A days birding with Dougy and Greg out on the patch.
Ebird List for El Temple.
Ebird List for Ventas de Huelma.
Ebird List for Contraembalse de los Bermejales.
Ebird List for Camino del Turro al Castillo.
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| Booted Eagle (Aguila Calzada / Aquila penntuas). |
Dougy and Greg came up to the house from their hotel near Loja and after having a chat we headed down onto the Fields where we started the day list off with
Black-winged Kite (Elanio Común / Elanus caeruleus), Montagu's Harrier (Aguilucho Cenizo / Circus pygargus), Eurasian Collared Dove (Tórtola Turca / Streptopelia decaocto),
Common Woodpigeon (Paloma Torcaz / Columba palumbus),
Barn Swallow (Golondrina Común / Hirundo rustica),
Eurasian Magpie (Urraca Común / Pica pica),
Common Blackbird (Mirlo Común / Turdus merula),
Common Nightingale (Ruisenor Común / Luscinia megarhynchos), Sardinian (Curruca Cabecinegra / Curruca melanocephala) and
Cetti's Warbler (Cetia Ruiseñor / Cettia cetti),
Zitting Cisticola (Cistícola Buitrón / Cisticola juncidis), Spanish (Yellow) Wagtail (Lavandera Boyera / Motacilla flava iberiae),
Crested Lark (Cogujada Común / Galerida cristata) and
Corn Bunting (Escribano Triguero / Emberiza calandra).
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| Great Spotted Cuckoos (Crialo Europeo / Clamator gladarius). |
We moved on and headed out along the A92 and then on to the area called El Temple, on the first track we heard
Common Nightingale and then a little further on the first of several Great Spotted Cuckoos (Crialo Europeo / Clamator gladarius) which showed well and were incredibly noisy and a single call from a male
Little Bustard (Sisón Común / Tetrax tetrax).
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| Great Spotted Cuckoos (Crialo Europeo / Clamator gladarius). |
We dropped down to a track across to the road through the site where we saw several
Calandra Larks (Calandria Común / Melanocorypha calandra),
Eurasian Stone Curlew (Alcaraván Común / Burhinus oedicnemus)
, Zitting Cisticola (Cistícola Buitrón / Cisticola juncidis), Common Linnet (Pardillo Común / Linaria cannabina), Western Jackdaw (Grajilla occidental / Corvus monedula),
Eurasian Magpie and as we stood there we heard a call that at first sounded like a
Northern Raven (Cuervo grande / Corvus corax) but I soon realised that it was actually an adult
Iberian Imperial Eagle (Aguila Imperial Ibérica / Aguila adalberti) seeing off an immature bird which landed briefly on a pylon before heading off.
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| Great Spotted Cuckoos (Crialo Europeo / Clamator gladarius). |
We reached the road and followed it for a short way before parking on one of the tracks on the other side and scanned the fields again, I heard a calling
Little Bustard again and the Dougy found it in a row of Pink/Purple
Moricandia moricandioides.
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| Eurasian Hoopoe (Abubilla Común / Upupa epops). |
We continued on along these tracks adding Iberian Green Woodpecker (Pito ibérico / Picus sharpei), Red-rumped Swallow (Golondrina Dáurica / Cecropis daurica), Northern Wheatear (Collalba Gris / Oenanthe oenanthe), Spanish (Yellow) Wagtail (Lavandera Boyera / Motacilla flava iberiae), Common Linnet (Pardillo Común / Linaria cannabina) and Common Buzzard (Busardo Ratonero / Buteo buteo).
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| Corn Bunting (Escribano Triguero / Emberiza calandra). |
We went into Ventas de Huelma where we went into Bernardo Restaurante for a drink and to get a sandwich to take away with us, we again went on toward Cacín but soon stopped when we had a pale morph
Booted Eagle (Aguila Calzada / Aquila penntuas) circling over the road, as we watched this Dougy heard a calling Eurasian Scops Owl (Autillo Europeo / Otus scops) which was a year tick for me along with
Western Bonelli's (Mosquitero Papialbo / Phylloscopus bonelli) and Sardinian Warbler and
Common Nightingale. |
| Western Dappled White (Euchloe crameri). |
A little further on we stopped at the Arroyo de los Frailes where we had a couple of European Turtle Doves (Tórtola Europea / Streptopelia turtur)
fly through before we went half way through the Solar Desert where we stopped at Cortijo Ochíchar picking up
Synthymia fixa (Goldwing), Western Dappled White (Euchloe crameri),
Painted Lady (Vanessa cardui),
Clouded Yellow (Colias croceus) and
Thekla's Lark (Cogujada Montesina / Galerida theklae) which we heard several times.
