Huétor Fields, Balsa de Regidor, Moraleda Crags, Pines area, Rio Cacín, Contra-embalse de Cacín, Cacín Gorge, the GR-3310 and El Temple area, Granada Ptovince, Spain.

A run around the Patch (near and far) with Pamela and Taber.

Ebird List for the Town Fields.

Ebird List for the Lucerne Fields.

Ebird List for the Mesia side. 

Ebird List for Balsa de Regidor. 

Ebird List for Moraleda Crags.

Ebird List for the Pines.

Ebird List for the Cacín Bridge.

Ebird List for the Contra-embalse de Bermejalis.

Ebird List for the Cacín Gorge.

Ebird List for El Temple.

Little Bustards (Sisón Común / Tetrax tetrax).

I met up with Pamela and Taber and we started the day with a visit to the fields near Huétor Tajar where we had views of 12 Little Bustards (Sisón Común / Tetrax tetrax) and around 35 Eurasian Stone Curlews (Alcaraván Común / Burhinus oedicnemus) on the nearest ploughed strip along with 40 odd Northern Lapwing (Avefria Europea / Vanellus vanellus), Eurasian Collared Dove (Tórtola Turca / Streptopelia decaocto), Crested Lark (Cogujada Común / Galerida cristata), Spotless Starling (Estornino Negro / Sturnus unicolor), Common Blackbird (Mirlo Común / Turdus merula), Black Redstart (Colirrojo Tizón / Phoenicurus ochruros), European Stonechat (Tarabilla Europea / Saxicola rubicola), Meadow Pipit (Bisbita Pratense / Anthus pratensis) and White Wagtail (Lavandera Blanca / Montacilla alba).

Eurasian Stone Curlews (Alcaraván Común / Burhinus oedicnemus).

Crested Lark (Cogujada Común / Galerida cristata).

Just as we were about to move off I checked the far fields and counted more Stone Curlews and when I had finished the total was well over 200, we moved just up the road and scanned the Lucerne Fields without crossing the Arroyo as I got into a bit of a mess on the Friday.

Western Cattle Egret (Garcilla Bueyera / Bubulcus ibis).

From here we added Common Buzzard (Busardo Ratonero / Buteo buteo), a Little Owl (Mochuelo Europeo / Athene noctua) sat in it's usual spot on the Cortijo wall, Eurasian Magpie (Urraca Común / Pica pica), Common Chiffchaff (Mosquitero Común / Phylloscopus collybita), Cetti's Warbler (Cetia Ruiseñor / Cettia cetti), Grey Wagtail (Lavandera Cascadena / Motacilla cinerea), Common Chaffinch (Pinzón Vulgar / Fringilla coelebs), European Goldfinch (Jilguero Europeo / Carduelis carduelis), European Greenfinch (Verderón Común / Chloris chloris), European Serin (Serin Verdecillo / Serinus serinus) and Corn Bunting (Escribano Triguero / Emberiza calandra).

Common Pochard (Porrón Europeo / Aythya ferina).

We went down into Huétor and then out on the Mesia road making a quick stop at the irrigation channels seeing Common Kestrel (Cernicalo Vulgar / Falco tinnunculus), another Common Buzzard, Zitting Cisticola (Cistícola Buitrón / Cisticola juncidis), Common Waxbill (Estrilda Ondulada / Estrilda astrild), Eurasian Blackcap (Curruca Capirotada / Curruca capirotada) and 2x Eurasian Tree Sparrows (Gorrión Molinero / Passer montanus).

A disappearing Peregrine Falcon (Halcón Peregrino / Falco peregrinus).

Our next stop was along side the A92 at Balsa de Regidor where we saw good numbers of Common Pochard (Porrón Europeo / Aythya ferina) along with Mallard (Anade Azulón / Anas platyrhynchos), Northern Shoveler (Cuchara Común / Spatula clypeata), Common Moorhen (Gallineta Común / Gallinulas chloropus), Eurasian Coot (Focha Común / Fulica atra), Little Grebe (Zampullín Común / Tachybaptus ruficollis), European Robin (Petirrojo Europeo / Erithacus rubecula), a single Western Cattle Egrets (Garcilla Bueyera / Bubulcus ibis) which turned into a roost of nearly 60 birds as we watched them arrive but the most surprising bird was a single Red-rumped Swallow (Golondrina Dáurica / Cecropis daurica) which was a late migrant and more odd was that it disappeared off North ?????

