A second day out with Ed on my local patch (the far end).
|
Immature Montagu's Harrier (Aguilucho Cenizo / Circus pygargus). |
Ed and I headed out to the A92 and then along towards Granada and to a site out on the El Temple area, on the way we saw a dozen or so
Honey Buzzards (Aberjero Europeo / Pernis apivorus) which passed low over the Motorway,
Woodpigeon (Paloma Torcaz / Columba palumbus),
Spotless Starling (Estornino Negro / Sturnus unicolor) and
Western Cattle Egret (Garcilla Bueyera / Bubulcus ibis).
|
Black Kite (Milano Negro / Milvus migrans). |
Once we reached the site we parked on the side of the road and scanned the fields and quickly found a pair of
Black-winged Kites (Elanio Común / Elanus caeruleus) which were sat in some distant trees, we also had an immature Montagu's Harrier (Aguilucho Cenizo / Circus pygargus), plenty of Corn Bunting (Triguero / Emberiza calandra) with a couple singing from the field edges, Crested Larks (Cogujada / Galerida cristata),
Serin (Verdecillo / Serinus serinus), 2x
Common Whitethroat (Curruca Zarcera / Sylvia communis), Barn Swallow (Golondrina Común / Hirundo rustica),
Feral Pigeon (Paloma Bravía / Columba livia) and some
Jackdaws (Grajilla / Corvus monedula) which appeared to enjoy annoying the
Kites.
|
Common Kestrel (Cernicalo Vulgar / Falco tinnunculus). |
We moved on to another area of fields nearby and started to find more raptor species, first came both
Common (Cernicalo Vulgar / Falco tinnunculus) and Lesser Kestrel (Cernicola Primilla / Falco naumanni) followed by a Peregrine (Halcón Peregrino / Falco peregrinus) and Common Buzzard (Busardo Ratonero / Buteo buteo).
|
Honey Buzzard (Aberjero Europeo / Pernis apivorus). |
Off in the distance we saw the first of a 100+ Black Kites (Milano Negro / Milvus migrans) so we took one of the tracks up on to a high point and watched as they got airbourne along with 50 or so Honey Buzzards (Aberjero Europeo / Pernis apivorus), a few Booted (Aguila Calzada / Aquila pennatus) and a single Short-toed Eagle (Culebrera Europeo / Circaetus gallicus).
|
Crested Lark (Cogujada / Galerida cristata). |
Ed picked up another raptor which was clearly feeding on prey some distance away in a stuble field which turned out to be a rather large Northern Goshawk (Azor Común / Accipitor gentillis).
|
Scarlet Darter (Crocothemis erythraea). |
Inthis area we also had 5 more
Black-winged Kites, a couple of female
Little Bustards (Sisón Común / Tetrax tetrax), Woodchat Shrike (Alcaudón Común / Lanius senator),
Common Magpie (Urraca / Pica pica),
Goldfinch (Jilguero / Carduelis carduelis),
Common Stonechat (Tarabilla Común / Saxicola torquata), European Bee-eater (Abejaruco Común / Merops apiaster),
Red-legged Partridge (Perdiz Roja / Alectoris rufa), 3x
Calandra Larks (Calandria / Melanocorypha calandra) and plenty of
Greater Short-toed (Terrera Común / Calandrella brachydactyla),
Hoopoe (Abubilla / Upupa epops),
Northern Wheatear (Collalba Gris / Oenanthe oenanthe) and several Bath White (Pontia daplidice) butterflies.
|
Lesser Emperor (Anax parthenope). |
Again we went and had a look at another area of fields not far away where we found several roosting
Stone Curlews (Alcaraván Común / Burhinus oedicnemus),
Iberian Grey Shrike (Alcaudón Real Meridional / Lanius meridionalis),
House Martin (Avión Común / Delichon urbica) and on the track out several
Collared Doves (Tórtola Turca / Streptopelia decaocto).
