A very windy day with a clear sky had us all scrambling for our warm fleeces, scarves and gloves. In actual fact it was very warm in the sheltered areas of the woods but most of us kept on our coats for the whole day.
We set off at 8:30am and headed north towards Ronda from Gaucin and after a couple of clicks we stopped near the Plaza de Torro - Gaucin's defunct Bull Ring. We quickly found a Eurasian Nuthatch and then plenty of Blue and Great Tits, Chaffinches and Serins. But not much more after that, a party of Long-tailed Tits were nice, we saw a Mistle Thrush flash by, a Sparrowhawk circled above us and many Griffon Vultures drifted over.
Our walk along ther Rio Guadiaro at Estacion de Cortes was much more rewarding. The river held White Wagtail, Grey Wagtail and Little Ringed Plover, there were half a dozen Nightingales singing and one was seen by some of the group. We watched Blackcaps, Cirl Bunting, Garden Warbler, Woodchat Shrikes, Mistle Thrush, Rock Sparrows, Short-toed Treecreeper, Stonechats and Barn Swallows. In the sky we found Booted Eagle, Griffon Vultures and we had great views of Short-toed Eagle. During our walk we had tantalising views of Hawfinch but as we ate our picnic lunch at the end of the walk we had good views of a male.
Around 1pm we drove up through Cortes and on to Montejaque where we visited the area behind the dam that doesn't work. In the rock scree we found Black Wheatear, Blue Rock Thrush and below us in the more open area we saw Southern Grey Shrike, Linnet, Spotless Starling and more Stonechats.
Our last port of call was the cork wood above Montejaque, which was a little disappointing. We only saw Eurasian Nuthatch, Chaffinches, Blue Tits, Great Tits and a few Greenfinches. We did hear a Bonelli's Warbler & Wood Pigeon. Back at the bus we watched a pair of Red-rumped Swallows, gracing the sky with their elegant flights of fancy.
A few butterflies added to our enjoyment of the beautiful mountainous-habitat, we saw Small White, Scarce Swallowtail, Speckled Wood, Large Tortoiseshell and Green Hairstreak.
One last stop produced another Short-toed Eagle and a Red-legged Partridge, we arrived back at Gaucin at 5pm, the wind had dropped off and the sun was now very warm. The tally for the day was only 52 species, I blame the windy conditions not the bird guide for suh a low a total!
We set off at 8:30am and headed north towards Ronda from Gaucin and after a couple of clicks we stopped near the Plaza de Torro - Gaucin's defunct Bull Ring. We quickly found a Eurasian Nuthatch and then plenty of Blue and Great Tits, Chaffinches and Serins. But not much more after that, a party of Long-tailed Tits were nice, we saw a Mistle Thrush flash by, a Sparrowhawk circled above us and many Griffon Vultures drifted over.
Our walk along ther Rio Guadiaro at Estacion de Cortes was much more rewarding. The river held White Wagtail, Grey Wagtail and Little Ringed Plover, there were half a dozen Nightingales singing and one was seen by some of the group. We watched Blackcaps, Cirl Bunting, Garden Warbler, Woodchat Shrikes, Mistle Thrush, Rock Sparrows, Short-toed Treecreeper, Stonechats and Barn Swallows. In the sky we found Booted Eagle, Griffon Vultures and we had great views of Short-toed Eagle. During our walk we had tantalising views of Hawfinch but as we ate our picnic lunch at the end of the walk we had good views of a male.
Around 1pm we drove up through Cortes and on to Montejaque where we visited the area behind the dam that doesn't work. In the rock scree we found Black Wheatear, Blue Rock Thrush and below us in the more open area we saw Southern Grey Shrike, Linnet, Spotless Starling and more Stonechats.
Our last port of call was the cork wood above Montejaque, which was a little disappointing. We only saw Eurasian Nuthatch, Chaffinches, Blue Tits, Great Tits and a few Greenfinches. We did hear a Bonelli's Warbler & Wood Pigeon. Back at the bus we watched a pair of Red-rumped Swallows, gracing the sky with their elegant flights of fancy.
A few butterflies added to our enjoyment of the beautiful mountainous-habitat, we saw Small White, Scarce Swallowtail, Speckled Wood, Large Tortoiseshell and Green Hairstreak.
One last stop produced another Short-toed Eagle and a Red-legged Partridge, we arrived back at Gaucin at 5pm, the wind had dropped off and the sun was now very warm. The tally for the day was only 52 species, I blame the windy conditions not the bird guide for suh a low a total!
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