Travelling North to Santander in Cambria via Playa de Andrín and Unquera in Asturias, Spain.

A butterfly dip but a good bird instead.

 

We were up early and after breakfast we made our way north towards Unquera and then West along the coast to a spot near Playa de Andrín, on the way we saw Common Woodpigeon (Paloma Torcaz / Columba palumbus), Eurasian Collared Dove (Tórtola Turca / Streptopelia decaocto), Common Buzzard (Busardo Ratonero / Buteo buteo), Black Kite (Milano Negro / Milvus migrans), Barn Swallow (Golondrina Común / Hirundo rustica), Western House Martin (Avión Común Occidental / Delichon urbicum), House Sparrow (Gorrión Común / Passer domesticus) and European Goldfinch (Jilguero Europeo / Carduelis carduelis).

We arrived at the site where we were hoping to find a new butterfly, the Large Chequered Skipper (Heteropterus morpheus) but even though we gave the area a good search we didn't get lucky, all the verges and the grass area which I had been told to search had all been strimmed which definitely didn't help.

Large Skipper (Ochlodes sylvanus).

As we searched we did find Large Skipper (Ochlodes sylvanus), Brimstone (Gonepteryx rhamni), Marbled White (Melanargia galathea), Speckled Wood (Pararge aegeria) and Meadow Brown (Maniola jurtina).

Red-backed Shrike (Alcaudón Dorsirrojo / Lanius collurio) ♂.

Saddle Bush-Cricket species?????

Other species seen included Yellow-legged Gull (Gaviota Patiamarilla / Larus Michahellis), Common Kestrel (Cernicalo Vulgar / Falco tinnunculus), Eurasian Blackcap (Curruca Capirotada / Curruca capirotada), Eurasian Wren (Chochin paleártico / Troglodytes troglodytes), Red-backed Shrike (Alcaudón Dorsirrojo / Lanius collurio), Carrion Crow (Corneja Negra / Corvus corone), Wild Carrot (Daucus carota), Yarrow (Achillea millefolium), White Campion (Silene latifolia) and Musk Mallow (Malva moschata).

White-tailed Eagle (Pigargo Europeo / Haliaeetus albicilla).

We move on and headed to a spot along the Rio Deva where we had nice views of a subadult White-tailed Eagle (Pigargo Europeo / Haliaeetus albicilla), which sat up nicely on a large Pylon but was straight into the sun.

At some point the bird managed to disappear so we checked the area around us finding Mallard (Anade Azulón / Anas platyrhynchos), Common Reed Warbler (Carricero Común / Acrocephalus scrpaceus), Zitting Cisticola (Cistícola Buitrón / Cisticola juncidis), Small White (Pieris rapae), Grey Mullet (Mugil cephalus) and Large-flowered Evening-Primrose (Oenothera glazioviana).