Mark was so excited about our second birding tour together, that he was waiting for me before 6:00 at the door of his hotel. We were meeting very early to have a chance to hear the Tawny Owls before dawn, and we could even had a first coffee at the Fuente de la Reina bar before coming into the Montes reserve, but the bar was still closed so early! But it was worthwhile in the end as the Tawny Owl was our first tick on the list.

Other nice birds there were Common Crossbills, Hawfinch, Crested Tit, Firecrest and a nice couple of Sparrowhawks.

El Torcal produced most of the expected birds, including Thekla Lark, Black Wheatear, Griffon Vulture and Rock Bunting, with a nice Iberian Grey Shrike from the car on our way to Fuente de Piedra.

As days are very short this month, we did not spent much time at the Visitors Centre to focus on the farmlands as we were visiting the mouth of the Guadalhorce at the end of the day. Anyway, we got nice views of the Bluethroat apart from White Stork, Crested Lark, Spanish Sparrow, Water Pipit and lots of Common Cranes in the lake.

We had lunch at the base of the Peñarrubia cliff, where we could tick Rock Dove and Peregrine Falcon, with great views of an attempt by the male on a Rock Dove and both falcons flying together.

We found the Booted Eagle at Zapata, and also the Corn Bunting, that we had been missing all day long.

The visit to the Guadalhorce was not enough to get the 100 birds, we still got Spoonbill, Osprey, Mediterranean Gull, Kentish Plover, Hoopoe, Black-necked Grebe and White-headed Duck with the last lights of the day to close a fantastic tour around one of the most biodiverse regions of Spain.

You can also live these experiences with us !!!

Complete list of the 93 species observed: