Zapata, Alhaurín de la Torre in Malaga Province, Spain.

Plant shopping down on the coast.

Ebird List for Zapata.

The nice peaceful weir before the photographer arrived and flushed everything.

I was feeling somewhat better than I had for the last few days so I went down the coast and met friends Barbara and Derek near the village of Zapata and then we went and spent a nice hour just sat at the side of the Rio Guadalhorce just above the ford where there is a broken concrete weir and waited to see what arrived and left as the sun came up, Common (Andarrios Chico / Actitis hypoleucos) and Green Sandpiper (Andarrios Grande / Tringa ochropus) were the only waders but we also had Little Egret (Garceta Común / Egreeta garzetta), Night Heron (Marinete Común / Nycticorax nycticorax), Western Cattle Egret (Garcilla Bueyera / Bubulcus ibis), Grey Heron (Garza Real / Ardea cinerea), Glossy Ibis (Morito Común / Plegadis falcinellus), Eurasian Spoonbill (Espátula Común / Platalea leucorodia), 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), Little Grebe (Zampullín Común / Tachybaptus ruficollis), Great Cormorant (Cormorán Grande / Phalacrocroax carbo), Kingfisher (Martin Pescador / Alcedo atthis), Monk Parakeet (Cotorra Argentina / Myiopsitta monachus), Jay (Arrendajo / Garrulus glandarius), Jackdaw (Grajilla / Corvus monedula), Robin (Petirrojo Europeo / Erithacus rubecula), White Wagtail (Lavandera Blanca / Montacilla alba) and Cetti's Warbler (Ruisenor Bastardo / Cettia cetti).

Little Egret (Garceta Común / Egreeta garzetta) before the sun came over the trees.

RANT:

We were having a very pleasant time watching some nice birds until an inconsiderate asshole of a photographer just walked straight out in front of us onto the concrete weir flushing everything with out saying a word and set up his hide and the walked back again to chat with a friend who had also arrived.

I couldn't believe this tosser was just so blatantly oblivious to us and to the disturbance he had caused to the feeding birds, total P****K.

RANT OVER:

Little Egret (Garceta Común / Egreeta garzetta) after the sun came over the trees.

We gave up at this spot as everything had been flushed and went down to the Ford and across to a large drainage channel nearby where Derek and I had a walk checking the reeds and the gaps in between them, here we added Black-winged Stilt (Ciguenela Común / Himantopus himantopus), Common Snipe (Agachadiza Común / Gallinago gallinago), Lesser Black-backed (Gaviota Sombria / Larus fuscus) and Yellow-legged Gull (Gaviota Patiamarilla / Larus Michahellis), Sparrowhawk (Gavilán Común / Accipiter nisus), Hobby (Alcotán Europeo / Falco subbuteo), Common Kestrel (Cernicalo Vulgar / Falco tinnunculus), Crested Lark (Cogujada / Galerida cristata), Common Chiffchaff (Mosquitero Común / Phylloscopus collybita), Black Redstart (Colirrojo Tizón / Phoenicurus ochruros), Blackcap (Curruca Capirotada / Sylvia atricailla), Common Stonechat (Tarabilla Común / Saxicola torquata) and Sardinian Warbler (Curruca Cabecinegra / Sylvia melanocephala).

Little Egret (Garceta Común / Egreeta garzetta).

We continued on around the site to the reed filled channel near the back of the airport and checked the small cutting made by the ringer through the reeds and found at least 3 male Bluethroat (Pechiazul / Luscinia svecica), Common Waxbill (Estrilda Ondulada / Estrilda astrild), Serin (Verdecillo / Serinus serinus), Linnet (Pardillo Común / Carduelis cannabina), Greenfinch (Verderón Común / Carduelis chloris), Common Chaffinch (Pinzón Vulgar / Fringilla coelebs) and Goldfinch (Jilguero / Carduelis carduelis).

Kingfisher (Martin Pescador / Alcedo atthis).

We left the site across a track I had not used before and picked up Spotless (Estornino Negro / Sturnus unicolor) and Common Starling (Estornino Pinto / Sturnus vulgaris), Meadow Pipit (Bisbita Pratense / Anthus pratensis) and lots more Black Redstarts on the way back to my car. 

Kingfisher (Martin Pescador / Alcedo atthis).

The next stop was at a cafe near by where we had coffee and a Bacon and Egg Mollete before going to the Guzman Garden Center where I got a nice selection of plants for the garden.

Common Stonechat (Tarabilla Común / Saxicola torquata) female.

I said bye to Barbara and Derek and headed home and crashed for the rest of the day as I was not fully over the bug unfortunately.