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| European Bee-eaters (Abejaruco Europeo / Merops apiaster). |
We dropped down into the Cacín Valley and then on up to the Contraembalse de Bermejalis, on the way we stopped to check some birds on the roadside wires, we had
European Bee-eaters (Abejaruco Europeo / Merops apiaster),
Mistle Thrush (Zorzal Charlo / Turdus viscivorus) and most surprising was a pair of late Eurasian Siskins (Jilguero Lúgano / Carduelis spinus) sat between the
Bee-eaters and
Thrushes.
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| Yellow Bee Orchid (Ophrys lutea). |
We parked at the Embalse and spent quiet a while scanning the lake and ridges, in the air, on the remaining water and around the margins we saw 8x
Western Marsh Harriers (Aguilucho Lagunero Occidental / Circus aeruginosus) 5 males and 3 females which is the biggest number I have ever seen at this site, a pair of
Booted Eagles, 3x Common Buzzards (Busardo Ratonero / Buteo buteo), an immature Golden Eagle (Águila Real / Aquila chrysaetos),
Common Kestrel (Cernicalo Vulgar / Falco tinnunculus), Mallard (Anade Azulón / Anas platyrhynchos),
Common Pochard (Porrón Europeo / Aythya ferina),
Common Moorhen (Gallineta Común / Gallinulas chloropus),
Eurasian Coot (Focha Común / Fulica atra),
Water Rail (Rascón Europeo / Rallus aquaticus),
Green Sandpiper (Andarrios Grande / Tringa ochropus),
European Bee-eater (Abejaruco Europeo / Merops apiaster),
Red-rumped Swallow,
Cetti's,
Common Reed Warbler (Carricero Común / Acrocephalus scrpaceus),
Perez's Frog (Rana Común / Pelophylax perezi), Stripe-necked Terrapin (Mauremys leprosa), Yellow Bee (Ophrys lutea) and
Mirror Orchid (Ophrys speculum),
Crown Daisy (Chrysanthemum carinatum),
Corn Poppy (Papaver rhoeas), Eruca (Eruca sativa),
Wild Mignonette (Reseda lutea), Wild Clary (Salvia verbenaca),
Western Dappled and
Small White (
Pieris rapae).
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| Sawfly Orchid (Ophrys tenthredinifera). |
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| Bonelli's Eagle (Aguila Perdicera / Aquila faciatus). |
We continued on up the valley to the spot in the Pines where I stop often and it paid off as we picked up our 4th
Eagle species when a
Bonelli's Eagle (Aguila Perdicera / Aquila faciatus) flew in, we also saw and heard Coal Tit (Carbonero Garrapinos / Periparus ater),
Short-toed Treecreeper (Agateador Europeo / Certhia brachydactyla),
Iberian Magpie (Rabilargo Ibérico / Cyanopica cooki) and
Sawfly Orchid (Ophrys tenthredinifera).
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| 5611 Synaphe Moldavica. |
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| Roemeria hybrida. |
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| Roemeria sicula. |
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| Iberian Grey Shrike (Alcaudón Real / Lanius meridionalis). |
From the woods we headed up through El Turro and out on to the fields near there, as we drove the tracks finding a 2nd CY male
Merlin (Esmerejón / Falco columbarius), Greater Short-toed Lark (Terrera Común / Calandrella brachydactyla),
Common Quail,
Common Woodpigeon (Paloma Torcaz / Columba palumbus),
Iberian Grey Shrike (Alcaudón Real / Lanius meridionalis),
Synaphe Moldavica,
Roemeria hybrida,
Roemeria sicula,
Long-headed (Papaver dubium) and Corn Poppy, Linaria hirta and on an abandoned area near one of the Solar areas lots of Yellow Bee,
Mirror,
Sawfly,
Fan-lipped (
Anacamptis collina), 3 spikes of
Pink Butterfly Orchid (Orchis papilionacea) and a large Ocellated Lizard (Timon lepidus).
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| European Bee-eater (Abejaruco Europeo / Merops apiaster). |
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| European Bee-eater (Abejaruco Europeo / Merops apiaster). |
On our way off the site we came across a group of European Bee-eaters just before we reached a really nice little spot for some uncommon Orchids for the area, we found more Yellow Bee,
Mirror,
Sawfly,
Fan-lipped along with a few spike of the beautiful
Dark Spider Orchid (Ophrys incubacea) and many Bumble-bee (Ophrys bombyliflora).
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| Yellow Bee Orchid (Ophrys lutea). |
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| Mirror Orchid (Ophrys speculum). |
On a sadder note we found that around 80 or so spikes of the
Bumble-bee Orchids had been crushed, Lay on or trampled by earlier visitors who didn't show the care that they should have when visiting such important local sites, a great shame.
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| Dark Spider Orchid (Ophrys incubacea). |
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| Dark Spider Orchid (Ophrys incubacea). |
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| Bumble-bee Orchid (Ophrys bombyliflora). |
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| A small part of the damage done to the site, a shame. It's difficult to show it in a photo. |
We headed back to the house and then Dougy and Greg headed off to their hotel after what had been a very enjoyable day.
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| An approaching storm from the terrace at home. |
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