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Friday, 27 May 2022

Mollina area and Fuente de Piedra, Malaga Province, Spain.

Out looking for a year tick and a rare Dragon.
Pam and John, Day Four after a day around town yesterday.

Glossy Ibis (Morito Común / Plegadis falcinellus).

After a morning around Montefrio yesterday we were back to birding, we set off early to try and find the locally rare Rufous-tailed Sceub Robin (Alzacola / Cercotrichas galactotes), we checked the usual area but didn't see any sign there but did see Crested Lark (Cogujada / Galerida cristata), Hoopoe (Abubilla / Upupa epops), Spotless Starling (Estornino Negro / Sturnus unicolor), House Sparrow (Gorrión Común / Passer domesticus), Collared Dove (Tórtola Turca / Streptopelia decaocto), Barn Swallow (Golondrina Común / Hirundo rustica), Common Kestrel (Cernicalo Vulgar / Falco tinnunculus) and Little Owl (Mochuelo Europeo / Athene noctua) before we moved to another area.
In this second spot we saw Corn Bunting (Triguero / Emberiza calandra), Turtle Dove (Tórtola Europea / Streptopelia turtur), Blackbird (Mirlo Común / Turdus merula) and eventually a flight view of the Robin.
We stood on the track and waited to see if the bird reappeared and after a few minutes it popped up on a fence but it was distant, it dropped down and popped up a couple more times before it flew towards us and passed us and into some scrub.
Glossy Ibis (Morito Común / Plegadis falcinellus).
We went back to the first spot where we had left Pam working on one of her paintings, picked her up and headed off to Fuente de Piedra, as we drove in we saw the Barn Owl (Lechuza Común / Tyto alba) in its usual spot along the Common Kestrels and Jackdaws (Grajilla / Corvus monedula) before we checked the roadside pool finding good numbers of Glossy Ibis (Morito Común / Plegadis falcinellus), Gull-billed (Pagaza Piconegra / Gelochelidon nilotica) and Whiskered Tern (Fumarel Cariblanca / Chilidonias hybridus), Black-winged Stilt (Ciguenela Común / Himantopus himantopus), Avocet (Avoceta Común / Recurvirostra avosetta), Ringed Plover (Chorlitejo Grande / Charadrius hiaticula), Greater Flamingo (Flamenco Común / Phoenicopterus roseus), Black-headed Gull (Gaviota Riedora / Larus ridibundus), Marbled Duck (Marmaronetta angustirostris), Common Moorhen (Gallineta Común / Gallinulas chloropus), Eurasian Coot (Focha Común / Fulica atra), Gadwall (Anade Friso / Anas strepera) and White Stork (Ciguena Blanca / Ciconia ciconia).
We walked through the car park and up to the Mirador where we scanned the lake picking up more Greater Flamingo's, Gull-billed Terns, Jackdaw (Grajilla / Corvus monedula), Sardinian Warbler (Curruca Cabecinegra / Sylvia melanocephala), Nightingale (Ruisenor Común / Luscinia megarhynchos) and House Martin (Avión Común / Delichon urbica).
Around on the back pool we scanned the freshwater lake finding Little Egret (Garceta Común / Egreeta garzetta), Common (Porrón Común / Aythya ferina) and Red-crested Pochard (Pato Colorado / Netta rufina), White-headed Duck (Malvasia Cabeciblanca / Oxyura leucocephala), Little (Zampullín Común / Tachybaptus ruficollis) and Black-necked Grebe (Zampullín Cullinegro / Podiceps nigricollis).
Speckled Wood (Pararge aegeria).

We walked back around to Pam and then whilst she finished of the picture she was working on John and I dropped down onto the lower track and followed it around to the Boardwalk on the way we saw Clouded Yellow (Colias croceus) x3, Speckled Wood (Pararge aegeria) x1, Painted Lady (Vanessa cardui) x1, Small (Pieris rapae) x2 and Black-veined White (Aporia crataegi) x4.
From the Boardwalk we found a few Dark Spreadwings (Lestes macrostigma) x12 a local and rare species, Red-veined Darter (Sympetrum fonscolombii) x9 and Blue / Common Emperor (Anax imperator) x3.
It was starting to get hot so we drove to a nearby bar and had a drink and something to eat before heading back to the house, later we saw Red-necked Nightjar (Chotacabras Cuellirrojo / Caprimulgus ruficollis) and Stone Curlew (Alcaraván Común / Burhinus oedicnemus) from up on the terrace.

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