Out and about birding with Karen and Robert as there wasn't enough sun for many butterflies.
Karen and Robert Day Two.
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| Greater Flamingo's (Flamenco Común / Phoenicopterus roseus). |
The day didn't start well as when we went out to the car we found that we had a flat and it was not easy to change as it was on the right hand rear which meant getting to the spare was much more difficult but eventually I manged to get the jack out and raise the car far enough to get the spare out and do the change with some help from Katherine a friend / neighbour who lent us a second jack.
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| Greater Flamingo's (Flamenco Común / Phoenicopterus roseus). |
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| Greater Flamingo's (Flamenco Común / Phoenicopterus roseus). |
On our way out of Huétor we stopped to get the Tyre repaired but as there was a long slice caused by some metal in the wall it had to be a replacement.
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| Black-winged Stilt (Ciguenuela Común / Himantopus himantopus). |
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| Black-winged Stilt (Ciguenuela Común / Himantopus himantopus). |
We were soon on our way and in the car park at Fuente, it was cool and windy unfortunately but dry for the moment so we checked the pool and marshy area along the entrance road and saw
Greater Flamingo's (Flamenco Común / Phoenicopterus roseus), Mallard (Anade Azulón / Anas platyrhynchos),
Northern Shoveler (Cuchara Común / Spatula clypeata), Eurasian Coot (Focha Común / Fulica atra),
Common Moorhen (Gallineta Común / Gallinulas chloropus),
Little Grebe (Zampullín Común /
Tachybaptus ruficollis), Black-winged Stilt (Ciguenuela Común / Himantopus himantopus), Pied Avocet (Avoceta Común / Recurvirostra avosetta),
Black-tailed Godwit (Aguja Colinegra / Limosa limosa), Common Sandpiper (Andarrios Chico / Actitis hypoleucos),
Little Ringed Plover (Chorlitejo Chico / Thinornis dubius),
Common Redshank (Archibebe Común / Tringa totanus),
Black-headed Gull (Gaviota Reidora / Chroicocephalus ridibundus),
Gull-billed Tern (Pagaza Piconegra / Gelochelidon nilotica), Barn (Golondrina Común / Hirundo rustica) and
Red-rumped Swallow (Golondrina Dáurica / Cecropis daurica),
Western House (Avión Común Occidental / Delichon urbicum) and
Sand Martin (Avión Zapador / Riparia riparia),
Spanish (Yellow) Wagtail (Lavandera Boyera / Motacilla flava iberiae),
Cetti's Warbler (Cetia Ruiseñor / Cettia cetti) and
White Stork (Ciguena Blanca / Ciconia ciconia).
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| Black-tailed Godwit (Aguja Colinegra / Limosa limosa). |
We returned to the car briefly to put on some extra layers as it was a damn cold wind before cutting across to the board walk where we saw
Marbled Duck (Cerceta pardilla / Marmaronetta angustirostris), Pallid Swift (Vencejo Pálido /Apus pallidus),
Green Sandpiper (Andarrios Grande / Tringa ochropus),
Corn Bunting (Escribano Triguero / Emberiza calandra) and
Crested Lark (Cogujada Común / Galerida cristata) before walking along the Tamarisks and out to a spot where we could see the main Laguna, here we had amazing views of the thousands of
Greater Flamingo's,
Common Reed Warbler (Carricero Común / Acrocephalus scrpaceus),
Zitting Cisticola (Cistícola Buitrón / Cisticola juncidis), Perez's Frog (Rana Común / Pelophylax perezi), Stripe-necked Terrapin (Mauremys leprosa) and met up with three Spanish Birders from Malaga way, friend Jacinto Villalvalla his two colleagues who I do know but can't remember their names, Sorry. |
| Pied Avocet (Avoceta Común / Recurvirostra avosetta). |
After we had finished chatting we moved on up to the Mirador and scanned the main Laguna again finding the Marsh Sandpiper (Archibebe Fino / Tringa stagnatilis) on the nearest bit of shore line with several Stilts, Common Redshank and a Common Greenshank (Archibebe Claro / Tringa nebularia),
Lesser Black-backed Gull (Gaviota Sombria / Larus fuscus),
lots more Gull-billed Terns, Common Shelduck (Tarro Blanco / Tadoma tadorna) and a
Western Marsh Harrier (Aguilucho Lagunero Occidental / Circus aeruginosus).
