2/6/22 – Today we headed for the Hecho Valley, first driving down the bottom of the Valley to re-visit the ‘Kite field’ we saw on the way here. On route we saw a couple of Griffon Vultures near Anso and a Black Kite over Hecho village.
Arriving at the field we found several Red and Black Kites but not as many as there had been on Tuesday. After watching them for a while and taking photos we headed back up the valley seeing a Buzzard over Siresa where we had our usual coffee stop.
Moving on we drove right up onto the alpine meadows, finding the previously bumpy hard-core Road had been properly surfaced. Great news for the car! At the meadows , in the absence of any birds, we admired several types of orchid before a nice Yellohammer showed itself. As we set off to return to the picnic area we spotted a Red-backed Shrike perched on a branch, just feet away from the road giving us a great view from the car and the opportunity for many photos!
We ate our lunch on our usual picnic table where we were entertained by a Grey Wagtail, flying up and down the river. After lunch we walked over to the bridge and right on cue a Dipper appeared feeding in the river and landing on various rocks. The only other birds noted were White Wagtail, Chaffinch and Great Tit.
We decided to take a drive up to Gabardito which sadly added little apart from an Egyptian Vulture which landed briefly in a field of cows before flying off again.
We set off back to Anso seeing more Griffons and Black Kites on route. Another enjoyable day.
