Embalse del Cubillas, Granada Province, Spain.

A morning birding with Juan.

Click on the link below for Ebird list for the day. 

https://ebird.org/checklist/S72864421

Western Osprey (Águila Pescardora / Pandion haliaetus).

Before the birds here's a little lesson I learnt this morning, DO NOT sit on Pine tree stumps. We were birding from the side of the Embalse so I found what looked like a nice tree stump to sit on and spent the next 45 minutes there with the scope. I needed to move but when I tried to get up I found myself glued to the stump, 😁😁😁 I eventually managed to strip the shorts from the stump but that was the easiest part, peeling the short from my back side was a hell of a lot more painful 😲😲😲 and Pine sap is a glue that just keeps giving so when I got home the peeling went on all over again and getting the sap off was not fun 😁😁😁😁

Western Osprey (Águila Pescardora / Pandion haliaetus)

Anyway back to the birds, I met Juan at the same place as we had done a couple of weeks earlier on the side of Embalse del Cubillas, on my way in to the site I had a Red-necked Nightjar (Chotacabras Cuellirrojo / Caprimulgus ruficollis) on the road which flew up and off through the Pines.

I arrived a few minutes before Juan so I sorted my scope out and when he was there we went down the bank to the area where we scanned the lake and the margins finding (numbers of birds from Juans Ebird page) Grey Heron (Garza Real / Ardea cinerea) x14, Little Egret (Garceta Común / Egreeta garzetta) x2, immature Night Heron (Marinete Común / Nycticorax nycticorax), Little Ringed Plover (Chorlitejo Chico / Charadrius dubius) x64, Green (Andarrios Grande / Tringa ochropus) x1 and Common Sandpiper (Andarrios Chico / Actitis hypoleucos) x7, Black-winged Stilt (Ciguenela Común / Himantopus himantopus) x1, a 1st year Yellow-legged Gull (Gaviota Patiamarilla / Larus Michahellis), Eurasian Coot (Focha Común / Fulica atra) x8, Common Moorhen (Gallineta Común / Gallinulas chloropus) x26, Mallard (Anade Azulón / Anas platyrhynchos) x11, Common Pochard (Porrón Común / Aythya ferina) x6, Great Crested Grebe (Somormujo Lavanco / Podiceps cristatus) x7 and White Wagtail (Lavandera Blanca / Montacilla alba) x11.

Honey Buzzard (Aberjero Europeo / Pernis apivorus).

In the trees and scrub we saw and heard  Blue (Herrerillo Común / Parus caeruleus) x3, Great (Carbonera Común / Parus major) x3, Coal (Carbonero Garrapinos / Parus ater) x1, Crested (Herrerillo Capuchino / Parus cristatus) x2 and Long-tailed Tit (Mito / Aegithalos caudatus) x5, Short-toed Treecreeper (Agateador Común / Certhia brachydactyla) x2, Greenfinch (Verderón Común / Carduelis chloris) x8, Goldfinch (Jilguero / Carduelis carduelis) x11, Common Chaffinch (Pinzón Vulgar / Fringilla coelebs) x1, Common Crossbill (Piquituerto Común / Loxia curvirostra) x5, House Sparrow (Gorrión Común / Passer domesticus) x9, Common Waxbill (Estrilda Ondulada / Estrilda astrild) x8, Hoopoe (Abubilla / Upupa epops) x1, Sardinian (Curruca Cabecinegra / Sylvia melanocephala) x6 and Cetti's Warbler (Ruisenor Bastardo / Cettia cetti) x3, Common Magpie (Urraca / Pica pica) x40, Golden Oriole (Oropéndola / Oriolus oriolus) x1, Spotless Starling (Estornino Negro / Sturnus unicolor) x22 and Jackdaw (Grajilla / Corvus monedula) x51. 

Spanish (Yellow) Wagtail (Lavandera Boyera / Motacilla flava iberiae).

Up in the air there were a few Barn Swallow (Golondrina Común / Hirundo rustica) x20, House Martin (Avión Común / Delichon urbica) x20, Pallid (Vencejo Pálido /Apus pallidus) x9 and Alpine Swift (Vencejo Real / Apus melba) x1, Collared Dove (Tórtola Turca / Streptopelia decaocto), Feral (Paloma Bravía / Columba livia) x8 and Woodpigeon (Paloma Torcaz / Columba palumbus) x200 and European Bee-eater (Abejaruco Común / Merops apiaster) x7.

At one point all the Eurasian Coots and Common Moorhens scattered and we scanned the skies and we found a hunting Western Osprey (Águila Pescardora / Pandion haliaetus) out over the water, this was the first of the raptors and it was followed by the first of a good number of Honey Buzzards (Aberjero Europeo / Pernis apivorus) x114, Booted Eagle (Aguililla Calzada / Hieraaetus pennatus) x6, Black Kite (Milano Negro / Milvus migrans) x3 and a Common Kestrel (Cernicalo Vulgar / Falco tinnunculus) x1.

Spanish (Yellow) Wagtail (Lavandera Boyera / Motacilla flava iberiae).

After sometime we moved a short way along the lakes edge to check an area of fruit trees and scrub, as we stood there we had Nightingale (Ruisenor Común / Luscinia megarhynchos) x1, Red-rumped Swallow (Golondrina Dáurica / Hirundo daurica) x1, Willow (Mosquitero Musical / Phylloscopus trochillus) x1, Melodious (Zarcero Común / Hippolais polyglotta) x1 and Subalpine Warbler (Curruca Carrasquena / Sylvia cantillans) x1, Blackcap (Curruca Capirotada / Sylvia atricailla) x2, Crested Lark (Cogujada / Galerida cristata) x5, Turtle Dove (Tórtola Europea / Streptopelia turtur) x1, Serin (Verdecillo / Serinus serinus) x6, Spanish (Yellow) Wagtail (Lavandera Boyera / Motacilla flava iberiae) x1, Blackbird (Mirlo Común / Turdus merula) x2, Iberian  Magpie (Rabilargo / Cyanopica cooki) and a calling Great Spotted Woodpecker (Pico Picapinos / Dendrocopos major).

Spanish (Yellow) Wagtail (Lavandera Boyera / Motacilla flava iberiae).

We moved back to our original spot and added more raptors to the list before I had to leave, so I said bye to Juan and headed back to Huétor and drove back across the fields where I had good views of a Spanish (Yellow) Wagtail  in a roadside ditch, a couple of Stone Curlew (Alcaraván Común / Burhinus oedicnemus) and a Short-toed Eagle (Culebrera Europeo / Circaetus gallicus) which was sat on a pylon as one was a few days ago.