Looking for the Dupont's Lark and later a few Butterflies and Dragons.
Ebird List for Ablitas General Area, 33 species.
Ebird List for Laguna de Lor.
Trip Total Day Two, Birds 79, Butterflies 13, Dragonflies 7.
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Sunrise, out birding at far to early o'clock.
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I was up and out on site before light hoping to catch up with the uncommon and elusive
Dupont's Lark (Alondra Ricotí / Chersophilus duponti), I reached the area and after stopping at several points I parked at a junction in the road and stood there and listened and after a while I was sure I could hear part of the call but couldn't quite make out where it was coming from.
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The area once the light got better.
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In the area I did see 3
Pin-tailed Sandgrouse (Ganga Ibérica /
Pterocles alchata), Crested (Cogujada / Galerida cristata),
Calandra (Calandria / Melanocorypha calandra),
Greater Short-toed (Terrera Común / Calandrella brachydactyla) and
Mediterranean / Lesser Short-toed Lark (Terrera Marismena / Calandrella rufescens),
Eurasian Stone Curlew (Alcaraván Común / Burhinus oedicnemus),
Little Owl (Mochuelo Europeo / Athene noctua),
Feral Pigeon (Paloma Bravía / Columba livia),
Common Woodpigeon (Paloma Torcaz / Columba palumbus), a female
Western Marsh Harrier (Aguilucho Lagunero Occidental / Circus aeruginosus) and the first of a great many
Rabbits (Conejo / Oryctolagus cuniculus).
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The Sea Lavender Species.
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I drove further along the track to a spot I had been given by a friend who had seen the
Dupont's earlier in the year, I parked and walked one of the side tracks but only managed to added
Red-billed Chough (Chova Piquirroja / Pyrrhocorax pyrrhocorax),
Carrion Crow (Corneja Negra / Corvus corone), Eurasian Hoopoe (Abubilla Común / Upupa epops), Common Linnet (Pardillo Común / Carduelis cannabina), House Sparrow (Gorrión Común / Passer domesticus),
Barn Swallow (Golondrina Común / Hirundo rustica),
Spotless Starling (Estornino Negro / Sturnus unicolor),
Iberian Grey Shrike (Alcaudón Real Meridional / Lanius meridionalis),
European Bee-eater (Abejaruco Común / Merops apiaster),
Common Kestrel (Cernicalo Vulgar / Falco tinnunculus), Bath White (Pontia daplidice) x2, a nice looking Green
Beetle x3 and a
Sea Lavender species.
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Beetle Species that still needs a name.
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Beetle Species that still needs a name. |
I returned to the car and retraced my way back towards the junction where I had parked but just a couple of hundred meters along the track and a lark landed on the edge of the road and the headed into the low vegetation but straight away I was confident it was my target bird and after getting a few nice views of it I remembered to try and get some photos but by now it was to far away to get anything decent but I was just very happy to see this difficult species.
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Dupont's Lark (Alondra Ricotí / Chersophilus duponti). |
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Dupont's Lark (Alondra Ricotí / Chersophilus duponti). |
I spent another couple of hours searching the area and meeting two different Medio Ambiante agents who were regulars at the site, as I drove around I added
Wall Brown (Lasiommata megera) x15+,
Southern Gatekeeper (Pyronia cecilia) x4, a
Red-legged Partridge (Perdiz Roja / Alectoris rufa) with 13 chicks,
European Turtle Dove (Tórtola Europea / Streptopelia turtur),
Common Swift (Vencejo Común / Apus apus), a single rather unexpected Yellow-legged Gull (Gaviota Patiamarilla / Larus Michahellis) which was fly SE, 2 White Storks (Ciguena Blanca / Ciconia ciconia) which were heading in the same direction, both
Red (Milano Real / Milvus milvus) and
Black Kites (Milano Negro / Milvus migrans),
Common Buzzard (Busardo Ratonero / Buteo buteo), Spectacled Warbler (Curruca Tomillera / Curruca conspicillata) and
Western Black-eared Wheatear (Collalba Rubia / Oenanthe hispanica). |
Dupont's Lark (Alondra Ricotí / Chersophilus duponti). |
I drove back NW and headed for Laguna de Lor which I had seen on Google Earth and decided it looked like it would be worth a look, on the way off the site I added Western Subalpine Warbler (Curruca Carrasqueña Occidental / Curruca iberiae) and Sardinian Warbler (Curruca Cabecinegra / Curruca melanocephala), European Serin (Serin Verdecillo / Serinus serinus), Eurasian Collared Dove (Tórtola Turca / Streptopelia decaocto) and Eurasian Magpie (Urraca Común / Pica pica).
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Laguna de Lor. |
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Knapweed Fritillary (Melitaea phoebe). |
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Lulworth Skipper (Thymelicus acteon). |
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Southern Brown Argus (Aricia cramera).
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Common / Southern Blue (Polyommatus icarus / celina) male. |
I arrived at the Laguna and was pleased as it certainly did look very good, as I sorted the kit out and put everything else in the book could heard at least 2
Great Reed Warblers (Carricero Tordal / Acrocephalus arundinaceus), 2 singing
Eurasian Golden Oriole (Oropéndola Europea / Oriolus oriolus) and in the sedges near the water my only lifer of the day, several
Blue-tailed Damselflies (Ischnura elegans) x9 which can be distinguished from the commoner in Spain
Iberian Bluetail (Ischnura graellsii) by a tiny upright projection on the male's pronotum which can just be seen in the photo below (thanks to Steve Jones for the confirmation). |
Blue-tailed Damselfly (Ischnura elegans) male.
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Blue-tailed Damselfly (Ischnura elegans) male ahowing the tiny upright projection. |
In the same area I checked some large bramble bushes where I found the first of hundreds of Small Red-eyed Damselflies (Erythromma viridulum) 600-800+
, Clouded Yellow (Colias croceus) x3,
Small White (
Pieris rapae) x7,
Common / Southern Blue (Polyommatus icarus / celina) x4,
Speckled Wood (Pararge aegeria) x2 and
Lulworth Skipper (Thymelicus acteon)
x1 (thanks to Ed Mckrill for the confirmation). |
Small Red-eye (Erythromma viridulum) male. |
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Small Red-eye (Erythromma viridulum) male. |
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Small Red-eye (Erythromma viridulum) male.
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Small Red-eye (Erythromma viridulum) immature male????
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I decided to do a full loop of the lake and set off in an anticlockwise direction, on the first side I had Knapweed Fritillary (Melitaea phoebe) x1, Southern Brown Argus (Aricia cramera) x3,
Red-veined Darter (Sympetrum fonscolombii) x30+, Common Blue Damselfly (Enallagma cyathinerum) x15+, European Greenfinch (Verderón Común / Chloris chloris),
European Goldfinch (Jilguero Europeo / Carduelis carduelis),
Cetti's Warbler (Cetia Ruiseñor / Cettia cetti),
Mallard (Anade Azulón / Anas platyrhynchos) and
Little Egret (Garceta Común / Egreeta garzetta). |
Small Red-eye (Erythromma viridulum) mating pair. |
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