Embalse Santillana and parking area at La Pedriza,

An unplanned but nice days birding and butterfly photography.

Deb and Ian, Day Sixty Two.

Ebird List for Embalse Santillana South East.

Ebird List for Embalse Santillana North East.

Ebird List for Embalse SantillanaWest.

Ebird List for parking area at La Pedriza.

Deb spent quite a while on the phone back to Australia over night and she managed to get some new flights booked for the Friday, much quicker than expected so we decided that travelling back south just to come back north again on the Thursday would be daft.

Luckily we managed to keep the one room at the same place so I just transferred my stuff in there and we headed out for some more bonus birding. 

Looking out from the end of the Lane.

We started the day by heading for Embalse Santillana as there had been reports of a couple of plastic Bar-headed Geese (Ánsar indio / Anser indicus), we arrived and did a walk out along a bramble and tree line lane to the Eastern shore of the lake, along the lane we heard and saw Black Kite (Milano Negro / Milvus migrans), Eurasian Magpie (Urraca Común / Pica pica), Carrion Crow (Corneja Negra / Corvus corone), Iberian Green Woodpecker (Pito ibérico / Picus sharpei), Melodious Warbler (Zarcero políglota / Hippolais polyglotta), Common Chaffinch (Pinzón Vulgar / Fringilla coelebs), House Sparrow (Gorrión Común / Passer domesticus) and Rabbit (Conejo / Oryctolagus cuniculus).

Eurasian Magpie (Urraca Común / Pica pica).

Rabbit (Conejo / Oryctolagus cuniculus).

We reached the lake, went through the Gate and scanned the area in front of us finding Common (Tarro Blanco / Tadoma tadorna) and Ruddy Shelducks (Tarro Canelo / Tadorna ferruginea), Egyptian Geese (Ganso del Nilo / Alopochen aegyptiaca), Gadwall (Anade Friso / Mareca strepera), Mallard (Anade Azulón / Anas platyrhynchos), Great Crested Grebe (Somormujo Lavanco / Podiceps cristatus), Great Cormorant (Cormorán Grande / Phalacrocroax carbo), Grey Heron (Garza Real / Ardea cinerea), Little (Garceta Común / Egretta garzetta) and lots of Western Cattle Egret (Garcilla Bueyera / Bubulcus ibis), White Stork (Ciguena Blanca / Ciconia ciconia) and Red Kite (Milano Real / Milvus milvus).

Red-veined Darter (Sympetrum fonscolombii).

False Ilex Hairstreak (Satyrium esculi).

Clouded Yellow (Colias croceus).

Small White (Pieris rapae).

 Lesser Water-Plantain (Baldellia ranunculoides).

We could see a good number of birds off to our right so we found a track around the margin and had a stroll out that way, in the vegetation in the first bay we found Red-veined Darter (Sympetrum fonscolombii), Lesser Emperor (Anax parthenope), False Ilex Hairstreak (Satyrium esculi), Clouded Yellow (Colias croceus), Small White (Pieris rapae), Painted Lady (Vanessa cardui) and on the margins Water-Purslane (Lythrum portula) and Lesser Water-Plantain (Baldellia ranunculoides).

Great Crested Grebe (Somormujo Lavanco / Podiceps cristatus).

Western Cattle Egrets (Garcilla Bueyera / Bubulcus ibis).

Ruddy Shelducks (Tarro Canelo / Tadorna ferruginea).

Bird wise we picked up Booted Eagle (Aguila Calzada / Aquila penntuas), Griffon Vulture (Bultre Leonado / Gyps fulvus), Common Kestrel (Cernicalo Vulgar / Falco tinnunculus), Black-winged Stilt (Ciguenuela Común / Himantopus himantopus) and Melodious Warbler (Zarcero políglota / Hippolais polyglotta).

Amphibious Bistort (Persicaria amphibia).

Amphibious Bistort (Persicaria amphibia).

Little Ringed Plover (Chorlitejo Chico / Thinornis dubius).

Black-tailed Skimmer (Orthetrum cancellatum) male.

We still couldn't find the targets so we returned to the gate and carried on for quite a way in the other direction where we saw the first Great Banded Grayling (Brintesia circe) of the day, a nice male Black-tailed Skimmer (Orthetrum cancellatum), a couple of domestic type Greylag Geese (Ansar Común / Anser anser), Black-headed (Gaviota Reidora / Chroicocephalus ridibundus) and Lesser Black-backed Gull (Gaviota Sombria / Larus fuscus), Common Tern (Charrán Común / Sterna hirundo), Little Ringed Plover (Chorlitejo Chico / Thinornis dubius), Western Marsh Harrier (Aguilucho Lagunero Occidental / Circus aeruginosus), Stock Dove (Paloma Zurita / Columba oenas), Western Jackdaw (Grajilla occidental / Corvus monedula), Eurasian Blackcap (Curruca Capirotada / Curruca capirotada), Eurasian Blue (Herrerillo Común /Cyanistes caeruleus) and Great Tit (Carbonera Común / Parus major), Short-toed Treecreeper (Agateador Europeo / Certhia brachydactyla), Western House Martin (Avión Común Occidental / Delichon urbicum), Western Subalpine Warbler (Curruca Carrasqueña Occidental / Curruca iberiae), White Wagtail (Lavandera Blanca / Montacilla alba) and Corn Bunting (Escribano Triguero / Emberiza calandra).

