Zafarraya Irrigation Pools, the Old Railway Line and KM 23 on the Road to Loja, Granada Province, Spain.

In the lowlands around the Sierra de Loja.

Steve and Lynn, Day Twenty one.

 

Long Skimmer (Orthetrum trinacria).

We drove down the side of Sierra de Loja and out on to the fields near Zafarraya where we checked out several of the irrigation pools including one quite well naturalised one where we had Eurasian Coot (Focha Común / Fulica atra), Common Moorhen (Gallineta Común / Gallinulas chloropus), Mallard (Anade Azulón / Anas platyrhynchos), Little Grebe (Zampullín Común / Tachybaptus ruficollis), Reed Warbler (Carricero Común / Acrocephalus scrpaceus), Grey Heron (Garza Real / Ardea cinerea), Crested Lark (Cogujada / Galerida cristata), Barn (Golondrina Común / Hirundo rustica) and Red-rumped Swallow (Golondrina Dáurica / Hirundo daurica),  House Martin (Avión Común / Delichon urbica), Linnet (Pardillo Común / Carduelis cannabina), Golden Oriole (Oropéndola / Oriolus oriolus) and overhead a pale morph Booted Eagle (Aguililla Calzada / Hieraaetus pennatus).

Red-veined Darter (Sympetrum fonscolombii).

Common Blue Damselfly (Enallagma cyathinerum).

Common Blue Damselfly (Enallagma cyathinerum).

Common Blue Damselfly (Enallagma cyathinerum).

Scarlet Darter (Crocothemis erythraea).

Around the margins and over the same pool we had Blue / Common (Anax imperator) and Lesser Emperor (Anax parthenope), Scarlet Darter (Crocothemis erythraea), Violet Dropwing (Trithemis annulata), Red-veined Darter (Sympetrum fonscolombii), Black-tailed Skimmer (Orthetrum cancellatum), Long Skimmer (Orthetrum trinacria), Iberian Bluetail (Ischnura graellsii) and Common Blue Damselfly (Enallagma cyathinerum).

Small Copper (Lycaena phlaeas).

Cardinal Fritillary (Argynnis pandora).

Futher away from the pool we had several nice Small Copper (Lycaena phlaeas), a nice Cardinal Fritillary (Argynnis pandora), Small White (Pieris rapae), Meadow Brown (Maniola jurtina), Southern Blue (Polyommatus celina) and an unidetified Long-horn Beetle which shot off before I got a shot.

Gatekeeper (Pyronia tithonus).

Cardinal Fritillary (Argynnis pandora).

We moved on down to the disused railway line on the otherside of town where we had a walk and found Red-billed Chough (Chova Piquirroja / Pyrrhocorax pyrrhocorax), Honey Buzzard (Aberjero Europeo / Pernis apivorus), Black Kite (Milano Negro / Milvus migrans), Alpine Swift (Vencejo Real / Apus melba), Blue-rock Thrush (Roquero Solitario / Monticola solitarius), Crag Martin (Avión Roquero / Ptyonoprogne rupestris), Black Wheatear (Collalba Negra / Oenanthe leucura), Sardinian Warbler (Curruca Cabecinegra / Sylvia melanocephala) and Common Stonechat (Tarabilla Común / Saxicola torquata) along with another Cardinal Fritillary (Argynnis pandora), more Small Coppers and a nice  Bath White (Pontia daplidice).

Velvet Wasp (Ronisia barbarula).

Velvet Wasp (Ronisia barbarula).

Our final stop of the day was amongst the Oaks North of Zafarraya where we had our lunch and a walk around the Grasslands finding several more Cardinal Fritillaries, Small Heath (Coenonympha pamphilus), Adonis Blue (Lysandra bellargus), Southern Gatekeeper (Pyronia cecilia), Purple Hairstreak (Quercusia Quercus), Sage Skipper (Muschampia proto), Velvet Wasp (Ronisia barbarula), Cone-head Mantis (Empusa pennata) and up in the air another Booted Eagle, Common Kestrel (Cernicalo Vulgar / Falco tinnunculus) and a couple of passing Pallid Swifts (Vencejo Pálido /Apus pallidus).