Fuente de Piedra, Malaga Province and Huétor Fields, Granada Province, Spain.

A few new birds for the year in the rain.

 

Wood Sandpiper (Andarrios Bastardo / Tringa glareola).

After getting an Email to say the delivery I was expecting was going to be delayed I decided to go over to Fuente de Piedra after Jenny and John Wainwright told me they had a Lesser Flamingo (Flamenco Enano / Phoenicopterus minor) a few days earlier.

Wood Sandpiper (Andarrios Bastardo / Tringa glareola).

Wood Sandpiper (Andarrios Bastardo / Tringa glareola).

I arrived and checked the Roadside pool on the way in finding a Wood Sandpiper (Andarrios Bastardo / Tringa glareola), Black-winged Stilt (Ciguenela Común / Himantopus himantopus), Avocet (Avoceta Común / Recurvirostra avosetta), Mallard (Anade Azulón / Anas platyrhynchos), Northern Shoveler (Pato Cuchara / Anas clypeata), Eurasian Teal (Cerceta Común / Anas crecca), Eurasian Coot (Focha Común / Fulica atra), Common Moorhen (Gallineta Común / Gallinulas chloropus), Black-headed Gull (Gaviota Riedora / Larus ridibundus), Barn Swallow (Golondrina Común / Hirundo rustica), several White Storks (Ciguena Blanca / Ciconia ciconia) and Greater Flamingo's (Flamenco Común / Phoenicopterus roseus).

Purple Heron (Garza Imperial / Ardea purpurea).

I parked and walked out to the Mirador below the Oak tree where the wind was rather strong making scanning the distant flock of Greater Flamingo's hard going, I could not find any of the Lesser Flamingo's in the nearby birds so I went around to the hides over looking the fresh water pools where I added Red-crested (Pato Colorado / Netta rufina) and Common Pochard (Porrón Común / Aythya ferina), White-headed Duck (Malvasia Cabeciblanca / Oxyura leucocephala), Gadwall (Anade Friso / Anas strepera), Little Grebe (Zampullín Común / Tachybaptus ruficollis), House (Avión Común / Delichon urbica) and Sand Martins (Avión Zapador / Riparia riparia), 2x Raven (Cuervo / Corvus corax) which were sat on a Pylon and on the fields between the hide and the water lots of Rabbits (Conejo / Oryctolagus cuniculus).

Greater Flamingo (Flamenco Común / Phoenicopterus roseus).

Greater Flamingo (Flamenco Común / Phoenicopterus roseus).

As I sat down in the second smaller hide a Purple Heron (Garza Imperial / Ardea purpurea) flew in and landed in the reeds at the back of the pool and in the nearer reeds a Sedge Warbler (Carricerin Común / Acrocephalus schoenobaenus) was singing loudly.

Water Pipit (Bisbita Alpino / Anthus spinoletta).

Water Pipit (Bisbita Alpino / Anthus spinoletta).

Water Pipit (Bisbita Alpino / Anthus spinoletta).

I returned to the Mirador and again scanned the main Lagoon finding Gull-billed Terns (Pagaza Piconegra / Gelochelidon nilotica), Lesser Black-backed Gull (Gaviota Sombria / Larus fuscus), Dunlin (Correlimos Común / Calidris alpina), Little Egret (Garceta Común / Egreeta garzetta) and just as friend and fellow guide Bob Buckler and his party of American Biirders arrived I found a very distant Lesser Flamingo in amongst a large group of displaying Greater Flamingo's.

Barn Swallow (Golondrina Común / Hirundo rustica).

Barn Swallow (Golondrina Común / Hirundo rustica).

Bob and his group went around to the fresh water pools and I dropped down to the lower track and walked to the Boardwalk pool adding Nightingale (Ruisenor Común / Luscinia megarhynchos), Sardinian Warbler (Curruca Cabecinegra / Sylvia melanocephala), Jackdaw (Grajilla / Corvus monedula), Blackbird (Mirlo Común / Turdus merula), Goldfinch (Jilguero / Carduelis carduelis), House Sparrow (Gorrión Común / Passer domesticus), Woodpigeon (Paloma Torcaz / Columba palumbus) and Spotless Starling (Estornino Negro / Sturnus unicolor). 

Marbled Duck (Marmaronetta angustirostris).

Avocet (Avoceta Común / Recurvirostra avosetta).

At this point the rain started so I headed back to the car and again parked along side the pool on the road in where I tried to get some shots of the Wood Sandpiper but the light was awful so they are not great.

Montagu's Harrier (Aguilucho Cenizo / Circus pygargus) male.

Other species seen here were Water Pipit (Bisbita Alpino / Anthus spinoletta), Spanish (Yellow) (Lavandera Boyera / Motacilla flava iberiae) and White Wagtail (Lavandera Blanca / Montacilla alba), Snipe (Agachadiza Común / Gallinago gallinago), Serin (Verdecillo / Serinus serinus) and a pair of smart Marbled Ducks (Marmaronetta angustirostris).

Woodchat Shrike (Alcaudón Común / Lanius senator).

The rain just kept getting heavier so I headed off to Villanueva del Trabuco where I had a very late breakfast and a couple of coffee's whilst I waited for the Craft Group Ladies to arrive, Jayne used to come to these meetings so I took some of her material and bits over to see if they could be used by them.

Corn Bunting (Triguero / Emberiza calandra).

Later I headed back home via a spot near Loja where I saw 7+ Montagu's Harriers (Aguilucho Cenizo / Circus pygargus) at a regular spot and when I reached Huétor I did a walk around the patch, highlights were 3 Marsh Harriers (Aguilucho Lagunero Occidental / Circus aeruginosus) 1 male and 2 females, a single Black Kite (Milano Negro / Milvus migrans), a good passage of Sand Martins with 60+ birds over the Lucerne fields as well as singles of Clouded Yellow (Colias croceus), Painted Lady (Vanessa cardui), Red Admiral (Vanessa atalanta) and Speckled Wood (Pararge aegeria).