Guadalentin Valley – Mark Etheridge

For our second trip this week, myself, Bryan and Trevor went to the Guadalentin valley – despite the initially overcast weather we had yet more great birds! These included Nightingale and Quail (heard only despite our best efforts to flush one from a field) Hoopoe, Magpie, Red rumped Swallow, Greater Short toed Lark, Stone Curlew, Corn Bunting, Iberian Green Woodpecker, Roller, Bee eater, Jackdaw, Montagu’s Harrier, Black eared Wheatear, Short toed Eagle, Rufous Bushchat, Spectacled Warbler, and the usual suspects from this area. Dip of the day was a Black-bellied Sandgrouse very close to the car, which flushed as soon as we had stopped the car but before we could get the cameras on it! Guadalentin proved to be a very worthwhile trip, with high-quality birds almost everywhere.