Huétor Fields, Balsa de Regidor and Sierra Nevada, Granada Province, Spain.

A morning on the Patch with a surprise find.

Deb and I an, Day Thirty Six.

Ebird List for the Fields.

Ebird List for Sierra Nevada. 

 

We started the day with Breakfast up on the Terrace and then we popped down onto the fields for a walk, we parked and went a short way up stream along the mostly dry Arroyo but eventually the dry thistles made the track difficult so we turned around and headed back to the car.

Little Bustard (Sisón Común / Tetrax tetrax).

Along the Arroyo we saw Mallard (Anade Azulón / Anas platyrhynchos), Eurasian Collared Dove (Tórtola Turca / Streptopelia decaocto), Common Woodpigeon (Paloma Torcaz / Columba palumbus), 3x Little Owl (Mochuelo Europeo / Athene noctua), Common Kestrel (Cernicalo Vulgar / Falco tinnunculus), Eurasian Magpie (Urraca Común / Pica pica), Common Swift (Vencejo Común / Apus apus), Western House Martin (Avión Común Occidental / Delichon urbicum), Red-rumped (Golondrina Dáurica / Cecropis daurica) and Barn Swallow (Golondrina Común / Hirundo rustica), Spotless Starling (Estornino Negro / Sturnus unicolor), Sardinian Warbler (Curruca Cabecinegra / Curruca melanocephala), Common Nightingale (Ruisenor Común / Luscinia megarhynchos), Common Blackbird (Mirlo Común / Turdus merula), Zitting Cisticola (Cistícola Buitrón / Cisticola juncidis), Crested Lark (Cogujada Común / Galerida cristata), European Serin (Serin Verdecillo / Serinus serinus), Common Linnet (Pardillo Común / Linaria cannabina), European Goldfinch (Jilguero Europeo / Carduelis carduelis), European Greenfinch (Verderón Común / Chloris chloris) and Corn Bunting (Escribano Triguero / Emberiza calandra).

Little Owl (Mochuelo Europeo / Athene noctua).

We continued on past the car and walked the track between the Lucerne fields and the Arroyo, on the way we saw the calling male Little Bustard (Sisón Común / Tetrax tetrax), Black-winged Kite (Elanio Común / Elanus caeruleus) x2, Spanish (Yellow) Wagtail (Lavandera Boyera / Motacilla flava iberiae), European Stonechat (Tarabilla Europea / Saxicola rubicola), Small White (Pieris rapae), Painted Lady (Vanessa cardui) and Clouded Yellow (Colias croceus).

Red-veined Darter (Sympetrum fonscolombii).

Our next stop was for Coffee in Bar El Cruse near Moraleada and we then continued on to Balsa de Regidor where we scanned the pool seeing Mallard, Common Pochard (Porrón Europeo / Aythya ferina), Little Grebe (Zampullín Común / Tachybaptus ruficollis), Common Moorhen (Gallineta Común / Gallinulas chloropus), Common Buzzard (Busardo Ratonero / Buteo buteo), European Turtle Dove (Tórtola Europea / Streptopelia turtur), Cetti's Warbler (Cetia Ruiseñor / Cettia cetti), Eurasian Golden Oriole (Oropéndola Europea / Oriolus oriolus) and Eurasian Hoopoe (Abubilla Común / Upupa epops).

Small Red-eye (Erythromma viridulum).

Around the margin's we saw several Dragonfly species including Iberian Bluetail (Ischnura graellsii), Common Blue Damselfly (Enallagma cyathinerum), Blue / Common (Anax imperator) and Lesser Emperor (Anax parthenope), Black-tailed Skimmer (Orthetrum cancellatum) and Red-veined Darter (Sympetrum fonscolombii).

Dark Spreadwings (Lestes macrostigma).

Dark Spreadwings (Lestes macrostigma).

Dark Spreadwings (Lestes macrostigma).

Dark Spreadwings (Lestes macrostigma).

We got through the scrub to the concrete pier where we added Small Red-eye (Erythromma viridulum) and then found a bit of a surprising species, we saw a good number of Dark Spreadwings (Lestes macrostigma) with around 30 being seen.

We also had Perez's Frog (Rana Común / Pelophylax perezi) and Stripe-necked Terrapin (Mauremys leprosa).

We popped back to the house and then went down town to do some shopping and chores, later we went back to the house and chilled. 

Later in the day we headed off to Granada where we were hoping to visit a site near the Alhambra for European Nightjar (Chotacabras Europeo / Caprimulgus europaeus) but when we neared the site we found the road was blocked so we headed for another area higher up in the Sierra Nevada.

Clouds forming above Valeta.

Once parked we waited and listened seeing and hearing Common Cuckoo (Cuco Común / Cuculus canorus), Western Bonelli's Warbler (Mosquitero Papialbo / Phylloscopus bonelli), Eurasian Wren (Chochin paleártico / Troglodytes troglodytes), European Robin (Petirrojo Europeo / Erithacus rubecula), Common Chaffinch (Pinzón Vulgar / Fringilla coelebs), European Serin (Serin Verdecillo / Serinus serinus) and then as dusk arrived we heard at least 3 Eurasian Scops Owls (Autillo Europeo / Otus scops) but we didn't manage to see any but the European Nightjars which were also calling all around us did show on at least four occasions before we headed back to the house.