Today we decided to head up into the mountains for a picnic. The birds proved rather hard to find but the weather and the picnic were nice so we were not too worried. Things improved a bit when we left Sierra Altaona and headed towards the coast. We spotted a Woodchat Shrike on a wire on the same part of road where we had seen one last year. We had passed the bird before we could stop, so John turned the car round and we came back to try to get a photo. However, as we approached the bird John spotted an eagle in the air and set off to follow it. John pulled the car off the road and we were able to get a good look at the eagle. We were delighted to find it was a Short toed Eagle! We headed for the coast spotting a White Stork in the air somewhere near Roldan and finished up at Lo Monte where the usual Little Grebe, White headed Ducks, Pochards and Cormorants were in evidence but not much else. All in all it was a day for quality rather than quantity.
Species list – Little Grebe, Cormorant, White Stork, Pochard, White headed Duck, Short toed Eagle, Kestrel, Coot, Black headed Gull, Collared Dove, Woodpigeon, Little Owl, Common Swift, Crested Lark, Swallow, House Martin, White Wagtail, Black Wheatear, Blackbird, Sardinian Warbler, Southern Grey Shrike, Woodchat Shrike, Jackdaw, House Sparrow, Greenfinch, Goldfinch, Corn Bunting.