Monday 19 July, Gaucin, 1200hrs, warm and humid: party of 10 Bee-eaters flying over the Camino de Avedin, also two male Blackcaps singing a distinctly curtailed song.

Thursday 15 July - A late evening walk along the Camino de Gibraltar - just as it was getting dark at 10pm a couple of Red-necked Nightjars flew over our heads and began hunting in the adjacent meadows. No sound of them was heard prior to their appearance.

Saturday 10 July, Calle del Pino, 2345hrs: Red-necked nightjars calling in the valley just below the road.

Wednesday 07 July, El Colmenar (Estacion de Gaucin), 0730-1100, partly cloudy and humid. A walk along the Guadiaro river, accompanied by Wingspanner, towards the 'Vulture Gorge' hoping to see Egyptian vulture. Parked just outside the hydroelectric station we had a great start with a family of 5 Hawfinch and several Golden oriole in a dead tree over towards the river. Also present were Great spotted woodpecker, Green woodpecker, Spotted flycatcher, White wagtail, Chiffchaff and Serin. No luck with the Egyptian vultures but further up river we did see some Griffon vultures, bee-eaters and party of at least 10 Alpine swift, and back at the start a Booted eagle and a female Sparrowhawk.

Saturday 03 July, Calle Convento, Gaucin, 2000hrs. Another Alpine swift seen over the village.

Tuesday 29 June, Guadalmar - Rio Guadalhorce 1800-2000hrs

An evening pick-up at Malaga Airport gave me the opportunity to pop into this superb nature reserve. It consists of a series of Lagunas set in reclaimed gravel workings found between two arms of the Guadalhorce estuary. It has open grassland scrub, a length of sandy beach and the reed-fringed lagunas. A small colony of Monk Parakeets breed in a clump of eucalyptus along the approach road at Guadalmar and these noisy foreign breeders are often found on the reserve feeding on thistle heads. It was great to see so many young birds on the lagunas which included Coot, Moorhen, Mallard, Gadwall, Pochard, Black-winged Stilts, Little-ringed Plover and a healthy population of White-headed Ducks. There were 16 chicks spread over 3 of the lagunas!

Lots of Common and Pallid Swifts, Barn Swallows, Red-rumped Swallows, House Martins, Bee-eaters, Zitting Cisticolas, finches and sparrows. There were also several Audouin's Gulls flying to and fro along the sea-shore.

Thursday 01 July, Guadiaro river, El Colmenar, 0730-1100hrs, calm and clear. Wingspanner and I had great views of Wryneck (adult and juvenile) and Golden Oriole (at least 6 present) in the Eucalyptus trees along the river. Also of note were Kingfisher, Hoopoe, Bonelli's warbler, Spotted flycatcher (adults and juveniles), Grey wagtail, Common buzzard, Short-toed eagle, Booted eagle.

Wednesday 30 June, Calle Convento, 2030hrs. Two Alpine Swifts in amongst the Common and Pallid Swift flock. Wingspanner is right, it's only a matter of time before we see White-rumped swift over the village.