Sierra de Loja and Huétor Fields, Granada Province, Spain.

A short visit to the Sierra with Friends.

 

Little Owl (Mochuelo Europeo / Athene noctua).

I met Derek, Barbara, Ricky and Sonia at the Abades service area, I had met Derek and Barbara a week or so earlier but I had not seen Ricky and Sonia for quite a while so it was good to catch up.

Ptilotrichum spinosum.

Erodium cheilanthifolium.

Common Snapdragon (Antirrhinum litigiosum).

Erodium cheilanthifolium.

We decided to drive straight out to the far end of the Sierra and concentrate on finding the Rufous-tailed Rock Thrush (Roquero Roja / Monticola saxatilis), we arrived at the spot where we had seen a pair during the previous visit and after a while we had a quick view of the male as it did a display flight but it dropped in on the far side of the crag out of sight so we relocated to a place where we could get a view and soon relocated the singing male.

In the same area we also had Blue-rock Thrush (Roquero Solitario / Monticola solitarius), Black Redstart (Colirrojo Tizón / Phoenicurus ochruros), Rock Sparrow (Gorrión Chillón / Petronia petronia), Rock Bunting (Escribano Montesino / Emberiza cia), Crag Martin (Avión Roquero / Ptyonoprogne rupestris), Blackbird (Mirlo Común / Turdus merula), Black (Collalba Negra / Oenanthe leucura) and Black-eared Wheatears (Collalba Rubia / Oenanthe hispanica), Common Stonechat (Tarabilla Común / Saxicola torquata), Thekla Lark (Cogujada Montesina / Galerida theklae), Woodchat Shrike (Alcaudón Común / Lanius senator), Spotless Starling (Estornino Negro / Sturnus unicolor) and Red-legged Partridge (Perdiz Roja / Alectoris rufa).

Thekla Lark (Cogujada Montesina / Galerida theklae).

Thekla Lark (Cogujada Montesina / Galerida theklae).

At this point I turned around and the others continued on down into the Hawthorn bushes and I dropped back to the next corner where I searched for Butterflies but found none.

8289 Camptogramma bilineata Id by José Manuel Moreno Benítez.

Queen of Spain (Issoria lathonia).

Red-underwing Skipper (Spialia sertorius).

Small Heath (Coenonympha pamphilus).

Small White (Pieris rapae).

Spanish Marbled White (Melanargia ines).

Spanish Marbled White (Melanargia ines).

Common / Southern Blue (Polyommatus icarus / celina).

However I did find Andaluz Storksbill (Erodium primulaceum), Erodium cheilanthifolium, Kidney Vetch (Anthyllis vulneraria), Milk Thistle (Silybum marianum) and White Rockrose (Helianthemum apenninum).

Yarrow (Achillea millefolium).

Lizard Orchid (Himanthoglosum hircinum).

I drove further down and spent a while searching a small dell on the roadside find a few species of butterfly including Small Copper (Lycaena phlaeas), Wall Brown (Lasiommata megera), Spanish Gatekeeper (Pyronia bathsheba), Red-underwing Skipper (Spialia sertorius),  Southern Marbled Skipper (Carcharodus baeticus), Small White (Pieris rapae), Small Skipper (Thymelicus sylvestris), Queen of Spain (Issoria lathonia), Meadow Brown (Maniola jurtina), Spanish Marbled White (Melanargia ines), Clouded Yellow (Colias corceua) and Common / Southern Blue (Polyommatus icarus / celina).

Common Stonechat (Tarabilla Común / Saxicola torquata) male.

Black-eared Wheatear (Collalba Rubia / Oenanthe hispanica) female.

In the same area I also found Lizard Orchid (Himanthoglosum hircinum), Paeonia broteri, Yarrow (Achillea millefolium), Ocellated Lizard (Timon lepidus), Hummingbird Hawkmoth (Macroglossum stellatarum), Red-billed Chough (Chova Piquirroja / Pyrrhocorax pyrrhocorax), Hoopoe (Abubilla / Upupa epops) and Dartford Warbler (Curruca Rabilarga / Sylvia undata).

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

As I dropped back down to Loja I picked up Woodpigeon (Paloma Torcaz / Columba palumbus), White Wagtail (Lavandera Blanca / Montacilla alba), Sardinian Warbler (Curruca Cabecinegra / Sylvia melanocephala) and Iberian  Magpie (Rabilargo / Cyanopica cooki).

Woodchat Shrike (Alcaudón Común / Lanius senator).

On the way back home I crossed the fields seeing another Woodchat and several Spanish (Yellow) Wagtail (Lavandera Boyera / Motacilla flava iberiae).