Red Kite (Milano Real / Milvus milvus).

Red Kite (Milano Real / Milvus milvus).

Red Kite (Milano Real / Milvus milvus).

We turned around once we reached a larger bay which was fenced but not before we got very nice views of a stunning Red Kite and a Bombardier CL-215T/415 water-bomber fire fighting plane which did a few passes and then a practice water collecting run.

Bombardier CL-215T/415.

On our way we checked out the Oak trees and Bramble patches finding quite a few species of butterfly including Small White (Pieris rapae), Clouded Yellow, Purple Hairstreak (Favonius Quercus iberica), False Ilex Hairstreak, Small Copper (Lycaena phlaeas), Painted Lady (Vanessa cardui), Long-tailed (Lampides boeticus) and Lang's Short-tailed Blue (Leptotes pirithous), Meadow Brown (Maniola jurtina), Queen of Spain (Issoria lathonia), Mallow Skipper (Carcharodus alceae), Small Heath (Coenonympha pamphilus) and Southern Gatekeeper (Pyronia cecilia).

Purple Hairstreak (Favonius Quercus iberica).

False Ilex Hairstreak (Satyrium esculi).

Painted Lady (Vanessa cardui).

Long-tailed Blue (Lampides boeticus).

Lang's Short-tailed Blue (Leptotes pirithous).

Mallow Skipper (Carcharodus alceae).

Queen of Spain (Issoria lathonia).

Small White (Pieris rapae).

Meadow Brown (Maniola jurtina).

As we walked back up the lane towards the car we again checked the Brambles now it had warmed up and we found Blue Spotted (Satyrium spini) and False Ilex Hairstreak, Spanish Gatekeeper (Pyronia bathseba), Lang's Short-tailed Blue, Large White (Pieris brassicae), Southern Brown Argus (Aricia cramera) and Wall Brown (Lasiommata megera).

False Ilex Hairstreak (Satyrium esculi).

Once we got back to the car we decided to head for Soto del Real for some coffee and a late tostarda and as we drove in we found Brunch by Daniela bar which turned out to be a very nice choice. 

Great Banded Grayling (Brintesia circe).

Great Banded Grayling (Brintesia circe).

White Featherleg (Platycnemis latipes).

We then continued on to the other end of the old road across the Embalse and after parking we walked out as far as the water level would let us, by the car park we looked out over a mowed grassy field and we were amazed to see lots of Great Banded Grayling and as we followed the track we had White Featherleg (Platycnemis latipes), Scarlet Darter (Crocothemis erythraea), Common Woodpigeon (Paloma Torcaz / Columba palumbus), Common Swift (Vencejo Común / Apus apus), Western Marsh Harrier, Red and Black Kite, Booted Eagle, Common Moorhen (Gallineta Común / Gallinulas chloropus), Little Ringed Plover, Western House Martin, Short-toed Treecreeper, Spanish (Yellow) (Lavandera Boyera / Motacilla flava iberiae) and White Wagtail, but for me the most incredible thing there were the numbers of Great Crested Grebes with well over a hundred birds in the bay and around 50 or so of them were sitting on floating nest on the mats of Amphibious Bistort (Persicaria amphibia).

Great Crested Grebes (Somormujo Lavanco / Podiceps cristatus), with three of the many nests.

Common Moorhen (Gallineta Común / Gallinulas chloropus).

Spanish (Yellow) Wagtail (Lavandera Boyera / Motacilla flava iberiae).

We moved on again, stopped for coffee before we checked out the area where the Rio Sambruiel comes into the Embalse still searching for the target species but all we found were Egyptian Geese, Black Kite, Common Swift, a Black-crowned Night Heron (Marinete Común / Nycticorax nycticorax), White Stork, Great Crested Grebe, Great Cormorant, Grey Heron, Little Egret, Barn Swallow (Golondrina Común / Hirundo rustica), Common Nightingale, White Wagtail, European Greenfinch (Verderón Común / Chloris chloris), European Serin (Serin Verdecillo / Serinus serinus), European Goldfinch (Jilguero Europeo / Carduelis carduelis) and Cirl Bunting (Escribano Soteño / Emberiza cirlus).

Comma (Polygonia c-album).

Back by the car on a few thistles we found singles of both Comma (Polygonia c-album) and Cardinal Fritillary (Argynnis pandora).

Cardinal Fritillary (Argynnis pandora).

Cardinal Fritillary (Argynnis pandora).

Our final stop of the day was around the car park at the start of the drive up to the La Pedriza but the road is closed every day from 10:30 to restrict the numbers of cars going up into the area so we just checked the area out around the car park finding Iberian  Magpie (Rabilargo Ibérico / Cyanopica cooki), Common Blackbird (Mirlo Común / Turdus merula), Hawfinch (Picogordo Común / Coccotraustes coccotrauetes), European Greenfinch, more Griffon Vultures and a single Rosy Grizzled Skipper (Pyrgus onopordi).

Rosy Grizzled Skipper (Pyrgus onopordi).

We returned to the car and then headed off back towards the accommodation where we again got some food from the supermarket and went back out onto the Terrace before chilling in the room.