Huétor Fields, Granada Province, Spain.

Back on the patch with an unexpected meeting with friend Juan.

Ebird List for the Fields.

 

Sunrise from the terrace.

I did some plumbing work before going out to the car to go down to the fields but after several attempts it wasn't going to start, so I messaged the mechanic's, waited just a few minutes and then one of the daughters was there with a battery starter but it still didn't start.

Desert Orange-tip (Colotis evagore).

A roll down the hill and a bump start was more successful, I then went down to the workshop where they tested the battery and it was fine so not really got a clue what the problem was, so just going to park on a slope and observe for the moment.

Clouded Yellow (Colias croceus).

Anyway I back to the fields near Huétor where I saw 8x Little Bustards (Sisón Común / Tetrax tetrax) and a good number of Eurasian Stone Curlew (Alcaraván Común / Burhinus oedicnemus), after a short while I went up to the usual parking spot and walked up stream along the Arroyo Vilano, on the way I saw lots of European Serins (Serin Verdecillo / Serinus serinus), European Goldfinch (Jilguero Europeo / Carduelis carduelis), Common Chiffchaff (Mosquitero Común / Phylloscopus collybita), Eurasian Blackcap (Curruca Capirotada / Curruca capirotada), Spotless Starling (Estornino Negro / Sturnus unicolor), Song Thrush (Zorzal Común / Turdus philomelos), Common Blackbird (Mirlo Común / Turdus merula), White Wagtail (Lavandera Blanca / Montacilla alba), Mallard (Anade Azulón / Anas platyrhynchos), Large (Pieris brassicae) x2 and Small White (Pieris rapae) x4, Red Admiral (Vanessa atalanta) x1 and a very smart Desert Orange-tip (Colotis evagore) x1M.

Common Cranes (Grulla Común / Grus grus).

Common Cranes (Grulla Común / Grus grus).

I turned around at the dammed off part of the Arroyo and walked back to the car and then onwards around the Lucerne fields, in the distance I could see that the 2 Common Cranes (Grulla Común / Grus grus) were back on the ploughed part of the area along with 60 odd Northern Lapwings (Avefria Europea / Vanellus vanellus).

Northern Lapwings (Avefria Europea / Vanellus vanellus).

Northern Lapwings (Avefria Europea / Vanellus vanellus).

Other species seen included 70 or so Eurasian Skylark (Alondra Común / Alauda arvensis), Little Owl (Mochuelo Europeo / Athene noctua), a male Blue-rock Thrush (Roquero Solitario / Monticola solitarius) on the Cortijo roof, Common Waxbill (Estrilda Ondulada / Estrilda astrild), Grey Wagtail (Lavandera Cascadena / Motacilla cinerea), Meadow Pipit (Bisbita Pratense / Anthus pratensis), Red-veined Darter (Sympetrum fonscolombii) x3M and a couple of Clouded Yellows (Colias croceus) x2M. 

Northern Lapwings (Avefria Europea / Vanellus vanellus).

Northern Lapwings (Avefria Europea / Vanellus vanellus).

As I walked the track between the Arroyo and the Lucerne fields I was surprised to be joined by friend Juan Perez and after having a look at the Cranes we moved to the fields by the town where I had seen the Bustards earlier but by now the model aircraft guys were flying over the area and the Bustards had flushed off somewhere else unfortunately but we did see some more Northern Lapwings and the Stone Curlews before Juan dropped me back near my car and we headed off.