Luke and I were invited by Bob (Birding Axarquia) to take a trip to the Rio Gordo area of Axarquia to hopefully see a pair of Barn Owls. Apparently they have been nesting in this same place now for the past few years.
In fact the owners of the property had raised the chicks themselves and since them one of them keeps returning. We met Bob at the agreed location and as he arrived we were greeted by a Short-toed Eagle flying from pylon to pylon. He was of the white plumage variety and watched him hover just like a kestrel in search of prey. Along the track we saw a lovely Woodchat Shrike perched on the end of a olive tree. Thekla Lark were darting to and fro over the track. We arrived at the house which had fantastic views over the valley and were made very welcome by Mark and Kate. As we were scanning looking for the owls, we saw a big bird flying over the valley slightly toward us. I thought it was a buzzard, but both Luke and Bob felt it was a Montagu's Harrier. They arrive in Summer when the Hen Harrier's leave. The tail was rather long so likely was a Montagu's. This was a first for both Luke and myself.
The owner had cameras on the nest linked up to his laptop so we could see the chicks inside viewed from his laptop, this was like Springwatch in Spain. Also there was another nest, this time of a Kestrel. It too had I think 4 or 5 chicks in it. We positioned ourselves outside and waited.....and waited. Scanning the countryside guessing where the owl may roost. After an hour still nothing, except the kestrel flying about. What kept us amuzed was watching a family of Stonechat in the bushes just opposite us. 
A chick had just fledged and still had some of the chick feathers (slightly blueish in colour) on its wing. As the evening fell, still nothing. We had seen in the distance across the valley another Short-toed Eagle perched on a post and noticed a fox walking toward it. Then the fox disappeared, then the eagle?? Ten o'clock came and it was virtually dark by now and still no owl. We packed up our things, said "goodbye" to Mark and Kate, hoping we may see it along the track using the car headlights...but No!. Never mind, still an enjoyable evening in the middle of Axarquia.Birdlist: Short-toed Eagle, Kestrel, Montagu's Harrier, Stonechat, Thekla Lark, Woodchat Shrike, Goldfinch, Sardinian Warbler, Swift,
I see you beat me to it in getting our visit into print! I very much liked th eflight photograph of th eShort-toed Eagle which gives a perfect illustration of the bird's moult pattern; both outer tail feathers coming through together (rather than a pretty fan shape!), as are the the seventh (last) primary feathers. If yopu look closely, you can see that the same applies to the secondaries, very clear on the bird's upper (left) wing. Great shot and one that I would have been proud to have taken.
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