Friday 18 April
What a long, busy day. Out of the house by 8 o'clock to spend a couple of hours with Mick
Richardson in Granada province then the long drive over to Ronda to collect the latest ABS quarterly magazine with a stop at both the main quarry on the lower slopes of the Sierra Loja and Laguna Dulce (very much an in-and-out at the former) before returning via the bird-laden Fuente de Piedra - but late enough to miss most of the Easter holiday tourists.
The birding concentration was on the higher
Cacin Valley with five target birds for the two-hour visit; the
Little Owl being something of a bonus. The journey over from
Casa Collado had already produced
Barn swallow,
House martin,
Rock and
Collared Doves, along with
House Sparrow and
Goldfinch before I reached Ventas de Zafarraya and the provincial Malaga/Granada border, Then it was
Chaffinch, a number of
Mistle Thrushes and a single
Woodchat Shrike before entering the main area of the "Magpie Woods" where a number of
Azure-winged Magpies were seen. Driving across the arable fields to take the old, badly potted road up towards the Salar road I had first a couple of
Common Magpies followed by
Crested,
Thekla and
Calanda Larks. Along the journey there was certainly no shortage of both
Hoopoes and
Corn Buntings. And so to the meet with Mick and our move off to the designated site accompanied by the first of many
Common Kestrels seen during the day as a whole.
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| Very distant shot of Little Bustard Sison Comun Tetrax tetrax |
No sooner had we arrived than a distant
Black-bellied Sandgrouse took flight and resulted in a total of at least eight individuals moving across the sight. Then, moving on to the old ruin, a
Little Bustard came into view to be followed by a
Short-toed Lark as we drove towards the neighbouring almond orchard. The first
Rollers had arrived in the area only a few days before so we worked our way round to their new nest site in time to see the target birds disappearing off towards the almond trees. All that was left was yet another pair of
Corn Buntings to add to the many already seen on site along with , as before,
Crested,
Thekla and
Calandra Larks.
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| And then the Black-bellied Sandgrouse Ganga Ortega Pterocvles orientalis flew over in the distance |
Both
Wood Pigeon and
Goldfinches were seen as we made our way through the avenues of trees in the orchard trying to seek out our illusive
Roller whilst, at the same time, keeping in mind that we still had yet one more target bird to locate. Then the bird was found but, too late, we were already within a couple of metres and the bird took off. Ans so we crept and crawled along n the car trying to catch up with our target. Eventually, we were to spend very many minutes with close views of the bird; a lovely site to see them in their natural habitat rather than simply sat on wires above a road.
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| Roller Carraca Europea Coracias garrulus posing in its natural habitat |
So, one species to go but not looking very promising. Even Mick had to admit that he thought their numbers were down this year and so, finally, we took a final ride through the far fields to the next , large almond orchard. Then, out of nowhere, Mick heard that distinctive call of a "yaffling" Green Woodpecker and a double dose of A class drugs and we saw a quick movement a few trees back. Out of the car and a good walk round and, then, we managed to spot the bird almost hidden near the top of a well-leaved tree. Yes, finally, we had found our final target bird, the
Great Spotted Cuckoo. Then, rather like the cream on top of the cake, as we drove to the end of the orchard I gave Mick the instruction to "Stop!" as, sitting well-exposed in a tree on his side was yet another individual. Perhaps the Mapies have changed their preferred nesting site and the cuckoos have simply followed on. This was potentially born out when a
Common Magpie landed in a tree not ten metres away where we could clearly see its nest. Too late now to close the stable door!
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| Finally, we found our Great Spotted Cuckoos Crialo Europeo Clamator glandarius |
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| The object of the Great Spotted Cuckoos nest searching, a Magpie Urraca Pica pica |
Job done, I left Mick to make mt way over to
Ronda but, with about forty-minutes to spare, took the opportunity to take the track up the lower slopes of the
Sierra Loja to check out the main quarry and see if the local Eagle Owl was once more on site. No, it was not. On the other hand, I did pick up a male
Black Redstart,
Stonechat,
Crag Martins and
Choughs overhead. Then, as I drove back to the track back down to the petrol station, another
Woodchat Shrike.
