This is one of my favourite walks and even though the NE wind tried hard to ruin the day for me, it failed miserably. We were joined by Paul and Helen from the village and both of them contributed well to the list.
Spectacled Warbler
On arrival we quickly logged Southern Grey Shrike, Linnet, Stonechat, Corn Bunting, Thekla lark and Black-eared Wheatear in the open valley.
Orphean Warbler - white eyering just visible
As we approached the heath we found Woodlark, Common Cuckoo and Helen pulled a great find out of the bag - a Golden Eagle!.The bird was being mobbed by two Common Kestrels, they looked tiny in comparison, they eventually drove it off but not before we all got good flight views of the sub-adult plummage. Super stuff. A flock of some 20+ Red-billed Chough filled the air and both Booted and Short-toed Eagles joined Griffon Vultures in the cloudy sky. On the heath itself we had good views of Dartford Warbler before moving into the cork oak woodland.
Portugese Dappled White
The woodland provided some great views of both Bonelli's and Orphean Warbler, we also saw Jay, Wood Pigeon, Subalpine Warbler and Robin.
During the return journey to the minbus we had very close views of Spectacled Warbler and better views of Black-eared Wheatear, Thekla Lark and Southern Grey Shrike.
Green hairstreak
The afternoon was spent in the huge natural park of Sierras de las Nieves which we found a bit too windy and birdless. After an hours walk we found a flock of Bee-eaters, Short-toed Eagle, a couple of interesting butterflies and not much else. We drove deeper into the park to find some shelter and logged Common Redstart, Great Tit and Rock Bunting in the process.
The group along the Encinas Borrachas trail
After a coffee stop we returned to Gaucin seeing another Rock Bunting, Red-rumped Swallow and Griffon Vultures along the way.
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