Short-toed Snake Eagle (Culebrera Europeo / Circaetus gallicus).

We moved on again and our next stop was at the cliffs to the south of Moraleda, almost straight away Pamela picked up a  Peregrine Falcon (Halcón Peregrino / Falco peregrinus) but by the time I got the camera on it it was already passed us and off, we also saw and heard Northern Raven (Cuervo grande / Corvus corax), Great (Carbonera Común / Parus major) and Coal Tit  (Carbonero Garrapinos / Periparus ater), Eurasian Crag Martin (Avión Roquero / Ptyonoprogne rupestris), Sardinian Warbler (Curruca Cabecinegra / Curruca melanocephala) and Short-toed Treecreeper (Agateador Europeo / Certhia brachydactyla).

Short-toed Snake Eagle (Culebrera Europeo / Circaetus gallicus).

A bit further along the valley we made a stop in the Pines, just as we arrived at the spot we had a fine looking Eurasian Sparrowhawk (Gavilán Común / Accipiter nisus) sat on the side of the roadside irrigation channel and in the pines and almonds we found a very smart singing Woodlark (Alondra Totovía / Lullula arborea), several Common Crossbill (Piquituerto Común / Loxia curvirostra) and heard several distant Iberian  Magpies (Rabilargo Ibérico / Cyanopica cooki).

Tufted Duck (Porrón Moñudo / Aythya fuligula) Male.

Further along the valley we made a stop near the Dam of the Contra-embalse de Bermejalis and found a late Short-toed Snake Eagle (Culebrera Europeo / Circaetus gallicus), Perez's Frog (Rana Común / Pelophylax perezi), Migrant Hawker (Aeshna mixta) x2, Small White (Pieris rapae) x3 and back by the bridge over the Cacín we managed to find a couple of Redwing (Zorzal Alirrojo / Turdus illacus) and then up at the Embalse which was extremely low we found lots of Eurasian Teal (Cerceta Común / Anas crecca), Common Pochards and Mallards as well as a few Northern Shoverlers and a single male Tufted Duck (Porrón Moñudo / Aythya fuligula) which was probably the returning bird from earlier in the year.

Little Owl (Mochuelo Europeo / Athene noctua).

Little Owl (Mochuelo Europeo / Athene noctua).

In the same area we also had Grey Heron (Garza Real / Ardea cinerea), Great Cormorant (Cormorán Grande / Phalacrocroax carbo), Common Moorhen, Eurasian Coot, Little Grebe, heard but not seen Water Rail (Rascón Europeo / Rallus aquaticus), Black-winged Stilt (Ciguenuela Común / Himantopus himantopus), Common Kingfisher (Martin Pescador Común / Alcedo atthis), Western Marsh Harrier (Aguilucho Lagunero Occidental / Circus aeruginosus), a couple of Song Thrush (Zorzal Común / Turdus philomelos) which crossed the lake and Red Admiral (Vanessa atalanta) x1.

Spanish Sparrow (Gorrión Moruno / Passer hispaniolensis) male.

Spanish Sparrow (Gorrión Moruno / Passer hispaniolensis) male.

Spanish Sparrow (Gorrión Moruno / Passer hispaniolensis) female.

Again we continued on down the valley to the Gorge and then came back up to the Roman Bridge, during this time we saw Spanish Ibex (Cabra montés / Capra pyrenaica hispanica) x6, Rabbit (Conejo / Oryctolagus cuniculus), Western Jackdaw (Grajilla occidental / Corvus monedula), Thekla Lark (Cogujada Montesina / Galerida theklae) and Rock Sparrow (Gorrión Chillón / Petronia petronia) before we returned to Cacín and made our way across to Ventas de Huelma and then out on to the El Temple area.

Iberian Imperial Eagles (Aguila Imperial Ibérica / Aguila adalberti).

As we started to make our way across the area we had a couple of really good sized flocks of  Spanish Sparrow (Gorrión Moruno / Passer hispaniolensis), a couple of Iberian Grey Shrike (Alcaudón Real / Lanius meridionalis), Eurasian Hoopoe (Abubilla Común / Upupa epops), Mistle Thrush (Zorzal Charlo / Turdus viscivorus) and 2 adult Iberian Imperial Eagles (Aguila Imperial Ibérica / Aguila adalberti) which were a great way to finish the day.