Loja Wildlife, Granada Province, Spain.: Sierra de Loja, Granada Province, Spain.

Saturday 13 January 2024

Sierra de Loja, Granada Province, Spain.

Up on the Sierra looking for Thrushes again.

Ebird List, 15 Species.

Looking out to the West.

We set off and headed straight over to the far side of the Sierra de Loja where we were hoping to see and photograph the wintering Ring Ouzels (Mirlo Capiblanco / Turdus torquatus) and we quickly started to find good numbers but when we reached a bend lower down the track where there were still some puddles we saw at least 15 birds coming for a drink.

The crags behind the Hawthorn trees.

We parked so that we could get the Camera's on the birds and almost straight away they started to return to the water and showed quite well to start with but then 5 guys from Malaga came walking through, had a chat and then went on there way.

10 Ring Ouzels (Mirlo Capiblanco / Turdus torquatus) coming in for a drink.

Ring Ouzel (Mirlo Capiblanco / Turdus torquatus) Male.

We sat there for another hour or so but the birds didn't return so we started to head back down the hill making a few stops on the way and adding Redwing (Zorzal Alirrojo / Turdus illacus), Blackbird (Mirlo Común / Turdus merula), Spotless Starling (Estornino Negro / Sturnus unicolor), Red-legged Partridge (Perdiz Roja / Alectoris rufa), Little Owl (Mochuelo Europeo / Athene noctua), a good sized flock of Red-billed Chough (Chova Piquirroja / Pyrrhocorax pyrrhocorax), Black Redstart (Colirrojo Tizón / Phoenicurus ochruros), Black Wheatear (Collalba Negra / Oenanthe leucura), House Sparrow (Gorrión Común / Passer domesticus), Common Chaffinch (Pinzón Vulgar / Fringilla coelebs), Goldfinch (Jilguero / Carduelis carduelis), Rock Bunting (Escribano Montesino / Emberiza cia) and Linnet (Pardillo Común / Carduelis cannabina).