El Temple and the Cacín Valley, Granada Province, Spain.

A day's birding with Nikki from the Netherlands.

Ebird List for El Temple. 

Ebird List for Cortijo Ochíchar. 

Ebird List for Contraembalse de los Bermejales.

Ebird List for Rio Cacín South of El Turro.

Ebird List for Camino del Turro al Castillo y Chimeneas.

 

I headed up to Granada City where I met up with Nikki, we then we headed out towards the area near La Malaha where we sorted our kit out and started the list with Eurasian Collared Dove (Tórtola Turca / Streptopelia decaocto), Crested Lark (Cogujada Común / Galerida cristata), Common Chaffinch (Pinzón Vulgar / Fringilla coelebs) and European Goldfinch (Jilguero Europeo / Carduelis carduelis).

White Wagtail (Lavandera Blanca / Montacilla alba).

White Wagtail (Lavandera Blanca / Montacilla alba).

Out on to the fields we went onto a track to the South of the road through the site and up to the oil pits, on the way we picked up Common Woodpigeon (Paloma Torcaz / Columba palumbus), Common Kestrel (Cernicalo Vulgar / Falco tinnunculus), Peregrine Falcon (Halcón Peregrino / Falco peregrinus), Eurasian Magpie (Urraca Común / Pica pica), European Stonechat (Tarabilla Europea / Saxicola rubicola), Black Redstart (Colirrojo Tizón / Phoenicurus ochruros), Calandra Lark (Calandria Común / Melanocorypha calandra), Sardinian Warbler (Curruca Cabecinegra / Curruca melanocephala), Common Buzzard (Busardo Ratonero / Buteo buteo), European Serin (Serin Verdecillo / Serinus serinus) and loads of Corn Buntings (Escribano Triguero / Emberiza calandra).

Continuing on and did a loop back to the road and then crossed to the fields on the Northern side and after parking we picked up a nice male Western Marsh Harrier (Aguilucho Lagunero Occidental / Circus aeruginosus), a single Black-bellied Sandgrouse (Ganga Ortega / Pterocles orientalis) which Nikki heard but didn't see it and another calling Iberian Grey Shrike.

Little Bustards (Sisón Común / Tetrax tetrax).

Little Bustards (Sisón Común / Tetrax tetrax).

We returned to the road and then took another track to the North finding more Black-bellied Sandgrouse but we only heard them, 7x Little Bustards (Sisón Común / Tetrax tetrax), a very distant Golden Eagle (Águila Real / Aquila chrysaetos) which was sat on one of the taller pylons, Spotless (Estornino Negro / Sturnus unicolor) and Common Starling (Estornino Pinto / Sturnus vulgaris), Western Jackdaw (Grajilla occidental / Corvus monedula), Eurasian Hoopoe (Abubilla Común / Upupa epops), Meadow Pipit (Bisbita Pratense / Anthus pratensis), White Wagtails, Black Redstart, Song Thrush (Zorzal Común / Turdus philomelos), Eurasian Blackcap (Curruca Capirotada / Curruca capirotada), Common Chiffchaff (Mosquitero Común / Phylloscopus collybita), Common Linnet (Pardillo Común / Linaria cannabina), and as we were leaving the area we saw a raptor being mobbed by several Eurasian Magpies which turned out to be a fine female Hen Harrier (Aguilucho Pálido / Circus cyaneus).

Female Hen Harrier (Aguilucho Pálido / Circus cyaneus).

Female Hen Harrier (Aguilucho Pálido / Circus cyaneus).

At the far end of the track we reached Chimeneas and then went to Ventas de Huelma were we had coffee and a tostarda in Restaurante Casa Luciano before continuing on along the road towards Cacín, we made a stop at the Arroyo de los Frailes where we saw Common Buzzard on one of the Pylons, Small White (Pieris rapae) and Rabbit (Conejo / Oryctolagus cuniculus) before moving on through the Solar Desert to the Cortijo Ochíchar where we spent a while scanning the skies and the ridges.

Spotless (Estornino Negro / Sturnus unicolor) and Common Starling (Estornino Pinto / Sturnus vulgaris).

Immediately we could see and hear a large mixed group of Red-billed Chough (Chova Piquirroja / Pyrrhocorax pyrrhocorax) x60+ and Western Jackdaws, as well as an immature Iberian Imperial Eagle (Aguila Imperial Ibérica / Aguila adalberti), Common Crane (Grulla Común / Grus grus) which passed distantly heading west, a heard only Dartford Warbler (Curruca Rabilarga / Curruca undata), Northern Raven (Cuervo grande / Corvus corax), Thekla's Lark (Cogujada Montesina / Galerida theklae), Black Redstart, European Stonechat,European Goldfinch and European Serin.

We again continued on and dropped into the Cacín Valley, just above the town of Cacín we saw a couple of late Desert Orange-tip (Colotis evagore) x2 before going back North along the Valley up to the Contraembalse de los Bermejales, after parking we walked down to the shore line and scanned the lake finding Common Pochard (Porrón Europeo / Aythya ferina), Mallard (Anade Azulón / Anas platyrhynchos), Northern Shoveler (Cuchara Común / Spatula clypeata), Eurasian Teal (Cerceta Común / Anas crecca), Little Grebe (Zampullín Común / Tachybaptus ruficollis), Eurasian Coot (Focha Común / Fulica atra), Common Moorhen (Gallineta Común / Gallinulas chloropus), Water Rail (Rascón Europeo / Rallus aquaticus) heard only, Black-winged Stilt (Ciguenuela Común / Himantopus himantopus), Green Sandpiper (Andarrios Grande / Tringa ochropus), Common Blackbird (Mirlo Común / Turdus merula), Common Chiffchaff and White Wagtail.

Desert Orange-tip (Colotis evagore) female.

Just up the road we parked again and walked along the irrigation channel as far as the fence in front of the dam, during the walk we saw and heard Eurasian Wren (Chochin paleártico / Troglodytes troglodytes), European Robin (Petirrojo Europeo / Erithacus rubecula), Grey Wagtail (Lavandera Cascadena / Motacilla cinerea), Squirting Cucumber (Ecballium elaterium), Desert Orange-tip x3, Wall Brown (Lasiommata megera) x1, Migrant Hawker (Aeshna mixta) x1, Desert Darter (Sympetrum sinaiticum) x3 and Red-veined Darter (Sympetrum fonscolombii) x1.

Red-veined Darter (Sympetrum fonscolombii).

Once we returned to the car we checked the bridge and crags finding Long-tailed Tit (Mito Común / Aegithalos caudatus) and Eurasian Blackcap before having some lunch by the car, as we ate I heard the calls of several Iberian Magpies (Rabilargo Ibérico / Cyanopica cooki) in the Pines behind us but apart from a few glimpses we didn't manage to get any tickable views so we moved on up the valley to another spot in the Pines.

In the pines we had a couple of Short-toed Treecreepers (Agateador Europeo / Certhia brachydactyla), Common Chiffchaff, Eurasian Crag Martin (Avión Roquero / Ptyonoprogne rupestris), Common Chaffinch, European Goldfinch, Common Buzzard and another large flock of Iberian Magpies which showed much better.

The Immature Golden Eagle (Águila Real / Aquila chrysaetos).

The Immature Golden Eagle (Águila Real / Aquila chrysaetos).

After getting good views of the Magpies we headed up to El Turro and the up onto the ridge above the town and started to make our way back towards Granada but we soon came across a hunting immature Golden Eagle which showed very well.

We continued on but added nothing new before we reached the City where I dropped Nikki off after a good day's birding.