Peñón de Jolúcar, Playa de las Azucenas and Peñones de San Cristóbal in Almuñécar, Granada Province, Spain.

RAM seawatch and a couple more coastal sites later.

Ebird RAM Check List.

Ebird list for Playa de las Azucenas.

Ebird list for Peñones de San Cristóbal.

Shag (Cormorán Mondudo / Phalacrocorax aristotelis).

I met Juan and we headed down to the coast and made our way to the seawatch point up on Peñón de Jolúcar, once there we set up in a slightly different place than usual as it was extreamly windy so we found a slight dell. 

As soon as we started to count we found 4x Shags (Cormorán Mondudo / Phalacrocorax aristotelis) on the sea just below the cliffs, one was having a good bath. On the sea we found Cory's (Pardela Cenicienta / Calonectris borealis) and Balearic Shearwaters (Pardela Balear / Puffinus mauretanicus), Northern Gannet (Alcatraz Atlántico / Morus bassanus), Great Cormorant (Cormorán Grande / Phalacrocroax carbo), Sandwich Tern (Charrán Patinegro / Sterna sandvicensis), Lesser Black-backed (Gaviota Sombria / Larus fuscus), Yellow-legged (Gaviota Patiamarilla / Larus Michahellis), Audouin's (Gaviota de Audouin / Larus audouinii) and Black-headed Gulls (Gaviota Riedora / Larus ridibundus), a group of passing Little Egrets (Garceta Común / Egreeta garzetta) and a single Mallard (Anade Azulón / Anas platyrhynchos).

Northern Gannet (Alcatraz Atlántico / Morus bassanus) Juvenile.

During the seawatch we also had some visible passage on the land ward side including several Western Yellow Wagtail (Lavandera Boyera / Motacilla flava) and Barn Swallows (Golondrina Común / Hirundo rustica) as well as Thekla Larks (Cogujada Montesina / Galerida theklae), Greenfinch (Verderón Común / Carduelis chloris), Goldfinch (Jilguero / Carduelis carduelis), Blackbird (Mirlo Común / Turdus merula), Sardinian Warbler (Curruca Cabecinegra / Sylvia melanocephala), Spotless Starling (Estornino Negro / Sturnus unicolor) and Common Kestrel (Cernicalo Vulgar / Falco tinnunculus).

We finished the survey and the went to a beach near the Port of Motril, as we approached we too to a track and had several Western Cattle Egrets (Garcilla Bueyera / Bubulcus ibis) sat on the backs of a couple of Horses, Zitting Cisticola (Buitrón / Cisticola juncidis), several Reed (Carricero Común / Acrocephalus scrpaceus) and a Cetti's Warbler (Ruisenor Bastardo / Cettia cetti).

Northern Gannet (Alcatraz Atlántico / Morus bassanus) immature.

Once out of the car and walking down towards the beach we checked out the cleaner out channel finding several Common Sandpipers (Andarrios Chico / Actitis hypoleucos), Snipe (Agachadiza Común / Gallinago gallinago), Common Moorhen (Gallineta Común / Gallinulas chloropus), Mallard (Anade Azulón / Anas platyrhynchos), Common Kestrel x2 and down on the beach a Little Egret (Garceta Común / Egreeta garzetta) chasing fish in the surf and a Kingfisher (Martin Pescador / Alcedo atthis) sat on the port wall rocks. Further along the beach we had a single Little Ringed Plover (Chorlitejo Chico / Charadrius dubius), Yellow-legged Gull (Gaviota Patiamarilla / Larus Michahellis) and up in the weedy fields ehind the beach we had Common Waxbill (Estrilda Ondulada / Estrilda astrild), Red Avadavat (Bengali Rojo / Amandava amandava), Greenfinch, Goldfinch and all the time we were there we had good numers of hirundines including Barn Swallow, House (Avión Común / Delichon urbica) and Sand Martins (Avión Zapador / Riparia riparia) and a single Pallid Swift (Vencejo Pálido /Apus pallidus).

Northern Gannet (Alcatraz Atlántico / Morus bassanus) adult.

As we walked back we bumped up the list with Black-headed (Gaviota Riedora / Larus ridibundus) and Lesser Black-backed Gull (Gaviota Sombria / Larus fuscus), Willow Warbler (Mosquitero Musical / Phylloscopus trochillus), Collared Dove (Tórtola Turca / Streptopelia decaocto),  White Wagtail (Lavandera Blanca / Montacilla alba) and as we walked along the concrete sided channel and in amongst some disused green houses we added Spotted (Papamoscas Gris / Muscicapa striata) and Pied Flycatchers (Papamoscas Cerrojillo / Ficedula hypoleuca), Whinchat (Tarabilla Nortena / Saxicola rubetra), Common Redstart (Colirroja Real / Phoenicurus phoenicurus) and Grey Wagtail (Lavandera Cascadena / Motacilla cinerea).

Little Egret (Garceta Común / Egreeta garzetta).

We returned to the car and then made our way along the coast to Peñones de San Cristóbal in Almuñécar where we set up our chairs and scanned the sea and the rocks finding a single Ruddy Turnstone (Vuelvepiedras Común / Arenaria interpres), lots of Yellow-legged, Audouin's and Lesser Black-backed Gulls, a single immature Shag, Northern Gannets, Balearic Shearwater and then birds of the day in the shape of three Sooty Shearwaters (Pardela Sombría / Puffinus griseus) which passed quite close in heading West.

Yellow-legged Gull (Gaviota Patiamarilla / Larus Michahellis).

We also had a couple more migrating Western Yellow Wagtails, Barn Swallow and Common Stonechat before packing up and heading back to Granada.