SIERRA de LOJA.

Friday, 13 June 2025

Cambarco, Puerto de San Glorio, Cambarco, Los Llanos, Pido and Fuente de, Cantabria, Spain.

Up high dipping and down low dipping again.
Deb and Ian, Day Fifty.
Ebird List for Vega de Liébana--Puerto de San Glorio. 
Ebird List for Los Llanos. 
Ebird List for Estación Inferior, Fuente Dé. 
 
We started the day with some birding near the accommodation as we heard a calling Middle-spotted Woodpecker (Pico Mediano / Dendrocopos medius) but apart from a very brief fly through we didn't get views. 
As we walked along the lanes just above accommodation we saw and heard Common Woodpigeon (Paloma Torcaz / Columba palumbus), Common Swift (Vencejo Común / Apus apus), Common Buzzard (Busardo Ratonero / Buteo buteo), Griffon Vulture (Bultre Leonado / Gyps fulvus), Great Spotted Woodpecker (Pico Picapinos / Dendrocopos major), Eurasian Jay (Arrendajo Euroasiático / Garrulus glandarius), Carrion Crow (Corneja Negra / Corvus corone), Northern Raven (Cuervo grande / Corvus corax), Marsh (Carbonero Palustre / Poecile palustris), Great (Carbonera Común / Parus major), Coal (Carbonero Garrapinos / Periparus ater) and Eurasian Blue Tit (Herrerillo Común / Cyanistes caeruleus), Barn Swallow (Golondrina Común / Hirundo rustica), Western House Martin (Avión Común Occidental / Delichon urbicum), Eurasian Blackcap (Curruca Capirotada / Curruca capirotada), Eurasian Nuthatch (Trepador Azul / Sitta europaea), Short-toed Treecreeper (Agateador Europeo / Certhia brachydactyla), Eurasian Wren (Chochin paleártico / Troglodytes troglodytes), Song Thrush (Zorzal Común / Turdus philomelos), Common Blackbird (Mirlo Común / Turdus merula), European Robin (Petirrojo Europeo / Erithacus rubecula), Common (Colirroja Real / Phoenicurus phoenicurus) and Black Redstart (Colirrojo Tizón / Phoenicurus ochruros),House Sparrow (Gorrión Común / Passer domesticus), Grey (Lavandera Cascadena / Motacilla cinerea) and White Wagtail (Lavandera Blanca / Montacilla alba), Common Chaffinch (Pinzón Vulgar / Fringilla coelebs), European Goldfinch (Jilguero Europeo / Carduelis carduelis),European Serin (Serin Verdecillo / Serinus serinus) and a male Cirl Bunting (Escribano Soteño / Emberiza cirlus).
Ian scanning the Grasslands.

