Playa de Poniente and Charca Suarez, Granada Province, Spain.

A couple of hours sea watch and then a visit to Charca.

Ebird List for Sea watch.

Ebird List for Charca.

Sun Rise on the beach.

I met Juan on the beach near Charca but a little nearer the Port than usual, during the couple of hours there we saw good numbers of Razorbills (Alca Común / Alca torda), numbers in the Med seem very high this winter but the numbers of corpse turning up on the beach is also very high, I hope this is just natural mortality due to the numbers and not something more sinister.

Northern Shoveler (Pato Cuchara / Anas clypeata).

Snipe (Agachadiza Común / Gallinago gallinago).

We also had good numbers of Balearic Shearwaters (Pardela Balear / Puffinus mauretanicus), Northern Gannet (Alcatraz Atlántico / Morus bassanus), Sandwich Tern (Charrán Patinegro / Sterna sandvicensis), Great Cormorant (Cormorán Grande / Phalacrocroax carbo), Black-headed (Gaviota Riedora / Larus ridibundus), Mediterranean (Gaviota Cabecinegra / Larus melanocephalus), Lesser Black-backed (Gaviota Sombria / Larus fuscus) and Yellow-legged Gulls (Gaviota Patiamarilla / Larus Michahellis), Sanderling (Correlimos Tridáctilo / Calidris alba), Crag Martin (Avión Roquero / Ptyonoprogne rupestris), Crested Lark (Cogujada / Galerida cristata), Common Starling (Estornino Pinto / Sturnus vulgaris) and Black Redstart (Colirrojo Tizón / Phoenicurus ochruros).

Moustached Warbler (Carricerin Real / Acrocephalus melanopogon).

Moustached Warbler (Carricerin Real / Acrocephalus melanopogon).

Moustached Warbler (Carricerin Real / Acrocephalus melanopogon).

Once we had finished the time on the beach we went into Charca Wetlands and did a loop of the hides, highlights were a cracking Moustached Warbler (Carricerin Real / Acrocephalus melanopogon), Ferruginous Duck (Porrón Pardo / Aythya nyroca) x3, Greater Flamingo's (Flamenco Común / Phoenicopterus roseus) x2 immatures, a male Little Bittern (Avetorillo Común / Ixobrychus minutus) which gave us brief flight views, Kingfishers (Martin Pescador / Alcedo atthis), Siskin (Lúgano / Carduelis spinus) x2, Snipe (Agachadiza Común / Gallinago gallinago), Green Sandpiper (Andarrios Grande / Tringa ochropus), Northern Shoveler (Pato Cuchara / Anas clypeata), Western Swamp-hen (Calamon Común / Porphyrio porphyrio), Red-knobbed Coots (Focha Moruna / Fulca cristata) and at least 2 of the hybrids between the Red-knobbed and Eurasian Coots (Focha Común / Fulica atra) which showed a slight orange discoloration around the top of the shield and a blueish tip to the main bill.

Eurasian x Red-knobbed Coot (hybrid).

Eurasian x Red-knobbed Coot (hybrid).

During the walk around the reserve I also saw a single Migrant Hawker (Aeshna mixta) and a couple of Painted Lady's (Vanessa cardui), later we left the reserve and I said goodbye to Juan and Beatriz who had met us at the exit.