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

Out birding with friend Derek Etherton and Bob Kelly from America. 

Ebird List for Huétor Fields.

Ebird List for El Temple.

Ebird List for Rio Cacín.

Ebird List for Contraembalse de Bermejalis.

Ebird List for Moraleda Crags.

Ebird List for Huétor Fields.

 

I met Derek and Bob at Combustibles Gómez where we had some breakfast before heading around to the Fields where our main target was the Little Bustards (Sisón Común / Tetrax tetrax) and soon after arriving we were watching 9 birds which included 3 very smart male birds, a lifer for Bob.

Whilst there we also had Mallard (Anade Azulón / Anas platyrhynchos), Common Woodpigeon (Paloma Torcaz / Columba palumbus), Eurasian Magpie (Urraca Común / Pica pica), 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), Spanish (Yellow) (Lavandera Boyera / Motacilla flava iberiae) and White Wagtail (Lavandera Blanca / Montacilla alba), Eurasian Tree Sparrow (Gorrión Molinero / Passer montanus), Common Chaffinch (Pinzón Vulgar / Fringilla coelebs), European Serin (Serin Verdecillo / Serinus serinus), House Sparrow (Gorrión Común / Passer domesticus), Common Waxbill (Estrilda Ondulada / Estrilda astrild) and Corn Bunting (Escribano Triguero / Emberiza calandra).

We returned to my car which we then dropped off at the mechanic's for some jobs and continued on along the A92 towards Granada and then out to the El Temple area, on the way we picked up Common Buzzard (Busardo Ratonero / Buteo buteo), Barn Swallow (Golondrina Común / Hirundo rustica) and Eurasian Collared Dove (Tórtola Turca / Streptopelia decaocto).

Out on the fields of El Temple we picked up a couple of Great Spotted Cuckoo (Crialo Europeo / Clamator gladarius) but unfortunately it was a brief view as they were flushed by the local Eurasian Magpie.

At the first stop over looking the fields we saw Common Woodpigeon (Paloma Torcaz / Columba palumbus), Western Marsh Harrier (Aguilucho Lagunero Occidental / Circus aeruginosus), Song Thrush (Zorzal Común / Turdus philomelos), Eurasian Blackcap (Curruca Capirotada / Curruca capirotada), Eurasian Skylark (Alondra Común / Alauda arvensis), Crested (Cogujada Común / Galerida cristata) and Calandra Larks (Calandria Común / Melanocorypha calandra), Corn Bunting, Spotless Starling (Estornino Negro / Sturnus unicolor), European Goldfinch (Jilguero Europeo / Carduelis carduelis) and European Greenfinch (Verderón Común / Chloris chloris).

We moved on and crossed the fields to the minor road through the site, on the way we had another male Little Bustard, Western Jackdaw (Grajilla occidental / Corvus monedula), Common Kestrel (Cernicalo Vulgar / Falco tinnunculus), Eurasian Stone Curlew (Alcaraván Común / Burhinus oedicnemus) and Common Chaffinch (Pinzón Vulgar / Fringilla coelebs).

After reaching the road we tried to visit another part of the area and took another track but this turned out to be a mistake as it was soon obvious that the mud on the track was more like ice and we were soon stuck, Bob and I got out and did some pushing and with some good maneuvering by Derek from the drivers seat we eventually made it back to the road but during the pushing I felt a nasty crack in my right calf and the pain was not good and only got worse as the afternoon went on.

We pushed on and picked up Iberian Grey Shrike (Alcaudón Real / Lanius meridionalis), Common Chiffchaff (Mosquitero Común / Phylloscopus collybita) and Common Linnet (Pardillo Común / Linaria cannabina).

Instead of cutting across El Temple on the tracks we decided that it was a better option to go to La Malaha and then back along the far side of the area to Ventas de Huelma and on to Cacín, on the way around we made a brief stop at a view point near Cortijo Ochíchar where we heard Thekla's Lark (Cogujada Montesina / Galerida theklae) before we dropped down to the Rio Cacín just outside the village, here we added Great Spotted Woodpecker (Pico Picapinos / Dendrocopos major), Cetti's Warbler (Cetia Ruiseñor / Cettia cetti), Eurasian Blackcap, Mallard and Song Thrush.

We went further up the valley to the Contraembalse de Bermejalis which was still quite low and there weren't many birds there but we did see another 4 Western Marsh Harrier, Eurasian Coot (Focha Común / Fulica atra), Mallard (Anade Azulón / Anas platyrhynchos), Common Pochard (Porrón Europeo / Aythya ferina), Northern Shoveler (Cuchara Común / Spatula clypeata), Little Grebe (Zampullín Común / Tachybaptus ruficollis), Great Cormorant (Cormorán Grande / Phalacrocroax carbo), Barn and  Red-rumped Swallows (Golondrina Dáurica / Cecropis daurica), Western House Martin (Avión Común Occidental / Delichon urbicum), European Stonechat, European Serin and White Wagtail.

Around at the pine woodlands near the Dam we saw Coal Tit  (Carbonero Garrapinos / Periparus ater), Common Firecrest (Reyezuelo Listado / Regulus ignicapilla), Short-toed Treecreeper (Agateador Europeo / Certhia brachydactyla) and just as we were leaving we had a very smart male Grey Wagtail (Lavandera Cascadena / Motacilla cinerea).
We continued on towards El Turro adding Red-legged Partridge (Perdiz Roja / Alectoris rufa) before we reached the Crags near Moraleda, we made two stops adding Black Wheatear (Collalba Negra / Oenanthe leucura), Blue-rock Thrush (Roquero Solitario / Monticola solitarius), Western House and Eurasian Crag Martin (Avión Roquero / Ptyonoprogne rupestris), Short-toed Snake Eagle (Culebrera Europeo / Circaetus gallicus), Common Buzzard, Common Kestrel, Mistle Thrush (Zorzal Charlo / Turdus viscivorus), Sardinian Warbler (Curruca Cabecinegra / Curruca melanocephala), Rabbit (Conejo / Oryctolagus cuniculus), Clouded Yellow (Colias croceus) x3, Small White (Pieris rapae) x7 and Western Dappled White (Euchloe crameri) x3.

Our last stop of the day was going to be back on the fields at Huétor where we hoped to get the Bustards in the Scope for Bob but the rain returned and the birds had moved so we only found a single female.

Other species included Little Owl (Mochuelo Europeo / Athene noctua), Iberian  Magpie (Rabilargo Ibérico / Cyanopica cooki), Common Waxbill, Eurasian Tree Sparrow (Gorrión Molinero / Passer montanus), Spanish (Yellow) Wagtail (Lavandera Boyera / Motacilla flava iberiae), Meadow Pipit and Black Redstart.

Derek and Bob dropped me back home and then they headed back down to Malaga after a fairly successful day even though it was very wet.