7 April, Embalse de Negratín, Baza

The Arboleas Bird Group strikes again, this time to the embalse de Negratín, Baza. The photos (one of which somehow reminds me of that film 'Gorillas in the Mist', except that perhaps it should be retitled 'Birders in the Mist' with members of the Arboleas Group starring as themselves. And as an afterthought, I wonder if the Chiffs that are mentioned might not have been Iberian Chiffs? Here is Dave and Gilly's report.

As we left Arboleas, low cloud obliterated the sun, but as we passed Tijola on our way to the Embalse de Negratin, the far side of Baza, the skies were blue & cloudless and the sun was shining. After coffee and breakfast, Gilly and I, together with 5 other members headed down to the dam. The birdlife on the water came up to expectations.....SFA apart from 4 Mallard and some passing Yellow-legged Gulls. The water level was as high as I've ever seen it. In fact they were releasing tons of water in a huge spray down the far end.

The best birds we saw from the dam was a flight of 7 Alpine Swifts. They were around most of the day so I suspect they might be nesting on one of the cliff faces. We then headed down into the valley. Lots of Goldfinches, Greenfinches, Blackcaps and a couple of Chiffchaffs. I then spotted movement in the trees in front of us. A Wryneck! We had good views and it was a "first" for a few of the members. We also managed to spot one of the Nightingales singing from the stream side foliage. A Rock Sparrow was also seen, as were Long-tailed Tits and some Bee-eaters flying high overhead. 7 Cormorants flew in formation towards the reservoir. As we reached the pool by the water outlet, the spray reached over the road. The "pure" Rock Doves were still in residence. There was nothing on the rivulet as the water level was very high, but we heard Cetti's Warblers from the reeds. On the way back to the vehicles we heard, then saw a Great Spotted Woodpecker drumming away. 33 species for the day. Disappointed that we didn't see any large birds of prey. Gilly and I are off on our delayed birding holiday to Southern Morocco next week.