This was our last full day and probably our last birding of the tour as we have to leave early in the morning for the airport. But what a great day out, we saw some super birds and one fantastic sighting, a first for me in Andalucia!
Our breakfast was taken at the usual time of 7am we were in the bus by 7:50am heading to the edge of the village to collect Jane who was coming out with us for the day.
We drove straight to the Encias Borrachas track in the hope of finding a Black-eared Wheatear but our short walk did not produce one, they have now, for sure, all left the breeding area and headed off to Africa.
We did find both Southern Grey and Woodchat Shrikes, Corn Bunting, Stonechat, Black Wheatear, Goldfinch and our first Peregrine Falcon of the trip.
Sierra de las Nieves is always a little cooler than anywhere else nearby but today it was very chilly with lots of fast moving cloud over the mountains. We parked in the first car park and birded the immediate surroundings, it was very quiet but we had great views of Common Redstart.
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| Common Redstart |
Our visit through this expansive natural park consisted of driving to open areas surrounded by mountains, fir forests and cork woods. Along the track we saw Eurasian Jay, European Robin, Blue Tit and a couple of Spotted Flycatchers. The first time we stopped we found, within seconds of stepping out of the bus, a Golden Eagle, the bird flew over the nearest ridge and away from us before disappearing into the clouds. Next we found both Dartford Warbler and Spectacled Warbler on the heath and a few more Stonechats.
Deeper into the reserve we stopped at the edge of a pine wood where we had a frustrating time trying to see Firecrest, Coal Tit and Crested Tit as they fed high up in the canopy. It was a little windy and the light wasn't good but some of us managed to see all three. On the way back down the track we stopped for a second time in the open valley and what a great choice. The sky had cleared somewhat so we spent more time looking for eagles. We saw Short-toed Eagle, Common Kestrel, Red-billed Chough and a few Griffon Vultures. Then another large raptor appeared and headed straight over us, to my great amazement the bird was a LAMMERGEIER UNBELIEVEABLE11 This was the first one I had ever seen in Andalucia and I presumed that it was one of the re-introduced birds from the Sierra de Morena.
After that excitement we drove to a venta for a quick cup of coffee before making our way to Laguna Dulce. We made two stops along the way, both of which didn't produce many new species but we did see: Honey Buzzard (8), Booted Eagle, Short-toed Eagle, Crag Martin and several Griffon Vultures.
The rest of the afternoon was spent visit the hide at laguna Dulce and first the fields around the back of the laguna. It was quite quiet but we found over 50 Yellow Wagtails, a single Whinchat, Northern Wheatear, Marsh Harrier and in a smaller laguna we saw Night Heron, White headed Duck, Lapwing, Black-winged Stilt and lots of Cattle Egrets.
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| Red-knobbed Coot |
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| White-headed Duck |
The main laguna was covered in birds, thousands of them, mostly Common Coots, mallards and Shoveler but also over 100 White-headed Ducks, many grebes of 3 species and few very good species. First we found a Red-knobbed Coot, then a Ferruginous Duck and several Red-crested Pochard. Over 30 species were recorded on and around the water, fantastic.
On the way back home we stopped to search for Rock Bunting but only found Black Wheatear, Black Redstart and Red-legged Partridge. We arrived home at 6pm to conclude the tour.
We had seen 171 species and heard another two, quite a superb list of birds for this time of year in southern Spain.
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