After the walk we headed out to Puerto de San Glorio where we were hoping to catch up with Citril Finch (Verderón Serrano / Carduelis citrinella) which I have seen there before but we didn't managed to see any today, however we did see plenty of Tree Pipits (Bisbita Arbóreo / Anthus trivialis), Common Quail (Codorniz Común / Coturnix coturnix), Coal TitEuropean RobinDunnock (Acentor Común / Prunella modularis), Eurasian Skylark (Alondra Común / Alauda arvensis), European Stonechat (Tarabilla Europea / Saxicola rubicola), Common Chaffinch  and Yellowhammer (Escribano Cerillo / Emberiza citronella). 
 Dunnock (Acentor Común / Prunella modularis).
Tree Pipit (Bisbita Arbóreo / Anthus trivialis).
Tree Pipit (Bisbita Arbóreo / Anthus trivialis).
Tree Pipit (Bisbita Arbóreo / Anthus trivialis).
Tree Pipit (Bisbita Arbóreo / Anthus trivialis).
In this area we also saw several butterfly species including the local endemic Chapman's Ringlet (Erebia palarica) as well as De Prunner's Ringlet (Erebia triarius), Clouded Yellow (Colias croceus), Bath White (Pontia daplidice), Green Hairstreak (Callophrys rubi), Small Heath (Coenonympha pamphilus), Painted Lady (Vanessa cardui), Small Tortoiseshell (Aglais urticae), Southern Heath Fritillary (Melitaea celadussa), Oberthür's Grizzled Skipper (Pyrgus armoricanus) as well as Chimney Sweeper (Odezia atrata) and 7804 Common Heath (Hypomecis atomaria) moths and as we walked back towards the car a Black-veined White (Aporia crataegi).
Chapman's Ringlet (Erebia palarica).
Chapman's Ringlet (Erebia palarica).
Oberthür's Grizzled Skipper (Pyrgus armoricanus).
Oberthür's Grizzled Skipper (Pyrgus armoricanus).
Meadow Fritillary (Melitaea parthenoides).
Painted Lady (Vanessa cardui).
Painted Lady (Vanessa cardui).
The view to the North from Collado de Llesba.
The Meadow Building.
We drove up to a spot nearby, Collado de Llesba where there were some wonderful views out to the North but we saw nothing new as there were quite a few people about so we dropped back down the hill, we made a roadside to stop above a meadow with a stone built hut in it's center where we saw Pyrenean Eryngo (Eryngium bourgatii), Pyrenean Thistle (Carduus carlinoides), Turquoise Blue (Polyommatus dorylas), Oberthür's Grizzled Skipper and Wall Brown (Lasiommata megera).
Glanville Fritillary (Melitaea cinxia).
Glanville Fritillary (Melitaea cinxia).
Glanville Fritillary (Melitaea cinxia).
Glanville Fritillary (Melitaea cinxia).
Black-veined White (Aporia crataegi).
We returned to the car and then had a short drive over into Castile and León, after just a couple of KMs we parked on the roadside and scanned the large grassy meadows hoping for some Partridges but all we managed to find was an Egyptian Vulture (Alimoche Común / Neophron percnopterus), several Red-billed Chough (Chova Piquirroja / Pyrrhocorax pyrrhocorax) and Turquoise Blue
Turquoise Blue (Polyommatus dorylas).
Lower areas of grassland.
Yellowhammer (Escribano Cerillo / Emberiza citronella).
We dropped down into Llánaves de la Reina and had a coffee in the Hotel San Glorio before returning to Puerto de San Glorio and doing a short walk down the track which followed the roadside flush, here we found  Mountain Sandwort (Arenaria montana), Agimony (Agrimonia eupatoria), Ragged Robin (Lychnis flos-cuculi), Large-flowered Butterwort (Pinguicula grandiflora), Common Bistort (Bistorta officinalis), Small TortoiseshellMeadow Fritillary (Melitaea parthenoides), Tree PipitsGarden Warbler (Curruca Mosquitera / Sylvia borin), European Crested Tit (Herrerillo Capuchino / Lophophanes cristatus) and Yellowhammer.
Arenaria grandiflora.

Pyrenean Thistle (Carduus carlinoides).
Pyrenean Eryngo (Eryngium bourgatii).
 Mountain Sandwort (Arenaria montana).
Oberthür's Grizzled Skipper (Pyrgus armoricanus).
Oberthür's Grizzled Skipper (Pyrgus armoricanus).
Common Bistort (Bistorta officinalis).
We returned to the accommodation where Deb did a nice plate of snack food for a late lunch and then we went back up towards Fuente De giving the Middle-spotted Woodpecker another try, we stopped at Los Llanos and searched the woods there finding White-throated Dipper (Mirlo Acuático Europeo / Cinclus cinclus), Common WoodpigeonCommon BuzzardGrey Wagtail and White WagtailEurasian WrenEurasian Blackcap (Curruca Capirotada / Curruca capirotada), Eurasian NuthatchSong ThrushCommon Blackbird and Common Chaffinch.
A late lunch, not just for me but sharing for the three of us.
As we were walking back to the car Ian found the remains of what looked like a Middle-spotted Woodpecker which had been plucked and mostly eaten, a Eurasian Sparrowhawks (Gavilán Común / Accipiter nisus) meal I suspect.
Song Thrush (Zorzal Común / Turdus philomelos).
Eurasian Jay (Arrendajo Euroasiático / Garrulus glandarius).
Eurasian Jay (Arrendajo Euroasiático / Garrulus glandarius).
After a while we continued on up to the Lower Cable Car station area and checked the Pines in that area but the only species of interest found were Marsh Tit and Eurasian Jay before we headed back to the accommodation.

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