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Monday 4 January 2021

Osuna Area, Sevilla Province, Spain.

A days birding out on the Osuna Triangle.
Ebird list for railway line area.
 
Stone Curlew (Alcaraván Común / Burhinus oedicnemus).
Bob and I left his place and headed off to Osuna where we met up with friends at a bar on the outskirts of the town where we had a Coffee before heading out along the railway line, almost straight away we found several Stone Curlews (Alcaraván Común / Burhinus oedicnemus) under some small roadside Olives.
Spanish Sparrow (Gorrión Moruno / Passer hispaniolensis).
Just a little further on we had the first of lots of Spanish Sparrow (Gorrión Moruno / Passer hispaniolensis),
White Wagtail (Lavandera Blanca / Montacilla alba), Collared Dove (Tórtola Turca / Streptopelia decaocto), Common Stonechat (Tarabilla Común / Saxicola torquata), Serin (Verdecillo / Serinus serinus), Goldfinch (Jilguero / Carduelis carduelis), Meadow Pipit (Bisbita Pratense / Anthus pratensis) and the first 2 of several Red Kites (Milano Real / Milvus milvus).
Great Bustards (Avutarda Común / Otis tarda).

Along the fences lining the White Elephant high speed railway line we had both
Spotless (Estornino Negro / Sturnus unicolor) and Common Starlings (Estornino Pinto / Sturnus vulgaris) as well as Iberian Grey Shrike (Alcaudón Real Meridional / Lanius meridionalis), Ravens (Cuervo / Corvus corax), Black Redstart (Colirrojo Tizón / Phoenicurus ochruros), House Sparrow (Gorrión Común / Passer domesticus), Greenfinch (Verderón Común / Carduelis chloris) and Sardinian Warbler (Curruca Cabecinegra / Sylvia melanocephala).
Great Bustards (Avutarda Común / Otis tarda) more flying in to the main flock.

We went up on to the first of the bridges and within a few seconds had around 60 Great Bustards (Avutarda Común / Otis tarda) in the scopeand by the time we moved on there were over 80 birds in the flock, a truly amazing sight.
From the bridge we also had views of Red-legged Partridge (Perdiz Roja / Alectoris rufa), Common Buzzard (Busardo Ratonero / Buteo buteo), Calandra (Calandria / Melanocorypha calandra), Crested (Cogujada / Galerida cristata) and Skylark (Alondra Común / Alauda arvensis), Corn Bunting (Triguero / Emberiza calandra), Linnet (Pardillo Común / Carduelis cannabina) and Sardinian Warbler (Curruca Cabecinegra / Sylvia melanocephala).
Red Kite (Milano Real / Milvus milvus).
We dropped down onto the fields again and took one of the tracks out and around one of the Olive plantations where we found 6 more Great Bustards, Marsh Harrier (Aguilucho Lagunero Occidental / Circus aeruginosus), Common Chiffchaff (Mosquitero Común / Phylloscopus collybita), Blackcap (Curruca Capirotada / Sylvia atricailla) and Hoopoe (Abubilla / Upupa epops).
We returned to the main track and then went up onto the second bridge, just before we got there we had an Iberian Green Woodpecker (Pito Real / Picus sharpei) fly up of the ground and called a couple of times.
Red Kite (Milano Real / Milvus milvus).
From the bridge we had Robin (Petirrojo Europeo / Erithacus rubecula), Great Tit (Carbonera Común / Parus major), more Red Kites and a Marsh Harrier.
We followed the railway line and parked on another bridge further down the line where we had our lunch found Northern Lapwing (Avefria Europea / Vanellus vanellus), over a hundred Golden Plovers (Chorlito Dorado Europeo / Pluvialis apricaia), a Green Sandpiper (Andarrios Grande / Tringa ochropus), a couple of Snipe (Agachadiza Común / Gallinago gallinago), around 200 White Storks (Ciguena Blanca / Ciconia ciconia) and then we had a Black-winged Kite (Elanio Común / Elanus caeruleus) which was mobbing a Red Kite, these two birds were Joined by Common Buzzard, Common Kestrel (Cernicalo Vulgar / Falco tinnunculus) and then the biggest surprise was an immature Spanish Imperial Eagle (Aguila Imperial Ibérica / Aguila adalberti) which flew in and was mobbed by just about everything.
Spanish Imperial Eagle (Aguila Imperial Ibérica / Aguila adalberti) below, Common Buzzard (Busardo Ratonero / Buteo buteo) top left and Red Kite (Milano Real / Milvus milvus) middle right.
We followed the railway again after lunch until we reached the road to Lantejuela where we turned up onto the tarmac again, at the junction we had a Little Owl (Mochuelo Europeo / Athene noctua) which was calling from a group of nearby trees, some of the group had another fly near to them.
Spanish Imperial Eagle (Aguila Imperial Ibérica / Aguila adalberti) taken by Kevin Wade.

We drove to the grey water pools on the edge of the town, shame more towns cannot do this sort of thing with their waste water as it produces a nice wetland area. The reserve was closed but we got views of the one lake from the side of the hide where we had views of Greater Flamingo's (Flamenco Común / Phoenicopterus roseus), Northern Shoveler (Pato Cuchara / Anas clypeata), Mallard (Anade Azulón / Anas platyrhynchos), White-headed Duck (Malvasia Cabeciblanca / Oxyura leucocephala), Little (Zampullín Común / Tachybaptus ruficollis) and Black-necked Grebe (Zampullín Cullinegro / Podiceps nigricollis), Eurasian Coot (Focha Común / Fulica atra), Black-winged Stilt (Ciguenela Común / Himantopus himantopus), several Crag Martins (Avión Roquero / Ptyonoprogne rupestris) and 2x House Martins (Avión Común / Delichon urbica).
Spanish Imperial Eagle (Aguila Imperial Ibérica / Aguila adalberti) also by Kevin Wade.
Our final stop of the day was just up the road at Laguna Ballastros, we were surprised to find water there but there were still very few birds, however the list grew again with the addition of a very smart Bonelli's Eagle (Aguila-azor Perdicera / Hieraaetus faciatus), an immature Lesser Black-backed Gull (Gaviota Sombria / Larus fuscus), Woodpigeon (Paloma Torcaz / Columba palumbus) and Song Thrush (Zorzal Común / Turdus philomelos).
Common Cranes (Grulla Común / Grus grus).

Common Crane (Grulla Común / Grus grus).

We said goodbye to the others and Bob and I headed off, on the way we made a brief roadside stop to photograph a couple of hundred or so Common Crane (Grulla Común / Grus grus) near Laguna de Calderon efore headed back to Bobs.

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