A second day with Lynn and Steve but with a change of plan due to the weather.
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Looking up the channel at Bermejalis.
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I started the day with a quick visit to the Fields, I parked at the usual spot and spent a while scanning the Lucerne which was growing quickly still and making counting the
Little Bustards (Sisón Común / Tetrax tetrax) difficult but I managed to see at least 9 necks above the crop. |
Looking down towards the Embalse.
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Also in the area were Spotless Starling (Estornino Negro / Sturnus unicolor),
Common Woodpigeon (Paloma Torcaz / Columba palumbus),
Eurasian Collared Dove (Tórtola Turca / Streptopelia decaocto),
Cetti's Warbler (Cetia Ruiseñor / Cettia cetti),
Spanish (Yellow) (Lavandera Boyera / Motacilla flava iberiae) and
White Wagtail (Lavandera Blanca / Montacilla alba),
Common Reed Warbler (Carricero Común / Acrocephalus scrpaceus),
European Pied Flycatcher (Papamoscas Cerrojillo / Ficedula hypoleuca), Crested Lark (Cogujada Común / Galerida cristata),
European Goldfinch (Jilguero Europeo / Carduelis carduelis),
European Serin (Serin Verdecillo / Serinus serinus),
Zitting Cisticola (Cistícola Buitrón / Cisticola juncidis), Western House Martin (Avión Común Occidental / Delichon urbicum),
Western Jackdaw (Grajilla occidental / Corvus monedula) and a less expected
Tree Pipit (Bisbita Arbóreo / Anthus trivialis).
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| Common Crossbill (Piquituerto Común / Loxia curvirostra). |
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| Common Crossbill (Piquituerto Común / Loxia curvirostra). |
I dropped down to Huétor and waited on the Municipal car park for Lynn and Steve and whist there added
Grey Heron (Garza Real / Ardea cinerea), Common Whitethroat (Curruca Zarcera / Sylvia communis) and Willow Warbler (Mosquitero Musical / Phylloscopus trochillus).
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| Desert Darter (Sympetrum sinaiticum) male. |
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| Desert Darter (Sympetrum sinaiticum) male. |
Lynn and Steve arrived and we drove over to Moraleda and then South to the Embalse de Bermejalis, we had planned to go around the Embalse and into the Parque Natural de Sierras de Tejeda area but as there was quite a lot of grey heavy looking cloud about we stopped at the inflow channel on the North Shore.
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| Desert Darter (Sympetrum sinaiticum) male. |
We parked and walked down the side of the water channel which I was surprised to see had a flow on it, as we walked we saw teneral
Orange-winged Dropwing (Trithemis kirbyi) and Epaulet Skimmer (Orthetrum chrysostigma) which were sitting well so I decided to walk back to the car and get my macro camera as well. |
| Epaulet Skimmer (Orthetrum chrysostigma) Female. |
Just as I reached the car a couple of male Common Crossbills (Piquituerto Común / Loxia curvirostra) flew over calling and landed in a nearby tree, they were very well behaved and allowed me to get a few shot and sat long enough for Steve to get around from the other side of the channel and also take some pictures. |
| Epaulet Skimmer (Orthetrum chrysostigma) Male. |
We returned to the far side of the channel and walked further down towards the water which was quite a way out, on the way we saw the first of several Desert Darters (Sympetrum sinaiticum), Red-veined Darter (Sympetrum fonscolombii) x4, Violet Dropwing (Trithemis annulata), a single Blue / Common Emperor (Anax imperator), Keeled Skimmer (Orthetrum coerulescens), False Mallow / Mallow Skipper (Carcharodus tripolina / alceae) and Sage Skipper (Muschampia proto), Small White (Pieris rapae), Southern (Polyommatus celina) and Lang's Short-tailed Blue (Leptotes pirithous).
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| Red-veined Darter (Sympetrum fonscolombii). |
Birds included Eurasian Blue Tit (Herrerillo Común / Cyanistes caeruleus), Common Woodpigeon,
Common Chaffinch (Pinzón Vulgar / Fringilla coelebs), Grey Wagtail (Lavandera Cascadena / Motacilla cinerea) and a calling
Cirl Bunting (Escribano Soteño / Emberiza cirlus).
