Sierra de Loja and Huétor Fields, Granada Province, Spain.

An unexpected bit of birding with Friend Juan.

Ebird List for Sierra de Loja.

Ebird List for the Fields.

A view out to the West.

I got up planning to do a bit in the garden once it warmed but after getting a message from friend Juan Perez about doing some birding up Sierra de Loja I thought the garden can wait and made plans to meet him at the Crortijo de Tajar.

We met, then headed along the Motorway and up the hill via the Abades Services the Hawthorn trees on the far side where we were going to search for Thrush species.

The most obvious of the Thrushes were the 28 or so Ring Ouzels (Mirlo Capiblanco / Turdus torquatus) we saw, Redwing (Zorzal Alirrojo / Turdus illacus) and Blackbird (Mirlo Común / Turdus merula) were also seen but considering the amount of berries there we were surprised by the low numbers of birds.

We also recorded Black Redstart (Colirrojo Tizón / Phoenicurus ochruros), Black Wheatear (Collalba Negra / Oenanthe leucura), Common Stonechat (Tarabilla Común / Saxicola torquata), House Sparrow (Gorrión Común / Passer domesticus), Meadow Pipit (Bisbita Pratense / Anthus pratensis), Red-billed Chough (Chova Piquirroja / Pyrrhocorax pyrrhocorax), Red-legged Partridge (Perdiz Roja / Alectoris rufa), Rock Bunting (Escribano Montesino / Emberiza cia), Common Chiffchaff (Mosquitero Común / Phylloscopus collybita), Sardinian Warbler (Curruca Cabecinegra / Sylvia melanocephala), Spotless Starling (Estornino Negro / Sturnus unicolor), Thekla Lark (Cogujada Montesina / Galerida theklae) and a single Alpine Accentor (Acentor Alpino / Prunella collaris).

On the way back down we saw lots of flowering Broad-leaved Iris (Iris planifolia), several Spanish Ibex (Cabra montés / Capra pyrenaica hispanica) and a few Rabbits (Conejo / Oryctolagus cuniculus) before getting back onto the Motorway and heading back to Huétor Tajar and out onto the fields where Juan was hoping we would find Golden Plovers (Chorlito Dorado Europeo / Pluvialis apricaia) and we were soon watching 10 on the Lucerne Fields. We also saw Northern Lapwing (Avefria Europea / Vanellus vanellus), White Wagtail (Lavandera Blanca / Montacilla alba), Iberian  Magpie (Rabilargo / Cyanopica cooki), Stone Curlew (Alcaraván Común / Burhinus oedicnemus), Little Bustard (Sisón Común / Tetrax tetrax), Little Owl (Mochuelo Europeo / Athene noctua), Common Kestrel (Cernicalo Vulgar / Falco tinnunculus) and as we dropped back to the hotel we had a single Great Cormorant (Cormorán Grande / Phalacrocroax carbo) drop into the river.

Back home I had 5+ Siskins (Lúgano / Carduelis spinus) coming in to the feeders in the garden along with House Sparrow, Common Chaffinch (Pinzón Vulgar / Fringilla coelebs), Blackcap (Curruca Capirotada / Sylvia atricailla) and a pair of Collared Dove (Tórtola Turca / Streptopelia decaocto).