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Friday, 31 January 2025

El Temple, the Cacín Valley, near Moraleda and Balsa de Regidor, Granada Province, Spain.

Out on the fields at the far end of my regular patch and working our way back to the house.
Ebird List for El Temple. 
Ebird List for Contrembalse de Bermejalis.
Ebird List for Balsa de Regidor.

La Maroma.
We set off along the A92 and then into the area called El Temple to the West of Granada City, as we crossed the tracks in the first area we visited we started the day with a great find by Steve in the shape of a group of at least 8 winter plumage Little Bustards (Sisón Común / Tetrax tetrax) which were followed by Eurasian Magpie (Urraca Común / Pica pica), Black Redstart (Colirrojo Tizón / Phoenicurus ochruros), Calandra (Calandria Común / Melanocorypha calandra) and Crested Lark (Cogujada Común / Galerida cristata), Corn Bunting (Escribano Triguero / Emberiza calandra), European Goldfinch (Jilguero Europeo / Carduelis carduelis) and Red-legged Partridge (Perdiz Roja / Alectoris rufa).
Sierra Nevada.
Black-bellied Sandgrouse (Ganga Ortega / Pterocles orientalis).
We made our way across to the nearest road through areas of Cereal, Almonds and Olives and as we drove we saw Common Woodpigeon (Paloma Torcaz / Columba palumbus), Western Jackdaw (Grajilla occidental / Corvus monedula), Eurasian Hoopoe (Abubilla Común / Upupa epops) and Spotless Starling (Estornino Negro / Sturnus unicolor).
Black-bellied Sandgrouse (Ganga Ortega / Pterocles orientalis).
We drove a short way along the central road and then took to another track where we had nice views of around 10 Black-bellied Sandgrouse (Ganga Ortega / Pterocles orientalis), White Wagtail (Lavandera Blanca / Montacilla alba), Common Linnet (Pardillo Común / Linaria cannabina), Common Chaffinch (Pinzón Vulgar / Fringilla coelebs) and European Serin (Serin Verdecillo / Serinus serinus).
We crossed to the far side of the site and did routes along a couple more tracks adding 3x Great Spotted Cuckoo (Crialo Europeo / Clamator gladarius), Common Buzzard (Busardo Ratonero / Buteo buteo), European Stonechat (Tarabilla Europea / Saxicola rubicola), Spanish Sparrow (Gorrión Moruno / Passer hispaniolensis), Eurasian Blackcap (Curruca Capirotada / Curruca capirotada), Common Chiffchaff (Mosquitero Común / Phylloscopus collybita), Eurasian Collared Dove (Tórtola Turca / Streptopelia decaocto) and 2x Long-eared Owl (Búho Chico / Asio otus) which we found whilst searching for the Cuckoo's.
Black-bellied Sandgrouse (Ganga Ortega / Pterocles orientalis).
Around El Temple we also saw Bath White (Pontia daplidice) x2, Clouded Yellow (Colias croceus) x4, Painted Lady (Vanessa cardui) and Rabbit (Conejo / Oryctolagus cuniculus).
Western Marsh Harriers (Aguilucho Lagunero Occidental / Circus aeruginosus).
Our next stop was at the bar in Ventas de Huelma where we had a coffee before heading to a view point on the road towards the village of Cacin where we only picked up a single Eurasian Sparrowhawk (Gavilán Común / Accipiter nisus) before we dropped down into the valley and then up to the Contraembalse de Bermejalis where we parked and scanned the lake finding Eurasian Teal (Cerceta Común / Anas crecca), Eurasian Coot (Focha Común / Fulica atra), Common Moorhen (Gallineta Común / Gallinulas chloropus), Little Grebe (Zampullín Común / Tachybaptus ruficollis), Great Cormorant (Cormorán Grande / Phalacrocroax carbo) and Green Sandpiper (Andarrios Grande / Tringa ochropus) on the water.
Western Marsh Harriers (Aguilucho Lagunero Occidental / Circus aeruginosus).
In the air we watched 4x Western Marsh Harriers (Aguilucho Lagunero Occidental / Circus aeruginosus) as well as a fine looking Northern Goshawk (Azor Común / Accipitor gentillis) which disappeared off down the valley.
Northern Goshawk (Azor Común / Accipitor gentillis).
Other species seen included Little Owl (Mochuelo Europeo / Athene noctua) which was heard in the trees opposite, Common Kestrel (Cernicalo Vulgar / Falco tinnunculus) and around by the dam Mistle Thrush (Zorzal Charlo / Turdus viscivorus), European Robin (Petirrojo Europeo / Erithacus rubecula), Sardinian Warbler (Curruca Cabecinegra / Curruca melanocephala), Grey Wagtail (Lavandera Cascadena / Motacilla cinerea) and a Common Firecrest (Reyezuelo Listado / Regulus ignicapilla).
Northern Goshawk (Azor Común / Accipitor gentillis).
We moved a little further up the Valley and checked some pines but didn't add anything new so we moved on up to the area near Moraleda but again added nothing new so we finished the day off at Balsa de Regidor where we found good numbers of both Common Pochard (Porrón Europeo / Aythya ferina) and Northern Shovelers (Cuchara Común / Spatula clypeata) and a single Andalucian Wall Lizard (Podarcis vaucheri) but there was nothing else new so we headed back to the house and chilled with a very nice meal.

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