It's a bright, sunny Wednesday morning down here in the valley below the village of Lanjaron...and with some time on my hands before I start work later in the day it's a great oppurtunity to catch up on what's out and about in the "backyard". In no time at all all the usual suspects had made an appearance...

Within a few minutes I counted three or four Chiffchaff and Blackcap into double figures. A flock of up to a dozen Goldfinch passed through, their liquid, lilting calls adding to the jingling chatter of  parties of Serin in the tree tops nearby...even our decidedly skittish local Blackbirds seemed to have relaxed enough to feed contently in the fruit trees next door.

The churring calls of Sardinian Warblers and darting, animated Black Redstarts completed the familiar scene...and then a real surprise. A Rock Bunting...white edges on a black tail, distinctive black stripes on a battleship-grey head...the first I've ever seen this close to the house and a nice new tick for the month.

A dip in the weather brought a shower of rain and a swift end to any hope of work on the land, but it freed me up for an afternoon of birdwatching as I walked back from the village down to the house. With a Rock Bunting on the day-list I wanted to see how many species I could get on the local patch in a day and I started the count.

Feral Pigeons and Collared Doves both mattered now, and Chaffinches, House Sparrows and Spotless Starlings were all duly recorded. White Wagtails ran about on the road as I made my way downhill and with the day count now in double figures I took a detour along a mule track. With a nice view of a Mistle Thrush the note-book was out again and then a great discovery...a pair of Blue Rock Thrush and a possible nest site!  Saw the slate blue male first, standing guard on the roof of a small ruin, bobbing agitatedly as he watched me watching him. I kept my distance while I noted the location, and he dropped out of sight as his dark brown female returned to join him. Great stuff!

As the track took me a little closer to the valley bottom beautiful, summer-plumage male Black Redstarts were a truly lovely sight and I started to think about "target species" as I approached stands of giant grasses nearer the river. Nice spot for Cetti's Warblers this...and I heard the unmistakable explosive, metallic song almost immediately. A rich, red-brown flash as a bird disappeared into cover only yards away had me sat cross-legged on the path, binoculars trained on a tangle of bramble.

Too good a chance to miss this and I prepared myself to sit there all day if necessary...for once I'd got the exact location of this very secretive species and it was worth the wait. It broke cover, perched nearby and I watched the bird deliver his song once more, with his chestnut tail cocked and chest puffed out with exertion. He stayed for just a few seconds more before flitting away, but I'd got the views I wanted. Fantastic!

I scribbled in my note book and stood up to move on...with the day-list to think about I wanted to get down into the olive groves on the valley bottom, hoping to push my luck a bit and maybe get a Firecrest. Not today, but Great Tits, Blue Tits and Long-tailed Tits showed well and got the count up to 20 species for the afternoon. Of greater interest was the second possible Blue Rock Thrush nest site of the day...once again, both the male and the female in attendance, this time up on a rock-face as I dropped down to the valley floor. Perched on a chumba cactus, both watching keenly as I passed below them, the pair-bond seemed strong as they bobbed irritably at the intrusion. Way too early for a clutch of eggs, surely?

Our local male Kestrel showed well as I turned and headed uphill towards the castle, as did our pair of Ravens and a Sparrowhawk. A walk up through the park to hit the main road and the village brought nice views of Grey Wagtails and a day-count of 24 species...not so bad for a couple of hours!

Highlight of the day? Blue Rock Thrush showing signs of nesting, without a doubt. We're going to keep a close but discreet watch on these sites now, so please stick with us for more reports in the coming days. Can't wait to get some photos posted...as always, watch this space!