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| Violet Dropwing (Trithemis annulata). |
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| Orange-winged Dropwing (Trithemis kirbyi). |
We dropped down into the last section of the channel and spent a good while searching for new species finding
Iberian Bluetail (Ischnura graellsii), Scarlet Darter (Crocothemis erythraea), a fly through Southern Hawker (Aeshna cyanea), Adonis Blue (Lysandra bellargus), along the bank above us a fast flying Cardinal Fritillary (Argynnis pandora),
Perez's Frog (Rana Común / Pelophylax perezi) and a Viperine Snake (Culebra Viperina / Natrix maura). |
| Red-veined Darter (Sympetrum fonscolombii). |
We followed the stream down towards the main body of water, new species were
Grey Heron, Common Sandpiper (Andarrios Chico / Actitis hypoleucos) and
Common Blue Damselfly (Enallagma cyathinerum) before we turned around and walked back towards the car, Lynn and I got there first and Steve got there a short while later after seeing a Vagrant Emperor (Anax ephippiger) on his way back.
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| Sage Skipper (Muschampia proto). |
Lynn and I had found a Dragon hanging on the far wall of the Channel which Steve quickly Identified on his return as a
Western Spectre (Boyeria Irene).
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| Adonis Blue (Lysandra bellargus). |
We moved on and started to make our way North along the Cacín Valley, our first of several stops was above the gorge of the Cacín where we had some lunch and added
Western House Martin,
Red-rumped (Golondrina Dáurica / Cecropis daurica) and
Barn Swallow (Golondrina Común / Hirundo rustica),
Blue-rock Thrush (Roquero Solitario / Monticola solitarius), Common Redstart (Colirroja Real / Phoenicurus phoenicurus), Common Linnet (Pardillo Común / Linaria cannabina), Eurasian Crag Martin (Avión Roquero / Ptyonoprogne rupestris),
Large White (Pieris brassicae) and a female Vagrant Emperor which did several flybys.
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| Southern Blue (Polyommatus celina). |
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| Southern Blue (Polyommatus celina). |
We again continued on and stopped on the far side of the Roman bridge where we saw several
Desert Orange-tips (Colotis evagore) around the plentiful
Wild Caper (Capparis spinosa) plants,
Sardinian (Curruca Cabecinegra / Curruca melanocephala) and
Cetti's Warbler (Cetia Ruiseñor / Cettia cetti) HO,
Western House Martin,
Red-rumped Swallow,
Eurasian Jay (Arrendajo Euroasiático / Garrulus glandarius),
Great Tit (Carbonera Común / Parus major), European Greenfinch (Verderón Común / Chloris chloris) and
Eurasian Blackcap (Curruca Capirotada / Curruca capirotada).
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| Keeled Skimmer (Orthetrum coerulescens) female. |
Our next stop was at the Contra Embalse de Bermejalis where after parking we scanned the lake seeing large numbers of
Mallard (Anade Azulón / Anas platyrhynchos) 150 or so,
Common Pochard (Porrón Europeo / Aythya ferina),
Northern Shoveler (Cuchara Común / Spatula clypeata), Eurasian Teal (Cerceta Común / Anas crecca),
Little Grebe (Zampullín Común /
Tachybaptus ruficollis), Eurasian Coot (Focha Común / Fulica atra),
Common Moorhen (Gallineta Común / Gallinulas chloropus), at least 6
Green Sandpiper (Andarrios Grande / Tringa ochropus), 22x
Black-winged Stilt (Ciguenuela Común / Himantopus himantopus), Sand (Avión Zapador / Riparia riparia) and
Western House Martin,
Red-rumped and
Barn Swallow,
Common Reed Warbler,
Grey Heron and calling
Water Rail (Rascón Europeo / Rallus aquaticus).
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| Western Spectre (Boyeria Irene). |
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Photographing the Spectre.
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Just up the road we checked the main irrigation channel as it comes out from the Dam seeing just
Desert Orange-tips,
Common Crossbills, Spotted Flycatcher (Papamoscas Gris / Muscicapa striata) and
Short-toed Treecreeper (Agateador Europeo / Certhia brachydactyla).
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| Desert Orange-tip (Colotis evagore). |
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| Desert Orange-tip (Colotis evagore). |
Our final stop of the day was at the very low / green looking Balsa de Regidor which was disappointing dragonfly wise as we only saw a single
Violet Dropwing and a couple of Lesser Emperors (Anax parthenope). |
| Black-winged Stilts (Ciguenuela Común / Himantopus himantopus). |
Bird wise it wasn't much better with just 35 or so Western Cattle Egrets (Garcilla Bueyera / Bubulcus ibis), 1x
Common and 3x
Green Sandpiper,
Little Ringed Plover (Chorlitejo Chico / Charadrius dubius), 1x
Black-winged Stilt and
Western Subalpine Warbler (Curruca Carrasqueña Occidental / Curruca iberiae) as well as
Stripe-necked Terrapin (Mauremys leprosa) before we returned to Huétor.
