Cerro Hacho, Granada Province, Spain.

A walk on the lower loop and then a couple of hours watching the birds coming in for a drink at the Puddle.

Ebird List.

 

Almond Blossom.

I started by going for a walk as the area where the puddle is was still in heavy shade, almost straight away I could hear Common Crossbill (Piquituerto Común / Loxia curvirostra) and further along the track Dartford Warbler (Curruca Rabilarga / Sylvia undata), Common Chaffinch (Pinzón Vulgar / Fringilla coelebs), Rock Bunting (Escribano Montesino / Emberiza cia), Wren (Chochin / Troglodytes troglodytes), Thekla Lark (Cogujada Montesina / Galerida theklae), several Redwings (Zorzal Alirrojo / Turdus illacus) and all around the site there were lots of signs of Wild Boar (Jabalí / Felis silvestris) including rooting, a wallow and lots of rubbing trees.

The Wallow.

Rubbing Tree.

At the furthest point of my walk I found several spikes of flowering Somber Bee Orchid (Ophrys fusca / foresteri) as well as a couple of Almond Trees covered in Blossom.

Red Squirrel (Sciurus vulgaris).

I walked back along the same route and parked the car in a slightly different spot from the last time which gave me a better angle on the surrounding Almond trees which paid off really well as I got some nice shot of the birds up off the mud.

Robin (Petirrojo Europeo / Erithacus rubecula).

Common Chiffchaff (Mosquitero Común / Phylloscopus collybita).

Meadow Pipit (Bisbita Pratense / Anthus pratensis).

Long-tailed Tit (Mito / Aegithalos caudatus).

As usual the first bird in was the Robin (Petirrojo Europeo / Erithacus rubecula), well infact 3 in total which spent the whole of my stake out chasing each other around the spot.

Brambling (Pinzón Real / Fringilla montifringilla) Male.

Brambling (Pinzón Real / Fringilla montifringilla) Male.

Brambling (Pinzón Real / Fringilla montifringilla) Male.

Next came a couple of very smart Red Squirrels (Sciurus vulgaris), Brambling (Pinzón Real / Fringilla montifringilla) x2 Males, Meadow Pipit (Bisbita Pratense / Anthus pratensis), Common Chiffchaff (Mosquitero Común / Phylloscopus collybita), Blackcap (Curruca Capirotada / Sylvia atricailla), Blue (Herrerillo Común / Parus caeruleus), Coal (Carbonero Garrapinos / Parus ater), Great (Carbonera Común / Parus major) and Long-tailed Tit (Mito / Aegithalos caudatus).

Brambling (Pinzón Real / Fringilla montifringilla) Male.

Siskin (Lúgano / Carduelis spinus) Male.

Siskin (Lúgano / Carduelis spinus) Male.

Siskin (Lúgano / Carduelis spinus) Female.

Siskin (Lúgano / Carduelis spinus) Female.

I was getting some shots of a couple of Siskins (Lúgano / Carduelis spinus), a larger shape dropped in next to them which turned out to be my first Hawfinch (Picogordo / Coccotraustes coccotrauetes) of the year putting me on 216.

Common Crossbill (Piquituerto Común / Loxia curvirostra) Male.

Common Crossbill (Piquituerto Común / Loxia curvirostra) Female.

Common Crossbill (Piquituerto Común / Loxia curvirostra) Male.

Common Crossbill (Piquituerto Común / Loxia curvirostra) Female.

Common Crossbill (Piquituerto Común / Loxia curvirostra) Male.

Common Crossbill (Piquituerto Común / Loxia curvirostra) Female.

Common Crossbill (Piquituerto Común / Loxia curvirostra) Female.

As I sat there more birds started to come in but not all stayed long enough to get the camera on them including Blackbird (Mirlo Común / Turdus merula), Mistle (Zorzal Charlo / Turdus viscivorus) and Song Thrush (Zorzal Común / Turdus philomelos), Woodpigeon (Paloma Torcaz / Columba palumbus), Spotless Starling (Estornino Negro / Sturnus unicolor), Serin (Verdecillo / Serinus serinus), Sardinian Warbler (Curruca Cabecinegra / Sylvia melanocephala), White Wagtail (Lavandera Blanca / Montacilla alba), Black Redstart (Colirrojo Tizón / Phoenicurus ochruros) and Iberian  Magpie (Rabilargo / Cyanopica cooki).

Goldfinch (Jilguero / Carduelis carduelis).

Goldfinch (Jilguero / Carduelis carduelis).

Hawfinch (Picogordo / Coccotraustes coccotrauetes).

Woodpigeon (Paloma Torcaz / Columba palumbus).

Blue Tit (Herrerillo Común / Parus caeruleus).

Coal Tit  (Carbonero Garrapinos / Parus ater).

Serin (Verdecillo / Serinus serinus).

After a while I packed up and dropped back down to the parking spot amongst the Almonds where I had another walk to loosen up the legs after being sat for a bit and I found some spikes of Amethyst Toadflax (Linaria amethystea) and patches of the very small Erophila verna.

Amethyst Toadflax (Linaria amethystea).

Erophila verna.