Near Ablitas, Laguna del Lor and near to Vera de Moncayo, Navarre, Spain.

A more successful morning than expected.

Deb and Ian, Day Fourty Two.

Ebird List for Ablitas area 1.

Ebird List for Ablitas area 2.

Ebird List for Laguna del Lor.

 

The Habitat.

We were up and out early and on site near Ablitas just before dawn and as soon as we parked up we could hear a calling Dupont's Larks (Alondra Ricotí / Chersophilus duponti), 3 at least but probably up to 5.

Dupont's Lark (Alondra Ricotí / Chersophilus duponti).

Dupont's Lark (Alondra Ricotí / Chersophilus duponti).

Dupont's Lark (Alondra Ricotí / Chersophilus duponti).

Dupont's Lark (Alondra Ricotí / Chersophilus duponti).

Even more surprising was when one of the birds sat up on a small bush for a couple of minutes, the views through the bins were great but the light was still too bad to get any photo's so we just stayed put until the light improved a bit and eventually the bird popped up another couple of times giving us some amazing views and my best photo's so far.

Dupont's Lark (Alondra Ricotí / Chersophilus duponti).

Dupont's Lark (Alondra Ricotí / Chersophilus duponti).

Dupont's Lark (Alondra Ricotí / Chersophilus duponti).

After a while the bird went up for a song flight which lasted for around ten minutes, during which time it went up to a good height along with a couple of Calandra Larks (Calandria Común / Melanocorypha calandra) before plummiting to the ground some distance from the track where we were parked.

Dupont's Lark (Alondra Ricotí / Chersophilus duponti).

Deb went for a walk in the one direction and I went in the other where I had views of a second bird which sat nicely again in a clump of vegetation 25 meters from the track.

Calandra Larks (Calandria Común / Melanocorypha calandra).

Calandra Larks (Calandria Común / Melanocorypha calandra).

In the same area we also saw Red-legged Partridge (Perdiz Roja / Alectoris rufa), European Turtle Dove (Tórtola Europea / Streptopelia turtur), Common Swift (Vencejo Común / Apus apus), Eurasian Hoopoe (Abubilla Común / Upupa epops), European Bee-eater (Abejaruco Europeo / Merops apiaster), Carrion Crow (Corneja Negra / Corvus corone), Crested (Cogujada Común / Galerida cristata), Greater Short-toed (Terrera Común / Calandrella brachydactyla), Eurasian Skylark (Alondra Común / Alauda arvensis) and Woodlark (Alondra Totovía / Lullula arborea), Western Orphean Warbler (Curruca Mirlona Occidental / Curruca hortensis) and Sardinian Warbler (Curruca Cabecinegra / Curruca melanocephala), Common Blackbird (Mirlo Común / Turdus merula cabrerae), European Goldfinch (Jilguero Europeo / Carduelis carduelis), European Greenfinch (Verderón Común / Chloris chloris), European Serin (Serin Verdecillo / Serinus serinus), Painted Lady (Vanessa cardui) and Rabbit (Conejo / Oryctolagus cuniculus).

After about 1.5 hours on site we headed into Ablitas where we found a bar and had a couple of coffee's and a sausage tapa's breakfast whilst watching the clouds of Common Swifts chasing around the plaza, 150+ birds in total making quite a racket which was wonderful to hear.

We returned to the same site and spent another 3 hours there but apart from hearing several birds calling, one of which was close to where we parked we didn't get any sightings this time, on the drive into the site we picked up  Grayling (Hipparchia semele), Red Kite (Milano Real / Milvus milvus), Common Buzzard (Busardo Ratonero / Buteo buteo), Common Kestrel (Cernicalo Vulgar / Falco tinnunculus),  Great Spotted Cuckoo (Crialo Europeo / Clamator gladarius), Common Woodpigeon (Paloma Torcaz / Columba palumbus), Rock Sparrow (Gorrión Chillón / Petronia petronia),European Bee-eater, Western Orphean Warbler, Corn Bunting (Escribano Triguero / Emberiza calandra) and Common Chaffinch (Pinzón Vulgar / Fringilla coelebs).

 Thyme-leaved Rockrose (Fumana thymifolia).

Thyme Species ?????

Shrubby Gromwell (Lithodora fruticosa).

