Monday 24 July 2017

Spain - Day 3, Ronda y Mijas, 19th July 2017

Today was the day I was looking forward to the most. By 9.00am our coaches had set off on the journey to Ronda - the town on the cliffs. 
The journey itself was eventful, with incredible views and good birds as well. A group of Cattle egret flew overhead, while 2 Great white Egret sat by a boating lake. More birds of prey were seen, and more poor silhouette shots were taken. Alpine Swifts swirled around, as did White-rumped Swifts.

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Cattle Egret

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???

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White Rumped Swift
After around an hour and a half, we arrived and were given some free-time to have a look around. By a little park, a Short-toed Treecreeper could be heard but not seen. Then we got to the cliffs - Crag Martins flew around in numbers, and a Rock Sparrow flew downwards. A large bird flew over very fast, leaving me frustrated. 

????
In the gorge, there were around 50 Choughs.

Choughs

Choughs
A pair of Kestrel clung to the cliff, and the Swifts and Crag Martins dashed by.

Kestrel

Crag Martin


Swift
Fortunately, I spotted a small blue bird leap across the cliffs around 300m down. A delightful Blue Rock Thrush!

Blue rock Thrush

Blue Rock Thrush
Now is a bird that I've spent every day trying to identify. It's probably something very common but I've missed it, but it looked around the size of a small falcon, circling the bottom of the gorge, then disappeared. This is completely unedited, only cropped. Please comment if you have an idea of what this is.

(I have absolutely NO idea what this is)
After a walk in a bullring, we were given a little more freetime, and I added Bonelli's Eagle, Booted Eagle, Lesser Kestrel and Griffon Vulture to the day's birds. 
Booted Eagle

Griffon Vulture
After leaving, we went to a small village called 'Las Mijas' where a House martin was feeding young in a little tower.
House Martin

House Martin
A great day, with lots of unknown species. With the last day being the 20th, hopefully some other things would get added to the list.

2 comments:

  1. Hello Arjun,
    I finally got to show the picture of your mysterious bird to the most trustworthy bird guide I know and he says it is a Crag Martin; he says the colours look odd because the picture is backlit and a bit overexposed.

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    Replies
    1. Thanks Tinúviel,
      I forgot to edit the page but I realised what it was, it just looked bigger in the picture than what it literally was!
      Many thanks anyway!

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