A hard but successful days birding with friend Garry Pearson.
Ebird list for the way down.
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| Ortolan Bunting (Escribano Hortolano / Emberiza hortulana). |
We started the day with a drive up to Hoya de la Mora and then went and had some breakfast in the Albergue Universitario Gerardo Alonso and then went down to the office nearby to pay for the minibus.
We had still got 40 minutes or so before the bus leaves so we went for a short walk up through the pines nearby which unfortunately a lot of disgusting scumbags use as a toilet out to the crags nearby.
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| Northern Wheatear (Collalba Gris / Oenanthe oenanthe) male with colour rings. |
As we looked around the area we were pleased to see a really nice male
Common Rock Thrush (Roquero Roja / Monticola saxatilis) with what looked like a Juv bird,
Pallid Swift (Vencejo Pálido /Apus pallidus),
Red-billed Chough (Chova Piquirroja / Pyrrhocorax pyrrhocorax),
Black Redstart (Colirrojo Tizón / Phoenicurus ochruros), Northern Wheatear (Collalba Gris / Oenanthe oenanthe), Rock Sparrow (Gorrión Chillón / Petronia petronia),
Common Linnet (Pardillo Común / Linaria cannabina), a very unexpected
Dunnock (Acentor Común / Prunella modularis) and even better was a very smart
Ortolan Bunting (Escribano Hortolano / Emberiza hortulana) which was our main target for the day. |
| Northern Wheatear (Collalba Gris / Oenanthe oenanthe). |
We chatted and decided to go up high anyway even though we had already got what we wanted so we walked back towards the spot for the bus adding European Robin (Petirrojo Europeo / Erithacus rubecula) and
Coal Tit (Carbonero Garrapinos / Periparus ater) on the way.
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| The drop off point. |
We got the bus and we were fairly quickly up at a spot at around 3100m, we continued on up hill a short way and took a track off along the side of one of the ridges where we had brief flight views of a couple of Alpine Accentors (Acentor Alpino / Prunella collaris)
along with more
Common Linnets, Griffon Vultures (Bultre Leonado / Gyps fulvus), Black Redstart and a group of Eurasian Crag Martin (Avión Roquero / Ptyonoprogne rupestris).
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| Hormathophylla spinosa. |
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| Chaenorhinum glareosum. |
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| Arenaria tetraquetra ssp. amabilis. |
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| Arenaria tetraquetra ssp. amabilis. |
Other species seen along this track we saw
Hummingbird Hawkmoth (Macroglossum stellatarum),
Hormathophylla spinosa,
Chaenorhinum glareosum,
Eryngium bourgatii and
Arenaria tetraquetra ssp. amabilis.
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| Corral del Veleta. |
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| Garry with the Corral del Veleta behind him. |
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| Looking out to the North West. |
After a while we decided to move on and have a look up a bit higher, as we walked to Refugio vivac La Carihuela we had a very scruffy looking
Spanish Ibex (Cabra montés / Capra pyrenaica hispanica) and
Spanish Mountain Thistle (Ptilostemon hispanicus). |
| Spanish Ibex (Cabra montés / Capra pyrenaica hispanica). |
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| Looking out South from the Refugio. |
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| Looking out South from the Refugio. |
We went onto the lower platform below the Refugio to admire the amazing views from this point before going up to the Refugio where we sat and had a snack and waited for the Alpine Accentor we saw from down below to come back.
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| Spanish Ibex (Cabra montés / Capra pyrenaica hispanica). |
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| Hummingbird Hawkmoth (Macroglossum stellatarum). |
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| Hummingbird Hawkmoth (Macroglossum stellatarum). |
Anyway they moved off and a much smarter
Spanish Ibex walked down towards us and then the
Accentor reappeared and showed brilliantly.
After a while we decided to start to head down, we had a choice, to go back down the main track and then take a proper track out into a damp area lower down (sensible option) BUT there were some very nice looking mountain pools below us at the end of a steep, winding, gravelly track (daft option) so we decided to give it a go.
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| Spanish Brassy Ringlet (Erebia hispania). |
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| ????????? |
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| Foxglove (Digitalis purpurea). |
We did make it to the bottom but my legs didn't like it, however as we walked we saw
Spanish Brassy Ringlet (Erebia hispania),
Small Tortoiseshell (Aglais urticae),
Small White (
Pieris rapae) and
Foxglove (Digitalis purpurea).
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| Mount Herminios Bellflower (Campanula herminii) and Lotus glacialis. |
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| Alpine Mouse-Ear (Cerastium alpinum). |
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| Veronica nevadensis. |
Out on the damp areas around the pools we had
Mount Herminios Bellflower (Campanula herminii),
Lotus glacialis,
Alpine Mouse-Ear (Cerastium alpinum),
Veronica nevadensis,
Armeria filicaulis ssp. nevadensis and
Epilobium atlanticum.
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| Lagunilla de la Virgen. |
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| Lagunilla de la Virgen. |
We saw more
Black Redstarts, Common Linnet, Eurasian Crag Martin,
Northern Wheatear, Red-billed Chough,
Griffon Vultures and half a dozen
White Wagtail (Lavandera Blanca / Montacilla alba).
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| Epilobium atlanticum. |
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| Epilobium atlanticum. |
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| Euphrasia willommii. |
In the damp streams I also found
Euphrasia willommii,
Epilobium atlanticum and as we dropped down passed the Estación de esquí Sierra Nevada along another wet flush we saw
Sideritis glacialis,
Leontodon boryi,
Hairy Kidney-Wort (Micranthes stellaris),
Gentiana boryi,
Gold Germander (Teucrium aureum),
Clouded Apollo (
Parnassius mnemosyne),
Mountain Stone Grasshopper (Eumigus monticola) and Carpentor Bee (Xylocopa violacea). |
| Gentiana boryi. |
Lower down the hill we decided to stick to the roads which meant we could watch the skies more and this paid off big time when three raptors came up over the ridge above us, two of which turned out to be adult Bearded Vulture (Quebrantahuesos / Gypaetus barbatus) the other was another
Griffon.
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| Bearded Vulture (Quebrantahuesos / Gypaetus barbatus). |
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| Bearded Vulture (Quebrantahuesos / Gypaetus barbatus). |
We returned to the car passing the Virgen de las Nieves, well knackered but happy we drove back to the house and then went back down Huétor for some food.  |
| Virgen de las Nieves. |
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