Santoña to A Coruña via Bustio on the Asturias border and Faro de Cabo Peñas, Austrias, Spain.

Dip, Dip and a wash out, well that's the way it goes sometimes.

Ebird List for Cabo Peñas, 22 species.

 

Looking back East along the Coast.

I left Isla at 06:45 and headed around Santander to the Estuary of the Rio Deva near Bustio where a few years ago I saw 3x White-tailed Eagle (Pigargo Europeo /Haliaeetus albicilla) but today there was no sign of any birds in the area, as far as I am aware the introduction has now been binned which from feedback I have had from some local birders is a good thing as it was based on a tenuous beliefs that the birds were once a breeding species in Northern Spain.

Looking West.

In the area I did see Robin (Petirrojo Europeo / Erithacus rubecula), Raven (Cuervo / Corvus corax) x6, Carrion Crow (Corneja Negra / Corvus corone), Common Chaffinch (Pinzón Vulgar / Fringilla coelebs), Siskin (Lúgano / Carduelis spinus), Blackbird (Mirlo Común / Turdus merula), White Wagtail (Lavandera Blanca / Montacilla alba), Iberian Green Woodpecker (Pito Real / Picus sharpei), Yellow-legged Gull (Gaviota Patiamarilla / Larus Michahellis) and heard a squealing Water Rail (Rascón Europeo / Rallus aquaticus).

Alta nordeste, Barberona and Las sirenas Cliffs and stacks.

I continued on and my next stop was out on the headland of Cabo Peñas where I walked the fields looking for a reported Richards Pipit (Bisbita de Richard / Anthus richardi), I saw a good flock of Pipits in a large grassy field but couldn't see a way down to the spot so I birded the area around the Lighthouse.

Spotless (Estornino Negro / Sturnus unicolor) and Common Starling (Estornino Pinto / Sturnus vulgaris).

As I did a loop around the cliffs and scrub fields I picked up Northern Gannet (Alcatraz Atlántico / Morus bassanus), Great Black-backed Gull (Gavión Atlántico / Larus marinus), Common Kestrel (Cernicalo Vulgar / Falco tinnunculus), Raven, Carrion Crow, Zitting Cisticola (Buitrón / Cisticola juncidis), Dunnock (Acentor Común / Prunella modularis), Common Chiffchaff (Mosquitero Común / Phylloscopus collybita), White Wagtail, Sardinian Warbler (Curruca Cabecinegra / Sylvia melanocephala), Wren (Chochin / Troglodytes troglodytes), Spotless (Estornino Negro / Sturnus unicolor) and Common Starling (Estornino Pinto / Sturnus vulgaris), Common Stonechat (Tarabilla Común / Saxicola torquata), Black Redstart (Colirrojo Tizón / Phoenicurus ochruros), Common Buzzard (Busardo Ratonero / Buteo buteo), Goldfinch (Jilguero / Carduelis carduelis) and Common Chaffinch.

Dunnock (Acentor Común / Prunella modularis).

As I returned to the car I notice a track down into the fields and around the coast a short way so I had a look and found somewhere between 40 and 50 Meadow Pipits (Bisbita Pratense / Anthus pratensis), I also had two birds fly over which looked like larger Pipits and they sounded good but I didn't manage to get views on the ground as they dropped in over a ridge in the field when the flock was spooked by a walking group coming up from the coastal footpath.

I returned to the car as it started to spit with rain and before I had gone many KMs it was humming it down and blowing an absolute gale which made the next 3 hour drive interesting, I had planned to visit another spot before going to the hotel but didn't bother as it's supposed to be dry tomorrow and I am defiantly getting to be a fair weather birder.