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| Red-crested Pochard (Pato Colorado / Netta rufina). |
In the bushes surrounding the Mirador we added
Eurasian Blackcap (Curruca Capirotada / Curruca capirotada),
Common Nightingale (Ruisenor Común / Luscinia megarhynchos), Sardinian Warbler (Curruca Cabecinegra / Curruca melanocephala),
Western Jackdaw (Grajilla occidental / Corvus monedula),
Common Blackbird (Mirlo Común / Turdus merula),
European Serin (Serin Verdecillo / Serinus serinus) and
European Goldfinch (Jilguero Europeo / Carduelis carduelis).
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| Eurasian Coot (Focha Común / Fulica atra). |
We walked around to the back laguna's, at the first small screen we had a fine male
Red-crested Pochard (Pato Colorado / Netta rufina),
Northern Raven (Cuervo grande / Corvus corax) and lots of
Rabbit (Conejo / Oryctolagus cuniculus). |
| Blue-headed (Yellow) Wagtail (Lavandera Boyera / Motacilla flava flava) female. |
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| Blue-headed (Yellow) Wagtail (Lavandera Boyera / Motacilla flava flava) female. |
Around at Observatorio El Laguneto we picked up several
Blue-headed (Yellow) (Lavandera Boyera / Motacilla flava flava), British (Yellow) (Lavandera Boyera / Motacilla flava flavissima) and
Spanish (Yellow) Wagtails in the grass areas in front of the hide and out on the water we added
Common Pochard (Porrón Europeo / Aythya ferina),
Gadwall (Anade Friso / Mareca strepera),
White-headed Duck (Malvasia Cabeciblanca / Oxyura leucocephala),
Black-necked Grebe (Zampullín Cuellinegro / Podiceps nigricollis),
Little Egret (Garceta Común / Egretta garzetta), Short-toed Snake Eagle (Culebrera Europeo / Circaetus gallicus), Common Buzzard (Busardo Ratonero / Buteo buteo), Eurasian Hoopoe (Abubilla Común / Upupa epops) and European Bee-eater (Abejaruco Europeo / Merops apiaster).
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| Corn Bunting (Escribano Triguero / Emberiza calandra). |
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| Corn Bunting (Escribano Triguero / Emberiza calandra). |
We popped into Observatorio de las Palomas but we added nothing new and the wind was horrible there so we pushed on around to the visitors Center which was open so we used the facilities and I bought a hat before returning to the car after a brief check on the roadside pool adding just a single
Whiskered Tern (Fumarel Cariblanca / Chilidonias hybridus) before heading into Fuente for a coffee.
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| Lesser Kestrel (Cernicola Primilla / Falco naumanni) female. |
Later we drove around to Mirador de Cantarranas where we had good views of the lake and the
Flamingo's, on the way back to the motorway we had a group of
Lesser Kestrels (Cernicola Primilla / Falco naumanni).
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| Bumble-bee Orchid (Ophrys bombyliflora). |
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| Dark Spider Orchid (Ophrys incubacea). |
As we headed back towards home the weather started to get worse but even though we hit a few heavy showers we decided to go and have a look at some
Orchids near to Moraleda, at this site we saw at least 8 spikes of the beautiful
Dark Spider (Ophrys incubacea), a couple of 100 Bumble-bee (Ophrys bombyliflora),
Mirror (Ophrys speculum),
Sawfly (Ophrys tenthredinifera),
Yellow Bee (Ophrys lutea) and
Fan-lipped (
Anacamptis collina) as well as
Southern Red Bartsia (Parentucellia latifolia) and
Wild Grape Hyacinth (
Muscari neglectum). |
| Red-legged Partridge (Perdiz Roja / Alectoris rufa). |
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| Red-legged Partridge (Perdiz Roja / Alectoris rufa). |
We returned to the car as the rain was getting quite heavy and started to head towards Huétor Fields, not far along the track we came across a Red-legged Partridge (Perdiz Roja / Alectoris rufa) and a
very smart European Bee-eater sat in a bush enjoying the rain, it was fanning it's tail and catching the water for a wash and stayed there to allow us to get some photo's.
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| European Bee-eater (Abejaruco Europeo / Merops apiaster). |
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| European Bee-eater (Abejaruco Europeo / Merops apiaster). |
