Just outside Láchar, heading south, we stopped on a farm track to look at a Grey Heron (garza real) and whilst here, we also saw Barn Swallow (golondrina común), Southern Grey Shrike (alcaudón real meridional), Common Chiffchaff (mosquitero común), Eurasian Kestrel (cernicalo vulgar), Common Magpie (urraca), Tree Sparrow (gorrión molinero), Mistle thrush (zorzal charlo), Wood Pigeon (paloma torcaz), Blackcap (curruca capirotada), House Sparrow (gorrión común), Chaffinch (pinzón vulgar), White Wagtail (lavan-dera blanca), Meadow Pipit (bisbita común), Spotless Starling (estornino negro), Crested Lark (cogujada común) and European Serin (verdecillo). We then moved on to a small río near Peñuelas seeing 2x Stone-curlew (alcaraván común), Corn Bunting (triguero) and another Southern Grey Shrike.
Passing through Castillo de Tajarja, Great Tit (carbonero común) and Sardinian Warbler(curruca
cabecinegra) were added to the list. Once through the town we headed for El Turro, stopping at a high point along the road to have a scan for raptors. Great Spotted Cuckoos (críalo europeo) were heard but kept themselves well hidden in the olives trees. We did see Hoopoe (abubilla), Black Redstart (colirrojo tizón) and Crested Lark.
Further on we turned on to a track and par-ked next to Cortijo de las Capitanas and looked out over the cropfields, here 3x Litt-le Bustards (sisón común) were seen and the Male was leking. Also in this area we saw Calandra Lark (calandria), Rock Sparrow (gorrión chillón), Little Owl (mochuelo europeo), Black Wheatear (collalba negra) and Jackdaw (grajilla).
We did not find any Black-bellied Sandgrouse (ganga ortega) so we moved on to the Embalse del Cacín, a small reservoir in the valley. Here we were to make the fi nd of the day: a pair of Red-
knobbed Coots (focha moruna) in suitable breeding habitat. Also here we saw Common Coot (focha común), Little Grebe (zampullin común), Cormorant (cormorán grande), Shoveler (cuchara común), Pochard (porrón europeo), Tufted Duck (porrón moñudo), Moorhen (gallineta común), Azure-winged Magpie (rabilargo), White Wagtail, Common Magpie, Jay (arrendajo), Spotless Starling, Sardinian Warbler, Common Chiffchaff and Jackdaw. Also seen near the lake were several spikes of Ophrys fusca subsp fusca.
We then drove across to the Pantaneta de Alhama, a small lake with marginal reed beds and woodland to check whether the Red-knobbed Coot which arrived here back in 2008 was there.
It was and this confirmed that the two birds at Cacin were new.
Here we also saw Pochard, Common coot, Little Grebe, Shove-
ler, Great Tit, Coal Tit (carbonero garrapinos), Long-tailed Tit(mito), Kingfishe(martinpescador), White Wagtail, Grey Wagtail (lavandera cascadena), Crag Martin (avión roquero), Cetti’s Warbler (ruisenor bastardo), House Martin (avión común) Chiffchaff, Short-toed Treecreeper (agateador común), Robin (petirrojo), Grey Heron, Cormorant, Water Rail (rascón europeo), Collared Dove (tórtola turca) and a single Clouded Yellow (colias Común).
We then had a coffee at a café opposite the lake where we saw Red-rumped Swallow (Golondrina Dáurica) and a strange plant pot wearing ceremony by Jorge.
On the way out of Alhama we travelled along the top of the Gorge where we had great views of a female Sparrowhawk (gavilán común) Plus Linnet (pardillo común) and Wild-leaved Iris (Iris planifolia). The final stop was in the gorge of the río Cacín where we had fantastic views of Bonelli’s Eagle (águila-azor perdicera).
We were also inspecting the evergreen shrubs along the gorge, founding Kermes Oak (coscoja), Mediterranean Buckthorn (aladierno), Rhamnus lycioides (espino negro), Small-flowered Gorse (aulaga) in full yellow blooming and the Gibraltar Hare’s ear (Bupleurum gibraltaricum), an interesting southern Iberian-North African endemism growing in basic soils.
We left this unbeatable spot and headed to a small hamlet by Los Bermejales reservoir dam, where we stopped and inspecting some deserted buildings where we found a colony of hibernating bats. The species turned out to be G r e a t e rH o r s e s h o e (Rhinolophus ferrumequium).
SITES VISITED AND SPECIES SEEN
Sites Visited:
Lachar and Peñuelas villages. El Turro Area, Contraembalse del Cacin, Pantaneta de Alhama, Alhama gorges (Eastern side), gorge of the Rio Cacín and Los Bermejales hamlet.
The bird list achieved 72 species:
Little Grebe, Great Crested Grebe, Great Cormorant, Cattle Egret, Little Egret, Grey Heron, Mallard, Shoveler, Common Pochard, Tufted Duck, Bonelli’s Eagle,CommonBuzzard,Sparrohawk, Common Kestrel, Red-legged Partridge, Water Rail, Moorhen, Coot, Crested Coot, Little Bustard, Stone-curlew, Feral Pigeon, Wood Pigeon, Collared Dove, Great Spotted Cuckoo, Little- owl, Hoopoe, Kingfisher, Iberian Green Woodpecker, Skylark, Crested Lark, Woodlark, Calandra Lark, Crag Martin, Barn Swallow, Red-rumped Swallow, House Martin, Meadow Pipit, White Wagtail, Grey Wagtail, Robin, Black Redstart, Black Wheatear, Stonechat, Song Thrush, Mistle Thrush, Blackbird, Blackcap, Sardinian Warbler, Cetti’s Warbler, Chiffchaff, Firecrest, Great Tit, Coal Tit, Blue Tit, Long-tailed Tit, Shorttoed Treecreeper, Southern Grey Shrike, Azure-winged Magpie, Iberian Magpie, Jay, Jackdaw, Spotless Starling, House Sparrow, Tree Sparrow, Rock Sparrow, Chaffinch, Linnet, Goldfinch, Greenfinch, Serin and Corn Bunting.
Focha moruna
De una manera sorprendente, un ejemplar de focha moruna ‘Fulica cristata’ apareció la víspera
del ‘Día de las Aves’ (4 de octubre de 2008) en la Pantaneta de Alhama. El ejemplar en cuestión parece ser un macho por lo abultado de las protuberancias frontales. En el mundillo ornitológico se ha creado un debate sobre su supuesto origen, debido sobre todo a un vídeo donde parece apreciarse que porta una anilla de color en una de sus patas. El individuo en cuestión permanecía en el mismo lugar el pasado 21 de febrero.
De grandísimo interés supone el avistamiento que realizamos durante esta salida de DOS
fochas morunas más en el Contraembalse del Cacín (21-feb-2009).
Crónica y boletín: MICK RICHARDSON y JORGE GARZÓN
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