Serra de Ronda - Day two and part two.

Day two.  A Swift breakfast.  At the local bar, a tostada de tomate washed down with a coffee, and watching Common and Pallid Swifts circling and screaming overhead was a start to the day. Today we would be starting off in the Montecorto area where a roadside stop at a derelict finca paid off with close views of a singing Melodious Warbler, serenaded in the background by a Common Whitethroat, Blackcap and a Nightingale. A distant Cuckoo called and Fennel was glowing yellow at the roadside in the already strong sunlight. Borage, Wild Carrot, Bladder Campion and Common Toadflax all showed off their vibrant colours, and a Bitumen Pea was a plant lifer for me. We made our way to Montecorto through rolling hillsides flanked by high ridges, and it struck me how healthy the population of Corn Buntings, were testament to the varied habitat. It is of no surprise to me that the abundance of birds and insects is due to vegetation being left alone at the roadside, not cut and sprayed like back home, and this mass of colour is a delight to see. En-route I saw both Thekla and Crested Larks, Woodpigeons, a Cirl Bunting, Fan-tailed Warblers and a female Stonechat with a freshly caught Cricket for her waiting young. A Nightingale carrying nesting material gave tantalising views from deep within a Tamarisk, and up on the hillside, a Cuckoo called.

Corn Bunting. One of many.

We continued on to Zaharra noting a Blue Tit along the way, Spanish Iris and clumps of a type of Red Clover with large eye catching flowers. Soon, Grazellama beckoned us – an area I am familiar with but a place you could never tire of visiting. Here I had my first lifer of the day – delicate little Yellow Bee Orchids. These tiny orchids blended in so well amongst the short grasses and vegetation, you really had to concentrate to spot them – well I did anyway, Peter seemed to home in on them like someone spotting a 50 Euro note on the floor. The first Iberian Grey Shrike was seen along with numerous Corn Buntings, Blackcap and a Red-legged Partridge calling.  Varieties of Spanish Broom formed clumps here and there. Tassel Hyacinths were another plant lifer. Along a little stream Marsh Frogs croaked and Terrapins slowly slipped into the water as they saw us. A Moroccan Orange Tip butterfly was not only a lifer but one of the prettiest little butterflies I have seen. The black line on the upper-wing set off the yellow magnificently. Various roadside stops to scan the area gave us Black Wheatears, Crag Martins, a Spanish Fritillary which whizzed past,  Cuckoo’s calling, Cicadas (the worlds loudest insect) calling constantly and a Great Tit. Peruvian Lily was another lifer for me and along one section of road, a mass of deep blue Lupins really stood out amongst the greens. Rosy Garlic was also nice to see and Clouded Yellows drifted gently past.

 Moroccan Orange Tip butterfly

We headed off road along a track through the Cork Oak woodlands – on the hunt for some more orchids as well as birds, and soon enough, hawk-eye Peter shouted out there they are, where I would say, over there pointing to some orchids. I had to literally get out of the car and walk carefully forward before my eyes tuned in – and there they were, delicate little Bumblebee Orchids amongst some Sawfly Orchids – what a stunning little lifer. I was on a high, I love the Orchids, and as we drove slowly along absorbing the bird song it was my time to shout stop. I had seen a faint purple colour back behind us, on my side of the road, ‘it could be an orchid I said’ in anticipation. And sure enough it was – I had not only spotted some orchids for a change, but these were a lifer for me as well – Champagne Orchid with their diagnostic white lobes. I would have opened a bottle if I had one. After lying down to get a photo and brushing off the rather large Ants from my still white legs, we moved on seeing Spanish Bluebells, Speckled Wood butterflies, a fleeting glimpse of a Large Tortoiseshell butterfly, more Sawfly and this time Lang’s Orchids and an Iberian Wall Lizard. A Brown Wall butterfly had a section of wing missing and a Spanish Festoon would make for a great photograph – if only it would stop flying away. As we headed to our lunch stop I was shown the endemic Ronda Cransebill with its large blue flowers, and a juvenile White Wagtail was being fed by mum and dad.

The tiny delicate Champagne Orchid.

After a delightful lunch and a beer, we continued along more tracks combined with roadside stops through various habitats, and enjoyed many more great sights, such as a Mistle Thrush with a Cricket held firmly in her bill. Jays, Chaffinches, an Iberian Green Woodpecker and an Ibex high on the escarpment were added to the list. A stop near to a stream with open grassland surrounding it gave us Kestrels, Peony in flower, Chamomile Daisies following the damp patches and forming carpets of white, numerous Small Heath butterflies and a female Black Redstart. Tadpoles were forming groups in the slow flowing stream and white aptly named Star of Bethlehem flowers formed little groups here and there. On the way out from this area we stopped to look at both Small and Large Tongue Orchids – and this section of the stream had Water Crowsfoot growing in abundance which is a really good indicator of a healthy stream. A Dartford Warbler called briefly but would not show. The day ended on another high, as Peter showed me a spot for another orchid lifer, and again they took some spotting but it was worth it – Little Woodcock Orchid. Amazing. Barbary Nut was growing in large groups which were nice to see, and as headed back to Ronda, a Hoopoe flew across the road and a pair of light-morph Booted Eagles was chasing each other above the trees.

Hoopoe with a Corn Bunting in the background.

All pictures copyright of N J Davies.