With a flight booked for Christmas in the UK, I’ve still had time for one last trip up the mountain before the break, and we headed off last week on familiar tracks for Puente Palo.
Stonechat
The hillsides had a bleak, exposed feel to them that day… and it has to be said as we wound our way up towards the tree-line the birds were few and far between. A few House Sparrows around the scattered buildings as we climbed away from village of course, and just a few tough little Stonechat and the odd Black Redstart stood guard along the track…so it was great to see our local Southern Grey Shrike again before we left open ground.
Southern Grey Shrike
We heard and then saw at least one Firecrest soon after we entered the tree-line, and picked up a couple of Rock Bunting as we continued on up to the conifers and pines of Puente Palo…
Rock Bunting
…where we stopped for lunch, and watched Blue, Coal, Great and Long-tailed Tits foraging in the tree-tops. We heard the shrill, laughing call of an (Iberian) Green Woodpecker before we left, and had great views of a Nuthatch before tackling the slow drive back down.
Nuthatch
Flocks of churring, suspicious Mistle Thrushes – truly wild, and very difficult to approach – flapped away noisily as we wound our way downhill, and both a Kestrel and a Buzzard showed well on roadside perches before we left the woodland behind and headed down the mountainside to the village.
Kestrel
Thanks to our birdwatching friend Terry for the terrific shot we finish with today. Merry Christmas to all our readers…we’re already looking forward to the New Year, so please keep reading our posts when we return in January. And if you’d like to know more about the birdwatching trips and holidays we offer down here in southern Spain…all the details are only a click away!
