Day 4 - 16th Feb - Grazalema Bound

Grazalema - Monday 16th February

Our target today was an exploration of the Grazalema area. Although the nearby Alcornocales Natural Park has both good birds and attractive scenery, for several key species – Black Wheatear and, in winter, Alpine Accentor, a visit to Grazalema is de rigueur. En route we had an Ibex and a Gennet – the former very much alive, but the latter unfortunately a long dead and very squashed! Also en route and at a regular site – at the venta above Ubrique – we found our first Thekla Lark. Interestingly, each of us focussed on a different feature of this species to clinch the identification; I went for bill shape, Tony zeroed in on the birds ‘spiky’ crest and Jack noted the more crisply marked chest pattern. We all got the ID right, but took different routes to get there!

Unfortunately, we found that the road was closed just short of Montejaque – our destination - which meant an unexpected 45 minute detour via Ronda; in hindsight it would have been better to come via Ubrique. Happily, once we got there, the Llanos de Libar came up to expectations. Even though I’ve now been there a good few times, it still seems improbable that we have to access this fantastic area by turning back into the village’s labyrinthine streets and follow a remarkably unpromising concrete road before lurching sharp right to get onto the route through the valley. Although we paused below the first huge cliff face by the white water tank for a while we saw no sign of the usual Bonelli’s Eagle here nor, less surprisingly, the Wallcreeper that has wintered in the valley. Blue Rock Thrushes soon showed themselves as we pushed up towards the low rocky ‘saddle’ that is always a productive spot to search. No sooner had we arrived than we found Black Wheatears (6+) and Rock Buntings (15+) amongst the rocks besides the road. As Tony and jack admired the wheatears and buntings, I climbed a little higher up the slope where I quickly found two Alpine Accentors. One showed so well and so closely that it was clear that it realised that I’d left my camera in the car! Unfortunately it flew before Tony could get close enough for a photo. Although much less trumpeted than the Puerto Palomas site above Grazalema this is a more reliable (and arguably more convenient) site for the species in winter. It was disappointing, though, that neither Rock Sparrow nor Cirl Bunting were present here; the first is a notoriously elusive species for which this site is usually a ‘banker’ whilst, unaccountably we never saw the latter on the trip at all! A careful scan back down valley quickly produced a soaring Bonelli’s Eagle so we returned to the water tank for a closer view. Shortly afterwards, we picked up the Bonelli’s at much closer range. This was largely thanks to Peter Jones (a local birder who originally put me onto this valley) whose tip - to look for a fast moving shadow against the rocks - when looking for this species certainly paid off in this case.

Driving back via Grazalema proved to be a good move since just outside the village on the Ubrique road, we had two Southern Grey Shrike. In fact, no sooner had I said we ought to look out for the species here than Jack spotted one on a telegraph wire! This was a species that Tony, our team photographer, particularly wanted to see and so it was very pleasing to obtain such good views and note the diagnostic features; a narrow white supercilium running across the forehead, restricted white wing flash and dull greyish-pink underparts contrasting with white cheeks. As a bonus, when we rolled to a stop to look at the shrike, an Iberian Green Woodpecker landed on the telegraph pole next to the car! In the event we heard several more and saw at least two birds. The best view was obtained of a greyish faced black moustachioed female. Further along at the hairpin bend just before Benaocaz we had two more Black Wheatears and another Bonelli’s Eagle.

ALL photos © Tony Morris
Note that all of the original photos can be seen (in better quality) at :-
http://www.flickr.com/photos/tonymorris/collections/72157614157792303/
Many thanks to Tony, not only for his company, but also for permission to use his photos.