Out again Butterfly Hunting with Friends Karen and Robert from the UK.
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| Holly Blue (Celastrina argiolus). |
I was off early from home and down on the coast to meet up with Karen and Rob at their hotel in Estepona by 09:00.
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| Unfortunate Red-necked Nightjar (Chotacabras Cuellirrojo / Caprimulgus ruficollis). |
I pulled in to the hotel car park and they were there and ready to go so we headed off around Los Barrios and then out towards Benalup before we took the track onto La Janda, on the way to this point we saw
Booted (Aguila Calzada / Aquila penntuas) and Short-toed Snake Eagle (Culebrera Europeo / Circaetus gallicus), White Stork (Ciguena Blanca / Ciconia ciconia) and
Crested Lark (Cogujada Común / Galerida cristata).
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| Lang's Short-tailed Blue (Leptotes pirithous). |
Once we were on the track down to the Celemin area, we saw
Corn Bunting (Escribano Triguero / Emberiza calandra),
Western Cattle (Garcilla Bueyera / Bubulcus ibis) and
Little Egret (Garceta Común / Egretta garzetta), White Stork,
European Stonechat (Tarabilla Europea / Saxicola rubicola),
Sardinian Warbler (Curruca Cabecinegra / Curruca melanocephala),
European Goldfinch (Jilguero Europeo / Carduelis carduelis) and
European Greenfinch (Verderón Común / Chloris chloris).
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| Zeller's Skipper (Borbo borbonica). |
We parked by the river and spent some time searching for butterflies, we didn't find the target butterfly but started the trip list with
Holly Blue (Celastrina argiolus) x3, Meadow Brown (Maniola jurtina) x1, Small White (
Pieris rapae) x2,
Small Copper (Lycaena phlaeas) x3,
Lang's Short-tailed Blue (Leptotes pirithous) x1 as well as good numbers of
Red-veined Darters (Sympetrum fonscolombii) x15+. |
| Zeller's Skipper (Borbo borbonica). |
Bird species included Glossy Ibis (Morito Común / Plegadis falcinellus),
Grey Heron (Garza Real / Ardea cinerea), Red-legged Partridge (Perdiz Roja / Alectoris rufa),
Western Jackdaw (Grajilla occidental / Corvus monedula),
Common Waxbill (Estrilda Ondulada / Estrilda astrild), Common Moorhen (Gallineta Común / Gallinulas chloropus),
European Pied Flycatcher (Papamoscas Cerrojillo / Ficedula hypoleuca) and Eurasian Hoopoe (Abubilla Común / Upupa epops). |
| Zeller's Skipper (Borbo borbonica). |
We returned to the car and had a slow drive across the Olive fields and then out to the main channel, on the way we saw Spotted Flycatcher (Papamoscas Gris / Muscicapa striata), Common Kingfisher (Martin Pescador Común / Alcedo atthis), Common Buzzard (Busardo Ratonero / Buteo buteo), an unfortunate Red-necked Nightjar (Chotacabras Cuellirrojo / Caprimulgus ruficollis) which was squashed on the road and Banded Groundling (Brachythemis leucosticta) x5 all females.
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| White Stork (Ciguena Blanca / Ciconia ciconia). |
We reached the canal where I had a brief view of a Black-winged Kite (Elanio Común / Elanus caeruleus) before we we turned right and drove along the track but there were lorries passing along it all the time and all the track side plants were covered in dust so we turned around and drove back to a side track where we had seen a couple of people and looked at them through the bins seeing that they had camera's which meant that they were almost certainly looking for the same thing as us so we parked and walked out to them. |
Estivating Snails.
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We were correct and they had been seeing Zeller's Skippers (Borbo borbonica) x6, they were being difficult in the windy conditions but we still eventually managed to get some views and some photo's of them, in the same area we also had Clouded Yellow (Colias croceus), Red-veined and Scarlet Darter (Crocothemis erythraea) and Lesser Emperor (Anax parthenope).
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| Zitting Cisticola (Cistícola Buitrón / Cisticola juncidis). |
We returned to the main road and drove down to Tahivilla where we had some lunch at a very busy Bar Restaurante Apolo XI and whilst there we bumped into Javi from Birding the Straits with a group. |
| European Stonechat (Tarabilla Europea / Saxicola rubicola). |
After we had eaten we drove back to La Janda but went in via the Southern end of the track where we saw a couple more Zeller's as well as Western Marsh Harrier (Aguilucho Lagunero Occidental / Circus aeruginosus),
Zitting Cisticola (Cistícola Buitrón / Cisticola juncidis), Spanish Sparrow (Gorrión Moruno / Passer hispaniolensis) and Common Kestrel (Cernicalo Vulgar / Falco tinnunculus).
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| Black Stork (Cigüena Negra / Ciconia nigra), Western Cattle Egret (Garcilla Bueyera / Bubulcus ibis) and Glossy Ibis (Morito Común / Plegadis falcinellus). |
Along the main Channel we added a
Black Stork (Cigüena Negra / Ciconia nigra) which Javi pointed out to us as well as good numbers of Western Cattle and Little Egrets, Grey Heron, Barn Swallow (Golondrina Común / Hirundo rustica) and on the track back across to the Benalup track we saw
Short-toed Snake Eagle, Common Buzzard (Busardo Ratonero / Buteo buteo), Common Linnet (Pardillo Común / Linaria cannabina) and Northern Wheatear (Collalba Gris / Oenanthe oenanthe). |
| Western Cattle Egret (Garcilla Bueyera / Bubulcus ibis). |
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| Western Cattle (Garcilla Bueyera / Bubulcus ibis) and Little Egrets (Garceta Común / Egretta garzetta). |
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| Western Cattle (Garcilla Bueyera / Bubulcus ibis) and Little Egret (Garceta Común / Egretta garzetta). |
When we reached the Rio Celemin we parked again and checked the plants for butterflies again but we didn't find any Zeller's but instead there were a couple of the smaller less well marked Mediterranean Skippers (Gegenes nostrodamus).
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| Long Skimmer (Orthetrum trinacria). |
We also picked up Long Skimmer (Orthetrum trinacria), Northern Raven (Cuervo grande / Corvus corax), European Serin (Serin Verdecillo / Serinus serinus) and several Signal Crayfish (Pacifastacus leniusculus).
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