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Monday 15 November 2021

Sierra de Loja and the Cacín Valley, Granada Province, Spain.

Up on the Sierra and down the Valley.
 
Ring Ouzel (Mirlo Capiblanco / Turdus torquatus).

Andy and I started off by had a drive up and over to the far side of the Sierra de Loja where we soon found the first of at least 70 Ring Ouzels (Mirlo Capiblanco / Turdus torquatus), at one point we watched a group of around 4 or 5 Hawthorn bushes as we saw a couple of Ouzels fly out, which were followed by more and more and by the time we had circled widely around to the far side we had seen 60 Ouzels as well as a few Redwings (Zorzal Alirrojo / Turdus illacus), Blackbirds (Mirlo Común / Turdus merula) and a single Fieldfare (Zorzal Real / Turdus pilaris).
Ring Ouzel (Mirlo Capiblanco / Turdus torquatus).
In the same area we also saw Red-legged Partridge (Perdiz Roja / Alectoris rufa), Common Stonechat (Tarabilla Común / Saxicola torquata), Black Wheatear (Collalba Negra / Oenanthe leucura), Goldfinch (Jilguero / Carduelis carduelis), Rock Bunting (Escribano Montesino / Emberiza cia), Rock Sparrow (Gorrión Chillón / Petronia petronia), Red-billed Chough (Chova Piquirroja / Pyrrhocorax pyrrhocorax) and Sardinian Warbler (Curruca Cabecinegra / Sylvia melanocephala).
Ring Ouzel (Mirlo Capiblanco / Turdus torquatus).
On the way back down the hill we stopped at the middle Quarry where we picked up a pair of Dartford Warbler (Curruca Rabilarga / Sylvia undata) and watched a incident with a dog walker trying to stop her dog that was off the lead harassing a sheep which was backed right up to the cliff edge of the quarry with the dog just a couple of meters away continually barking agressivly at it. After about 15 minute she eventually got the dog away and put it on its lead where it should have been the whole time.
Black Redstart (Colirrojo Tizón / Phoenicurus ochruros).

Anyway, from here we went along the motorway and had some lunch in Moraleda before dropping down the Cacín Valley, we stopped at the crags near Moraleda, the Contra Embalse, above Cacín, Moraleda Fields and Huétor Fields.
Little Owl (Mochuelo Europeo / Athene noctua).
On this route we saw Crag Martin (Avión Roquero / Ptyonoprogne rupestris), Serin (Verdecillo / Serinus serinus), Blackcap (Curruca Capirotada / Sylvia atricailla), Brambling (Pinzón Real / Fringilla montifringilla), Common Chaffinch (Pinzón Vulgar / Fringilla coelebs), Short-toed Treecreeper (Agateador Común / Certhia brachydactyla), Song Thrush (Zorzal Común / Turdus philomelos), Common Crossbill (Piquituerto Común / Loxia curvirostra), Great Tit (Carbonera Común / Parus major), Grey Wagtail (Lavandera Cascadena / Motacilla cinerea), Siskin (Lúgano / Carduelis spinus), Black-winged Stilt (Ciguenela Común / Himantopus himantopus), Green Sandpiper (Andarrios Grande / Tringa ochropus), Snipe (Agachadiza Común / Gallinago gallinago), Mallard (Anade Azulón / Anas platyrhynchos), Common Pochard (Porrón Común / Aythya ferina), Northern Shoveler (Pato Cuchara / Anas clypeata), Eurasian Coot (Focha Común / Fulica atra), Common Moorhen (Gallineta Común / Gallinulas chloropus), Golden Eagle (Águila Real / Aquila chrysaetos),Iberian  Magpie (Rabilargo / Cyanopica cooki), Linnet (Pardillo Común / Carduelis cannabina), Common Buzzard (Busardo Ratonero / Buteo buteo), Common Kestrel (Cernicalo Vulgar / Falco tinnunculus), Calandra Lark (Calandria / Melanocorypha calandra) and Skylark (Alondra Común / Alauda arvensis), Little Owl (Mochuelo Europeo / Athene noctua), 200+ White Wagtail (Lavandera Blanca / Montacilla alba), a very nice Merlin (Esmerejón / Falco columbarius) and Little Bustard (Sisón Común / Tetrax tetrax).

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