Apologies for the hiatus - real life has come back in force with a series of odd work shifts!
Thursday 20th June:
So a different tack and area to try for a sighting of the Bush Robin today with a drive down to the Bolonia area. I went straight to the track up to the Sierra de la Plata and parked up near the bouldering area. No sign of any swift species overhead or around the cave but very good views of a Griffon coming into a nest to tend to its well grown youngster. A walk up and down the track produced, as well as the more common species, a small family group of Dartford Warbler in the stunted scrub at the base of the cliffs, a pair of Blue Rock Thrush sortieing across the road between the vegetation and the scree higher up and a brief Black-eared Wheatear perched up on a rock. All this plus impressive views out to Africa.
I then headed back down towards Bolonia but first took the unpaved track below the cattle grid that also leads in to the Sierra. John's notes rightly point out that this good track eventually degenerates into a muddy / rutted one so I stopped at this point in position to reverse into the drive to the last small farm. I saw more vultures flying onto the crag near-by so edged the car forward a bit and watched them for a while. It was at this point that I made the second bad decision of the trip. Once the vulture activity had waned I put the car in reverse and swung around into the farm drive but had completely forgotten I had previously moved forward a bit so with a bang and a jolt the back wheels of the car were left hanging over a drop of a couple of feet and the front ones with no grip on the gravel - the car firmly grounded on the sills just in front of the rear wheels on some very large rocks. This was also the moment when I found out that, despite being clearly told to keep it with the car, I had left the pack the hire company supplied with the emergency telephone numbers in my room at the accommodation! Luckily I had my lap-top with me so having found a spot with a signal managed to find a telephone number for the hire car HQ from whom I got the number to call for roadside assistance. I was relieved to find the call centre had an English language option as I do not speak any useful Spanish. Long story short I eventually managed to explain the situation between bouts of loosing signal, my mobile playing up, waiting on hold and being put through to different operators but the problem then was describing my location as the road has no name and obviously did not show up on their on-screen maps. With good timing the farmer returned at this point and even though he spoke no English the situation was apparent and once talking to an operator who knew the situation I handed him the phone so he could tell them where we were. Give the length of the conversation and the number of times he was also put on hold (the Spanish facial expression that accompanies this is the same as the British one, by the way) it seemed as though he was having the same difficulty describing how to find the location even though he lived there! Eventually, and after more confusing conversations (the farmer had left by then), mainly about me having a mobile that is not a Smartphone, and a now dying battery, I was relieved to see a vehicle rescue truck turn up. After some brief amusement and loads of photos taken, the driver winched the car back onto the track and declared it safe to drive. A total of almost 5 hours had passed but I was relieved at the lack of damage and to finally be on the move again!
I then drove the tracks around the Betis area but had no new species. Next port of call was Punta Carmarinal lighthouse, via Atlanterra for a brief bit of sea-watching - not really my bag and nothing of note seen. I then drove from Zahara to Barbate calling in at the estuary and scanning the paddocks in which I had previously seen Norther Bald Ibis - but all was quiet. Even a quick walk through the Barbate Pinewoods did not produce anything new.
So after a rather curtailed / condensed birding day it was time to head for John's recommended site for Red-necked Nightjar at the dirt-track crossroads north west of Cantarranas. It was still light when I arrived so I headed off down the track towards more open ground and on scoping the fields was surprised by the sight of 85 plus (some more may have been hidden beyond the slope) Griffons on the ground - a feeding site or just carcass disposal? Back at the crossroads a Tawny Owl called and a Pheasant strolled across the track. Then suddenly there were two Red-necked Nightjar over the groves and then along the tracks giving excellent views very close by and then another one started calling distantly. As the activity dropped I set off back to the road only for the headlights to pick one out sitting on the track. A great end to an embarrassing / frustrating day that in the end turned out very much better than it could have done.