|
Western Yellow Wagtail (Lavandera Boyera / Motacilla flava). |
Our final site of the morning was out on the fields near to Moreleda but we only had a short time there and only managed to add
Thekla Lark (Cogujada Montesina / Galerida theklae),
Willow Warbler (Mosquitero Musical / Phylloscopus trochillus) and more
Iberian Grey Shrikes efore heading back to the house.
|
Melodious Warbler (Zarcero Común / Hippolais polyglotta). |
Later we popped out again and went to see what we could find down on the fields near to where we had the
Eurasian Dotterel (Chorlito Carambolo / Eudromias morinellus) yesterday. The farmers were flooding several stripes of a very large Lucerne field and it was attracting in huge numbers of Western Yellow Wagtails (Lavandera Boyera / Motacilla flava) but as far as we could see there were only the two migratory races there Blue-headed (Yellow) (Lavandera Boyera / Motacilla flava flava) and Western (Yellow) Wagtail (Lavandera Boyera / Motacilla flava flavissima).
|
Blue-headed (Yellow) Wagtail (Lavandera Boyera / Motacilla flava flava). |
We also had European Bee-eater, Hoopoe,
Northern Wheatear, Whinchat (Tarabilla Nortena / Saxicola rubetra),
Spotless Starling,
White Wagtail (Lavandera Blanca / Montacilla alba),
Western Cattle Egret and on a small pool formed by the irrigation water
Lesser (Anax parthenope) and Blue / Common Emperor (Anax imperator), Scarlet Darter (Crocothemis erythraea), Keeled Skimmer (Orthetrum coerulescens).
|
Violet Dropwing (Trithemis annulata). |
As we were leaving the area we noticed another wet area, so we parked and took some photos of the Wagtails from the car and also found an immature Woodchat Shrike, Melodious Warbler (Zarcero Común / Hippolais polyglotta), Common Chiffchaff (Mosquitero Común / Phylloscopus collybita), Spotted Flycatcher (Papamoscas Gris / Muscicapa striata) and heard a calling Little Owl.
|
Scarlet Darter (Crocothemis erythraea). |
Our next stop was at Balsa de Regidor where we had a good look around for new Dragon species and we soon found
Long (Orthetrum trinacria) and Black-tailed Skimmer (Orthetrum cancellatum), Orange-winged (Trithemis kirbyi) and Violet Dropwings (Trithemis annulata), Red-veined Darter (Sympetrum fonscolombii), Iberian Bluetail (Ischnura graellsii), White Featherleg (Platycnemis latipes) and Small Red-eye (Erythromma viridulum) as well as more Lesser (Anax parthenope) and Blue / Common Emperor (Anax imperator) and Scarlet Darters (Crocothemis erythraea).
|
White Featherleg (Platycnemis latipes). |
Birds included
Mallard (Anade Azulón / Anas platyrhynchos),
Northern Shoveler (Pato Cuchara / Anas clypeata), Common Pochard (Porrón Común / Aythya ferina),
Common Moorhen (Gallineta Común / Gallinulas chloropus),
Eurasian Coot (Focha Común / Fulica atra),
Grey Heron (Garza Real / Ardea cinerea) and Little Egret (Garceta Común / Egreeta garzetta).
|
Iberian Bluetail (Ischnura graellsii). |
During the evening Monica, Ed and Myself went up to the track at the back of one of the local hills hoping for a flyby by one of the resident Eurasian Eagle Owls (Bubo bubo) but we were not lucky, however we did see a fine male
Spanish Ibex (Cabra montés / Cabra pyreaica), a couple of Pied Flycatchers (Papamoscas Cerrojillo / Ficedula hypoleuca),
Short-toed Treecreeper (Agateador Común / Certhia brachydactyla),
Great Tit (Carbonera Común / Parus major), Blue-rock Thrush (Roquero Solitario / Monticola solitarius) and 2x Sparrowhawks (Gavilán Común / Accipiter nisus), the second one was just as it was going dark and it was clearly hunting bats and as we watched it was very nearly successful.
|
Scarlet Darter (Crocothemis erythraea). |