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RIO GENAL WALK

WEATHER: cloudy with sunny spells top temp 17C

Dawn and I are visiting our home in Gaucin, Spain for a couple weeks before the Christmas madness sets in. The weather forecast is for rain everyday but at least it is much warmer here than back in the UK.

We have had very heavy rain overnight but it is much clearer today (6th – our third day) so this afternoon we drove down into the valley for a walk along the Rio Genal.

The Mountain Ridge, Crestellina near Carsares - taken from the track along te Rio Genal

Sightings in and around the village over the last few days have included: Griffon Vulture, Black Redstart, Blue Rock Thrush, Greenfinch, Chaffinch, Spotless Starling, Crag Martin and Common Kestrel.

Black Redstart enjoying a little bit of afternoon sunshine

As we drove down the hill to the river we saw Sardinian Warbler, Blackbird and Song Thrush dash across the road in front of us and more Griffon Vultures high up in the sky.

a typical sighting of Vultures over the village

The walk along a track next to the river produced very few species, we saw a Firecrest, Blackcaps, Common Chiffchaffs and fly over finches such as Goldfinch and Chaffinch. Birds on or near the river included: Little Egret, Grey Wagtail and one or two Black Redstarts. I saw more Blackcaps and Chiffchaffs along the bushes which overhang the river.

Grey Watail at the river

The sky cleared for a while and Dawn pointed out a pair of Common Buzzards, another Kestrel appeared and in the distance many more Griffon Vultures appeared over the Crestellina Mountain Ridge.

the road bridge over the Rio Genal - you can see how low the level is!! Much more rain is needed in Spain

We left after about 90 minutes and headed back up to Gaucin just as it started to drizzle with rain.

DAWN'S VIEW OF TODAY'S WALK