SATURDAY 5TH OCTOBER - DAY TOUR

SIERRA DE LAS NIEVES - LAGUNA DULCE - SERRANIA DE RONDA NEAR ATAJATE

Richard and Mike joined Stephen and myself for this day tour. The weather was superb once again, with clear sky and very little wind - it did get very warm at 30C (4pm) at Laguna Dulce.

Richard, Stephen and Mike at Sierra de las Nieves

We set off from Gaucin at 8:30am and drove to Ronda making a couple of brief stops to look at a few species seen from the car. In the mountains near Atajate we found Black Wheatear (4 males), Black Redstart, Blur Rock Thrush and a Rock Sparrow was seen on a wall as we drove passed it.


The weather conditions were exactly the same as our previous visit to Sierra de las Nieves but the bird life was very different. Many Migrant birds had cleared out after a couple of clear nights so we had to search for birds this time around. We parked at the entrance car park and walked into thew open grassland where scattered trees and bushes held a few birds. We found Pied Flycatcher, Common Chaffinch, Woodlark, Long-tailed Tit, Willow Warbler, Jay, Garden Warbler and not much else.

Woodlark

As we drove deeper into the reserve we stopped to scan the heath for warblers and we scanned the sky for raptors. On the heath we found Stonechat, Dartford Warbler, Common Whitethroat and a Northern Wheatear. The sky remained empty for the duration of our stay. One Griffon Vulture perched on a rock face and three more drifted over.

Dartford Warbler and Common Whitethroat seen on the same fence

Our last stop was near a pine wood where we searched for and found:  Crested Tit, Coal Tit, Firecrest, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Eurasian Nuthatch and a pair of Common Crossbills.

We ate our lunch in lovely sunshine at a picnic site nearby before driving out of the reserve to a venta on the main road. After a quick coffee stop we set off for Campillos and the laguna Dulce.

The Laguna was covered in birds as it has been for the last month. Hundreds of Mallards, Northern Shoveler, Common Coot were joined by Common Pochard, White Headed Duck, Red-crested Pochard, Gadwall, 3 grebe species, Black-headed Gulls and Moorhens. There were 3 Black Terns and 5 Western Marsh Harriers. We then found a single RED KNOBBED COOT, 2 FERRUGINOUS DUCKS and a little later 2 BLUETHROATS. On the shoreline we saw a couple of Black-winged Stilts, Common Snipe and Yellow Wagtails.

On the way back to Gaucin we stopped to watch a pair of Blue Rock Thrush and also found Black Redstart, Corn Bunting and another Black Wheatear.