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| Also seen, many Bee-eaters Abejaruco Europeo Merops apiaster |
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| There seemed to be Corn Buntings Triguero Emberiza calandra everywhere |
Onwards and westwards and still time to spend twenty minutes at
Laguna Dulce to check out the present avian occupants. On the way a small flock of
Red-rumped Swallows crossed the road and at least forty
Cattle Egrets feeding in a road-side field. Lots of
Common Coots but relatively few gulls of which most were
Yellow-legged and
Lesser Black-backed gulls. A number of
Grebes, mainly
Black-necked but also both
Little and
Great Crested Grebes. A couple of nearby
Flamingos and then a small selection of ducks including both
Common and
Red-crested Pochard,
White-headed Duck and
Mallard. A single
Marsh Harrier quartered the far reeds whilst behind me a cacophony of song form the
Cetti's and
Reed Warblers. Finally, it was a pleasure to watch the feeding
Whiskered and
Gull-billed Terns.
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| In addition to the Laguna Dulce, Fuente produced plenty of Whiskered Terns Fumarel Cariblanco Chlidonias hybrida |
Business finished in Ronda and chance to wish Pieter a happy birthday, it was back to
Fuente de Piedra, a passing
Grey Heron overhead n the way, and a brief stop at the
Mirador Cantarranas. Lots of
Flamingos to be seen but I decided to press on to the main entrance having heard that there were many waders to be seen on the flooded field on the left approaching the car park. And that was certainly true with yet more
Whiskered Terns also feeding from the surface of the water. Also at this site were numerous
Curlew Sandpipers along with a sizable selection of
Dunlin,
Little Stint,
Ruff,
Ringed and
Little Ringed Plovers,
Redshank and
Common Sandpiper. Both
Coot and
Black-winged Stilts were also making the most of this feeding opportunity whilst a number of
Avocet fed near the far bank.
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| Numbers down but still plenty of Ruff Combatiente Philomachus pugnax to be seen |
Too many visitors to make it worthwhile walking across the causeway so I concentrated on the laguneta at the back of the site. A small number of
Black-headed Gulls but also a
Mediterranean Gull with an almost black head accompany the gulls an occasional
Little Grebe. Mainly
Shovelers on the water, there was also a small number of
Common Pochard,
Mallard and
Gadwall present. Meanwhile, immediately in front of the main hide, there were a score or more of feeding
Jackdaws on the field and a couple of
Moorhen working their way back to the water. Finally, the small pool in front of the smaller hide produced a pair of
Red-crested Pochards and a couple of female individuals.
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| Now here's the challenge; how many waders can you identify? |
And so, eventually and much Later than I had intended, I set off for home having reached a total of
63 species.
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| All the Shovelers Cuchara comun Anas clpeata seemed to be on the laguneta |
Birds seen:
Gadwall, Mallard, Shoveler, Red-crested Pochard, Pochard, White-headed Duck, Little Grebe, Great Crested Grebe, Black-necked Grebe, Cattle Egret, Heron, Flamingo, Marsh Harrier, Kestrel, Moorhen, Coot, Little Bustard, Black-winged Stilt, Avocet, Little Ringed Plover, Ringed Plover, Little Stint, Curlew Sandpiper, Dunlin, Ruff, Redshank, Common Sandpiper, Mediterranean Gull, Black-headed Gull, Lesser Black-backed Gull, Yellow-legged Gull, Gull-billed Tern, Whiskered Tern, Black-bellied Sandgrouse, Rock Dove, Wood Pigeon, Collared Dove, Great Spotted Cuckoo, Little Owl, Bee-eater, Roller, Hoopoe, Calandra Lark, Short-toed Lark, Crested Lark, Thekla Lark, Crag Martin, Barn Swallow, House Martin, Red-rumped Swallow, Black Redstart, Stonechat, Blackbird, Mistle Thrush, Cetti's Warbler, Reed Warbler, Bonelli's Warbler, Great Tit, Woodchat Shrike, Azure-winged Magpie, Magpie, Chough, Jackdaw, Spotless Starling, House Sparrow, Chaffinch, Serin, Goldfinch, Corn Bunting.
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| Another look at the delicate colours of the Roller Carraca Europea Coracias garrulus |
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