Huétor Fields, El Temple and the Cacín Valley, Granada Province, Spain.

First of three days with friends Barbara and Derek from the coast.

Ebird List for Huétor Fields.

Ebird List for El Temple area.

Ebird List for Contraembalse de los Bermejales.

Out on El Temple.

I started the day by dropping the car down to the mechanic's in Venta Nueva, I then walked back to the main road and waited for friends Barbara and Derek to pick me up to start a three day visit for some birding, they arrived and our first port of call was at Combustibles Gómez petrol station bar where we had some breakfast before heading to our first birding spot just up the road where we scanned the fields.

Out on the fields we saw 4x Eurasian Stone Curlews (Alcaraván Común / Burhinus oedicnemus), Whinchat (Tarabilla Norteña / Saxicola rubetra), European Stonechat (Tarabilla Europea / Saxicola rubicola), Common Linnet (Pardillo Común / Linaria cannabina), lots of Eurasian Collared Doves (Tórtola Turca / Streptopelia decaocto) and unfortunately a great many Feral Pigeons (Paloma Bravía / Columba livia), White Wagtail (Lavandera Blanca / Montacilla alba), Spotless Starling (Estornino Negro / Sturnus unicolor), Western Jackdaw (Grajilla occidental / Corvus monedula) and Zitting Cisticola (Cistícola Buitrón / Cisticola juncidis).

We moved up the road and out to the parking by the Lucerne fields where we again spent some time searching the fields and the sky for new species and we managed to find Common Woodpigeon (Paloma Torcaz / Columba palumbus), Iberian  Magpie (Rabilargo Ibérico / Cyanopica cooki), Crested Lark (Cogujada Común / Galerida cristata), Common Reed Warbler (Carricero Común / Acrocephalus scrpaceus), Barn Swallow (Golondrina Común / Hirundo rustica), Common Waxbill (Estrilda Ondulada / Estrilda astrild), Corn Bunting (Escribano Triguero / Emberiza calandra),   European Serin (Serin Verdecillo / Serinus serinus) and Great Tit (Carbonera Común / Parus major).

We drove along the top track to the Walnut trees where we stopped again but we picked up a Little Owl (Mochuelo Europeo / Athene noctua) on the way and had a short walk to check the fence lines finding European Pied (Papamoscas Cerrojillo / Ficedula hypoleuca) and Spotted Flycatcher (Papamoscas Gris / Muscicapa striata), Whinchat, Spanish (Yellow) Wagtail (Lavandera Boyera / Motacilla flava iberiae), Common Chaffinch (Pinzón Vulgar / Fringilla coelebs), Eurasian Blackcap (Curruca Capirotada / Curruca capirotada) and Eurasian Hoopoe (Abubilla Común / Upupa epops), 

On our way down to the town we dropped on a couple of Eurasian Tree Sparrows (Gorrión Molinero / Passer montanus) which were the first I have seen on the patch for a while.

We headed off up the A92 and then out onto the El Temple area where we drove quite a few of the tracks which cross the area seeing Red-legged Partridge (Perdiz Roja / Alectoris rufa), another Stone Curlew, Common Buzzard (Busardo Ratonero / Buteo buteo), Booted (Aguila Calzada / Aquila penntuas) and Golden Eagle (Águila Real / Aquila chrysaetos), a smart looking male Lesser Kestrel (Cernicola Primilla / Falco naumanni), Greater Short-toed Lark (Terrera Común / Calandrella brachydactyla), Eurasian Magpie (Urraca Común / Pica pica), Western House Martin (Avión Común Occidental / Delichon urbicum), Black Redstart (Colirrojo Tizón / Phoenicurus ochruros), Northern Wheatear (Collalba Gris / Oenanthe oenanthe), Tawny Pipit (Bisbita Camprstre / Anthus campestris), Rabbit (Conejo / Oryctolagus cuniculus), 10535 Crimson Speckled (Utetheisa pulchella), Vagrant Emperor (Anax ephippiger) x1 and Bath White (Pontia daplidice) x3 plus several of the species we saw earlier on the fields.

We moved on towards the Cacín Valley, on the way over Barbara and Derek where amazed and appalled by the amount of habitat destruction being caused in the name of green energy, NET ZERO at what ever the cost to the environment and local wildlife.

We dropped down into the Cacín valley and then drove up to the Contra-embalse de Bermejalis, here we scanned the lake and Margins adding Northern Shoveler (Cuchara Común / Spatula clypeata), Mallard (Anade Azulón / Anas platyrhynchos), Eurasian Teal (Cerceta Común / Anas crecca), Common Pochard (Porrón Europeo / Aythya ferina), Gadwall (Anade Friso / Mareca strepera), Little Grebe (Zampullín Común / Tachybaptus ruficollis), Water Rail (Rascón Europeo / Rallus aquaticus), Eurasian Coot (Focha Común / Fulica atra), Common Moorhen (Gallineta Común / Gallinulas chloropus), Black-winged Stilt (Ciguenuela Común / Himantopus himantopus), Green Sandpiper (Andarrios Grande / Tringa ochropus), Short-toed Snake Eagle (Culebrera Europeo / Circaetus gallicus), Common Kestrel (Cernicalo Vulgar / Falco tinnunculus), Common Reed Warbler (Carricero Común / Acrocephalus scrpaceus), Sand Martin (Avión Zapador / Riparia riparia), Perez's Frog (Rana Común / Pelophylax perezi), Red-veined Darter (Sympetrum fonscolombii) x3 and Desert Orange-tip (Colotis evagore) x3.

We returned to the house and spent a very nice evening up on the terrace having some food and red wine.