The winds had changed today, we were faced with blustery easterly winds which started very lightly and built up later to strong force.
We made a very early start leaving Gaucin in the dark at 7am, we were joined by an extra two people, Jayne and Geoff who were on holiday from Manchester. Our first stop was at Penny and John's finca near Casares. We visited them because Penny run's a moth trap and John nets and rings birds. We spent a lovely couple hours learning about Spanish moths and seeing many varieties. John only caught 2 birds in the nets (because it was very windy) but one of them was an Iberian Chiffchaff which made it very interesting.
At Torreguadiaro the wind kept many birds out of sight but we logged Spotted Flycatcher, Stonechat, Little Egret, Grey Heron, Little Grebe, Purple Swamphen, Eurasian Teal, Moorhen and Coot.
We arrived at Los Lances beach in very strong winds but we managed to get to the hide in one piece. Surprisingly there was a good selection of birds on the beach near the hide: Audouin's Gull, Sandwich Terns, Common Terns, Sanderling, Dunlin, Bar-tailed Godwit, Redshank, Kentish Plover, Knot, Ringed Plover and a very unusual bird for the beach a Greater Flamingo.
On the grassy area behind the beach we found a Hoopoe, Tawny Pipit (2), Yellow Wagtail (5) and a couple of Crested larks. During our time there we also saw Black Kite, Griffon Vulture and Short-toed Eagle.
We ate our picnic lunch in the Ojen valley about 3 km inland where it was quite sheltered from the wind. Along the way we found Corn buntings and hundreds of Cattle Egrets. Just after lunch we started birding again in earnest and logged lots of raptors above us which included a couple of Egyptian Vultures and after we finshed eating we walked a short distance to a stream where we found a small group of Monarch Butterflies feeding on lantana plants.
Monarch Butterfly
La Janda was relatively quiet but we found hundreds of White Storks, Cattle Egrets, Glossy Ibis, Little Egrets and Goldfnches. there were also huge flocks of Wood Pigeons. Other sightings included Alpine Swift, Common Pheasant, Purple Heron, Green Sandpiper, Kingfisher (3), Turtle Dove (5) and lots of Booted Eagles, Short-toed Eagles and Griffon vultures.
We drove a complete circular route finishing off at Facinas, in the fields around this area we found several Lesser Kestrels, lots of Montagu's and Marsh Harriers, Woodchat Shrikes and another Hoopoe.
We then drove back to Gaucin arriving at 6:30pm having spent nearly 12 hours in the field. Our tally was disappointingly low but we can blame this on the windy conditions.
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