Yellow-wort (Blackstonia perfoliata).

Carduus nigrescens ????

Carduus nigrescens ????

 Rough Star-Thistle (Centaurea aspera).

Centaurea bofilliana ????????

Echium asperrimum.

White Stonecrop (Sedum album).

On the verge we also found several plant species including Shrubby Gromwell (Lithodora fruticosa), White Stonecrop (Sedum album), Brown Bells (Dipcadi serotinum), Rough Star-Thistle (Centaurea aspera), Carduus nigrescens, Echium asperrimum, Thyme-leaved Rockrose (Fumana thymifolia), Yellow-wort (Blackstonia perfoliata), most still need names but I will work on that.

Griffon Vulture (Bultre Leonado / Gyps fulvus).

Back up at the main spot we again parked on the main track, we saw 3 male Western Black-eared Wheatears (Collalba Rubia Occidental / Oenanthe hispanica), Short-toed Snake (Culebrera Europeo / Circaetus gallicus) and Booted Eagle (Aguila Calzada / Aquila penntuas) before Deb went for a walk along the track and Ian and I got the chairs out and sat near the car and scanned the area adding Griffon Vulture (Bultre Leonado / Gyps fulvus), Booted Eagle (Aguila Calzada / Aquila penntuas), Western Marsh Harrier (Aguilucho Lagunero Occidental / Circus aeruginosus), Black Kite (Milano Negro / Milvus migrans), Red-billed Chough (Chova Piquirroja / Pyrrhocorax pyrrhocorax), Bath (Pontia daplidice) and Small White (Pieris rapae), Clouded Yellow (Colias croceus) and Wall Brown (Lasiommata megera).

Deb returned after adding a Mediterranean Short-toed Lark (Terrera Marismena / Alaudala rufescens) to her list, we then drove out a couple more KMs but apart from a very nice Moorish Gecko (Tarentola mauritanica) in a roadside culvert we added nothing new so we headed out to the nearby Laguna del Lor where we walked the one side.

Small Red-eye (Erythromma viridulum).

Common Blue Damselfly (Enallagma cyathinerum).

As we walked we picked up Common Blue Damselfly (Enallagma cyathinerum), Small Red-eye (Erythromma viridulum), Blue / Common (Anax imperator) and Lesser Emperor (Anax parthenope), Black-tailed Skimmer (Orthetrum cancellatum), Red-veined Darter (Sympetrum fonscolombii), Bath , Small and Large White (Pieris brassicae), Painted Lady, Red Admiral (Vanessa atalanta), Knapweed Fritillary (Melitaea phoebe), Clouded Yellow (Colias croceus), Lulworth (Thymelicus acteon) and Small Skipper (Thymelicus sylvestris) insect wise.

Clouded Yellow (Colias croceus).

Lulworth Skipper (Thymelicus acteon).

Bath White (Pontia daplidice).

Small Skipper (Thymelicus sylvestris).

Knapweed Fritillary (Melitaea phoebe).

Birds seen included Yellow-legged Gull (Gaviota Patiamarilla / Larus Michahellis),  Purple Heron (Garza Imperial / Ardea purpurea), Little Egret (Garceta Común / Egretta garzetta) and Western Cattle Egret (Garcilla Bueyera / Bubulcus ibis), Western Marsh Harrier, Black Kite, Common Buzzard, Melodious Warbler (Zarcero políglota / Hippolais polyglotta), Cetti's (Cetia Ruiseñor / Cettia cetti), Great (Carricero Tordal / Acrocephalus arundinaceus) and Common Reed Warbler (Carricero Común / Acrocephalus scrpaceus), Barn Swallow (Golondrina Común / Hirundo rustica), Western House Martin (Avión Común Occidental / Delichon urbicum), Common Nightingale (Ruisenor Común / Luscinia megarhynchos) and White Wagtail (Lavandera Blanca / Montacilla alba).

Melodious Warbler (Zarcero políglota / Hippolais polyglotta).

We returned to the car and on our way back to the accommodation we called at a supermarket and then spent a while chilling after our early start. 

Just before dusk we headed out on some nearby tracks a found Common Quail (Codorniz Común / Coturnix coturnix), Calandra Lark, Western Black-eared Wheatear and a fly over Eurasian Eagle Owl (Búho Real / Bubo bubo).