John & Betty are staying with us here in Gaucin for 5 nights and have chosen to join me for two days birding. Today, after a hearty breakfast, we set off in the direction of Ronda . The sky was clear blue, the wind was minimal, I just love this kind of weather, it makes it all worth while!
We visited my usual spot along the Rio Guadiaro, where several good sightings were made, we watched Kingfishers, Wagtails, Flycatchers, Blackcaps and finches, we had glimpses of Great Spotted Woodpecker, Cirl Bunting and not much else.
We worked our way up to Montejaque with several stops producing 30+ Griffon Vultures, a couple of Blue Rock Thrushes, Thekla Lark and Crag Martin.
At Montejaque we had good views of Black Wheatear, Blue Rock Thrush, Short-toed Eagle, we a brief view of a Rock Bunting and more Griffon vultures drifted over. We ate lunch overlooking the gorge at Tabniza where we saw Raven, Black Redstart, Sardinian Warbler, Crag Martin & we glimpsed a Rock Bunting.
The light was perfect, it warmed up to the mid 20's so we sought the shelter of the cork oak forest. We chased several birds around until we finally got ID on Chaffinch, Blue Tit, Great Tit, Mistle Thrush and a very obliging Woodlark. We also got several good views of Red Deer including a couple of superb stags.
Good numbers of Griffon Vultures were gathering in the distance and were seen to dive down towards the ground. We thought maybe a carcass was lying in the fields so we made haste towards them. We couldn't believe how many birds were in the sky, probably between 250-300 Griffon Vultures, amazing.
We visited my usual spot along the Rio Guadiaro, where several good sightings were made, we watched Kingfishers, Wagtails, Flycatchers, Blackcaps and finches, we had glimpses of Great Spotted Woodpecker, Cirl Bunting and not much else.
We worked our way up to Montejaque with several stops producing 30+ Griffon Vultures, a couple of Blue Rock Thrushes, Thekla Lark and Crag Martin.
At Montejaque we had good views of Black Wheatear, Blue Rock Thrush, Short-toed Eagle, we a brief view of a Rock Bunting and more Griffon vultures drifted over. We ate lunch overlooking the gorge at Tabniza where we saw Raven, Black Redstart, Sardinian Warbler, Crag Martin & we glimpsed a Rock Bunting.
The light was perfect, it warmed up to the mid 20's so we sought the shelter of the cork oak forest. We chased several birds around until we finally got ID on Chaffinch, Blue Tit, Great Tit, Mistle Thrush and a very obliging Woodlark. We also got several good views of Red Deer including a couple of superb stags.
Good numbers of Griffon Vultures were gathering in the distance and were seen to dive down towards the ground. We thought maybe a carcass was lying in the fields so we made haste towards them. We couldn't believe how many birds were in the sky, probably between 250-300 Griffon Vultures, amazing.
A short stop near the Cueva de Gato produced very good views of fig-eating Garden Warblers and Blackcaps. Our last stop of the day was along a track some 15km north of Gaucin on the A383. We found over 50 House Martins feeding in the valley and after a while of seeing nothing a group of Griffon Vultures drifted south then, much higher, we logged six Short-toed Eagles and then 2 Alpine Swifts joined the House Martins. We they had gone the returned to being empty and devoid of birds, so we headed home to get ready f
or dinner.
or dinner.Lestes viridis (Western Willow Spreadwing)
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