Puerto de la Ragua, North of Guadix, Sierra Huétor and Huétor Fields, Granada Province, Spain.

Day one with friends Sonia and Ricky.

Ebird List for Puerto de la Ragua.

Ebird List for Pool.

Ebird List for the tracks.

Ebird List for Huétor Fields.

 

Citril Finch (Verderón Serrano / Carduelis citrinella) male.

Sonja and Ricky arrived yesterday and after a good nights sleep we headed out East to our first stop at Puerto de la Ragua, on the way we saw Hoopoe (Abubilla / Upupa epops), Turtle Dove (Tórtola Europea / Streptopelia turtur), House Sparrow (Gorrión Común / Passer domesticus), Spotless Starling (Estornino Negro / Sturnus unicolor), Woodpigeon (Paloma Torcaz / Columba palumbus), Iberian (Rabilargo / Cyanopica cooki) and Common Magpie (Urraca / Pica pica) and Collared Dove (Tórtola Turca / Streptopelia decaocto).

Citril Finch (Verderón Serrano / Carduelis citrinella) male and female.

Citril Finch (Verderón Serrano / Carduelis citrinella) female.

Before we had even parked at Ragua we picked up a group of Citril Finches (Verderón Serrano / Carduelis citrinella) feeding just below the road, by the time we had parked a motorbike had gone passed and had flushed them up to a group of Rose Bushes.

Lammergeier / Bearded Vulture (Quebrantahuesos / Gypaetus barbatus) one of two birds seen distantly.

Coal Tit  (Carbonero Garrapinos / Periparus ater) one of lots seen.

We crossed the road onto the Granada Province side of the area where we followed the Barranco Maja Caco finding Coal (Carbonero Garrapinos / Periparus ater), Long-tailed (Mito / Aegithalos caudatus), Crested (Herrerillo Capuchino / Lophophanes cristatus), Blue (Herrerillo Común / Cyanistes caeruleus) and Great Tit (Carbonera Común / Parus major), Short-toed Treecreeper (Agateador Común / Certhia brachydactyla), Western Subalpine Warbler (Curruca Carrasquena / Sylvia cantillans), Common Chaffinch (Pinzón Vulgar / Fringilla coelebs), Serin (Verdecillo / Serinus serinus), Wren (Chochin / Troglodytes troglodytes), Common Stonechat (Tarabilla Común / Saxicola torquata), Woodlark (Totovia / Lullula arborea), Robin (Petirrojo Europeo / Erithacus rubecula), Mistle Thrush (Zorzal Charlo / Turdus viscivorus), Blackbird (Mirlo Común / Turdus merula), Rock Bunting (Escribano Montesino / Emberiza cia) and then off in the distance I picked up two large raptors which turned out to be adult looking Lammergeier / Bearded Vulture (Quebrantahuesos / Gypaetus barbatus).

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Alyssum granatense ????

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After checking the area at the top of the Barranco seeing a single male Spanish Ibex (Cabra montés / Capra pyrenaica hispanica), some plant species and on the way down we added Tawny Pipit (Bisbita Camprstre / Anthus campestris), Woodlark (Totovia / Lullula arborea), Spanish Festoon (Zerynthia rumina) x2 and Clouded Yellow (Colias croceus) x3.

Puerto de la Ragua.

Puerto de la Ragua.

We returned to the car and the had a walk through the Pine Woodland near the Picnic tables finding Firecrest (Reyezuelo Listado / Regulus ignicapillus), White Wagtail (Lavandera Blanca / Montacilla alba) and Nuthatch (Trepador Azul / Sitta europaea).  

Stock Dove (Paloma Zurita / Columba oenas).

Stock Dove (Paloma Zurita / Columba oenas).

