jilguero / Carduelis carduelis).
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| Montagu's Harrier (Aguilucho Cenizo / Circus pygargus). |
As I drove back towards the main road I added a
Common Whitethroat (Curruca Zarcera / Sylvia communis), Blackbird (Mirlo Común / Turdus merula), a group of
Lesser Kestrels (Cernicola Primilla / Falco naumanni) and a flock of
Jackdaws (Grajilla / Corvus monedula).
I headed past La Malaha and out on to the fields were I made several stops along the road and on one of the main tracks, in this area I found several flocks of
House Sparrows (Gorrión Común / Passer domesticus), masses of
Barn Swallows (Golondrina Común / Hirundo rustica) which were skimming the ground, both
Lesser and
Common Kestrel (Cernicalo Vulgar / Falco tinnunculus), several Hoopoes (Abubilla / Upupa epops), a couple of Black Kites (Milano Negro / Milvus migrans) which were feeding in a ploughed strip of land, a Black-winged Kite (Elanio Común / Elanus caeruleus) which was sat up in the top of a distant Almond tree, a couple more Montagu's Harriers and another pylon with a Short-toed Eagle sat on it.
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| Black-winged Kite (Elanio Común / Elanus caeruleus) in a distant Almond. |
As I took to the tracksI saw a Northern Wheatear (Collalba Gris / Oenanthe oenanthe), Greenfinch (Verderón Común / Carduelis chloris) and
Red-legged Partridge (Perdiz Roja / Alectoris rufa).
I came off the tracks after seeing even more Montagu-s Harriers, now around 10 in total, I drove on through Ventas de Huelma and over to Cacín. On the way I had a
Common Buzzard (Busardo Ratonero / Buteo buteo), Feral Pigeon (Paloma Bravía / Columba livia),
Woodchat Shrike (Alcaudón Común / Lanius senator) and as I dropped down into the village I checked an area which had several Capper plants on the roadside and soon found
Desert Orange-tips (Colotis evagore) but they were very active and not landing,
Meadow Brown (Maniola jurtina), Long-tailed Blue (Lampides boeticus) and Small White (
Pieris rapae).
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| Bath White (Pontia daplidice). |
I grabbed a roll in one of the bars in Cacín before checking the river just as you leave the village, here I picked up
White Wagtail (Lavandera Blanca / Montacilla alba),
Red-rumped Swallow (Golondrina Dáurica / Hirundo daurica),
Cetti's Warbler (Ruisenor Bastardo / Cettia cetti) and a couple of
Bath Whites (Pontia daplidice).
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| Western Cattle Egret (Garcilla Bueyera / Bubulcus ibis) and 3 Glossy Ibis (Morito Común / Plegadis falcinellus). |
Further along the valley I made a stop at the Contra Embalse where there had been quite a large fire resently taking out all the western banks and part of the reed bed, the water level was very high so quite a large area of reeds survived but there were no margins for waders but there was a single
Green Sandpiper (Andarrios Grande / Tringa ochropus) sat in a dead tree as well as
Mallard (Anade Azulón / Anas platyrhynchos),
Common Pochard (Porrón Común / Aythya ferina),
Northern Shoveler (Pato Cuchara / Anas clypeata) x5, Eurasian Teal (Cerceta Común / Anas crecca) x1,
Little Grebe (Zampullín Común / Tachybaptus ruficollis), Eurasian Coot (Focha Común / Fulica atra),
Common Moorhen (Gallineta Común / Gallinulas chloropus) and a few
Sand Martin (Avión Zapador / Riparia riparia) mixed in with the other hirundines.
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| Western Cattle Egret (Garcilla Bueyera / Bubulcus ibis) and 3 Glossy Ibis (Morito Común / Plegadis falcinellus). |
I made two more stops along the river in the more wooded sections but only managed
Spotted Flycatcher (Papamoscas Gris / Muscicapa striata),
Blackcap (Curruca Capirotada / Sylvia atricapilla),
Short-toed Treecreeper (Agateador Común / Certhia brachydactyla),
Serin (Verdecillo / Serinus serinus) and
Long-tailed Tit (Mito / Aegithalos caudatus).
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| Southern Skimmer (Orthetrum brunneum). |
I drove back up to Huétor where I checked the fields where the 2
Glossy Ibis (Morito Común / Plegadis falcinellus) had been yesterday ut there was no sign of them so I drove towards Mesia as I know there are a few more grass fields in that direction and on the very first which was being irrigated I found them and the
Western Cattle Egret (Garcilla Bueyera / Bubulcus ibis) but this time there were 3
Ibis mixed in with the 27
Egrets and as there were yesterday large number of
Spanish (Yellow) Wagtail (Lavandera Boyera / Motacilla flava iberiae) were also feeding in the field.
On m way back to the house I checked the ditches near the model plane airfield and found
Southern Skimmer (Orthetrum brunneum),
Scarlet Darter (Crocothemis erythraea) and Violet Dropwing (Trithemis annulata).
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