General - This was not primarily a trip for birds and can only give a flavour of the wintering birds of the area. Temperatures were around 20 degrees and the weather was generally fine throughout. We were staying in apartments in Las Lomas village.

Bird activity did not appear to be greatly affected by time of day whilst we were there, if anything a late morning walk was best after any mist had cleared.

A nice selection of birds proved to be common in the area including Sardinian Warbler, Black Redstart, Stonechat, Spotless Starling and Serin. The hills above Las Lomas produced Crag Martin, with closer views of this species obtained at the reservoir near the southernmost football pitches. A Southern Grey Shrike was a regular sight near the orchard and allotments by the Football Centre and three Crested Larks were noted in the scrubby area on the eastern side of the road here. This area, near various golf courses, also produced Cattle Egret. A walk down to the small beach on the coast turned up a Black Wheatear. The highlight of the week came with the sighting of a Bonelli’s Eagle on two successive days in the hills around Las Lomas village.