We dropped back down the hill and then back towards Guadix, on the way we saw Common Kestrel (Cernicalo Vulgar / Falco tinnunculus), Carrion Crow (Corneja Negra / Corvus corone) and Booted Eagle (Aguila Calzada / Aquila pennatus) before we reached our next stop at an irrigation pool where we saw a couple of Stock Doves (Paloma Zurita / Columba oenas), along with Red-billed Chough (Chova Piquirroja / Pyrrhocorax pyrrhocorax), Carrion Crows, Jackdaw (Grajilla / Corvus monedula), Red-legged Partridge (Perdiz Roja / Alectoris rufa), Common Buzzard (Busardo Ratonero / Buteo buteo), Common Sandpiper (Andarrios Chico / Actitis hypoleucos), Linnet (Pardillo Común / Carduelis cannabina), Greenfinch (Verderón Común / Carduelis chloris), Perez's Frog (Rana Común / Pelophylax perezi) and a couple of Bath Whites (Pontia daplidice) x2.

Roller (Carraca / Coracias garrulus).

European Bee-eater (Abejaruco Común / Merops apiaster).

European Bee-eater (Abejaruco Común / Merops apiaster).

Next we spent a couple of hours driving the tracks in the area finding Roller (Carraca / Coracias garrulus), Thekla (Cogujada Montesina / Galerida theklae) and Greater Short-toed Lark (Terrera Común / Calandrella brachydactyla), Woodchat Shrike (Alcaudón Común / Lanius senator), Rock Sparrow (Gorrión Chillón / Petronia petronia), Black Wheatear (Collalba Negra / Oenanthe leucura), Golden Oriole (Oropéndola / Oriolus oriolus), Barn Swallow (Golondrina Común / Hirundo rustica), Iberian Green Woodpecker (Pito Real / Picus sharpei), Common Swift (Vencejo Común / Apus apus), more Hoopoes, Adonis annua, Corn (Papaver rhoeas) and Red-horned Poppy (Glaucium corniculatum), Corn Gromwell (Buglossoides arvensis), Roemeria sicula and Roemeria hybrida, Hypecoum imberbe, Blue Hound's Tongue (Cynoglossum creticum) and Vicia peregrina.

Some weather over Sierra Nevada where we had just come from.

Adonis annua.

Corn Gromwell (Buglossoides arvensis).

Vicia peregrina.

We moved on again and made our way to Los Mimbres and then had a walk looking for some new Orchids and we were pleased to find several spikes of Barton's Orchid (Dactylorhiza insularis), Yellow Bee Orchid (Ophrys lutea), Dense-flowered Orchid (Neotinea maculata) and best of all were 5 or so spikes of the uncommon Orchis cazorlensis.

Barton's Orchid (Dactylorhiza insularis).

Barton's Orchid (Dactylorhiza insularis).

Yellow Bee Orchid (Ophrys lutea).

In the same area we also found Adonis vernalis, Tassel Hyacinth (Leopoldia comosa), Wild Gladiolus (Gladiolus italicus), Southern Knapweed (Centaurea pullata), Polygala boissieri, Bonelli's Warbler (Mosquitero Papialbo / Phylloscopus bonelli), Jay (Arrendajo / Garrulus glandarius), Firecrest (Reyezuelo Listado / Regulus ignicapillus) and Blackcap (Curruca Capirotada / Sylvia atricapilla).

Dense-flowered Orchid (Neotinea maculata).

Dense-flowered Orchid (Neotinea maculata).

We headed back towards the house but called in at the fields on the way back picking up Little Bustard (Sisón Común / Tetrax tetrax), Montagu's Harrier (Aguilucho Cenizo / Circus pygargus), Black-winged Kite (Elanio Común / Elanus caeruleus), Nightingale (Ruisenor Común / Luscinia megarhynchos), Spanish (Yellow) Wagtail (Lavandera Boyera / Motacilla flava iberiae) and Crested Lark (Cogujada / Galerida cristata), all of which were new for the day. 

Orchis cazorlensis.

Orchis cazorlensis.

Orchis cazorlensis.

Later we went down to Huétor for something to eat and a couple of drinks.