Today I collected Nick and his son James from their holiday finca near San Pablo, they had both been out with me before on a trip to the coast, so I decided that a trip into the Serrania de Ronda mountains was a good idea.
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| James and Nick in the Llnos de Libar |
Low cloud and thick mist filled the Guadiaro valley near San Pablo but as we climbed higher the mist cleared and we had unbroken sunshine all day. The temperature rose to 36C during the middle of the afternoon and only a light breeze gave us a little respite from the heat. We set off at 7:30am and arrived at the Rio Guadiaro near Estacion Cortes some 30 minutes later.
We began logging birds along the river with Chaffinch, Grey Wagtail, WEhite Wagtail and serin quickly on the list. Next we found a large flock of some 50+ Rock Sparrows, they were a little distant but they did come a little nearer later on. Stonechats were common as were Goldfinches, House martins and Pallid Swifts.
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| Juvenile Black Redstart - you can seen the yellow gape on the bill and the tail movement that is typical of the species |
A Short-toed Eagle drifted over and few Griffon Vultures circled on the thermals over the distant hillside. Back at the river a Kingfisher flashed by, a Cetti's Warbler called and we had good views of Willow Warbler and a couple of what were most probably Iberian Chiffchaffs. Greenfinch, Blue Tit, Blackbird, Robin and Blackcap were all coming down to drink. A small flock of European Bee-eaters hawked insects over the scrub on the hillside.
Our next stop was at the beautiful valley behind the town of Montejaque, we parked in the shade and took a slow gentle walk up the valley hoping for more good sightings. It was now getting very warm so we spent a lot of time in the shade of the mountainside or olive trees! Black Redstarts were quite common with a family party milling around the track and it wasn't too long before we logged Spectacled Warblers, also in a family party. Our first Black Wheatear was found by James perched high up to our left (the Wheatear not James). . Then over the next hour or so we watched several more Black Wheatears, Blue Rock Thrush, Rock Bunting, Linnet, lots of Stonechats and Goldfinches. A Melodious Warbler was a nice find and above us a constant stream of Griffon Vultures drifted through the valley. We found another Short-toed Eagle perched high up on the rocks, an adult Woodchat Shrike and a couple of Common Kestrels dashed about the cliff face.
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| juvenile Black-eared Wheatear - they will all be gone in a couple of weeks time! |
Back at the car we sat in the shade and ate our lunch, the lunch was somewhat soggy as my bottle of water had leaked all over the sandwiches, how nice! During our lunch break (which turned out to be a siesta with the two adults drifting in and out of sleep) James found a couple of Alpine Swifts they cut through the sky like a scythe through hay as they sped about above us, they were joined by a few Crag Martins.
At about 3pm we drove round to the other side of the Libar valley and joined the Ronda road to visit the Encinas Borraches track. It was still very hot but a nice breeze kept us cool. Not many birds were on show we really had to work to find any! Eventually we found a single juvenile Woodchat, two juvenile Black-eared Wheatears and lots of Goldfinches.
We called it a day at pm and drove back down the valley to San Pablo, after enjoying a nice cold beer with Nick, Jo, James and Imogen on their shady teerace, a couple of Booted Eagles circled over the finca just before I left. I set off for home at 5:30pm and after my arrival I promptly fell asleep on the couch.
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