The Montes de Malaga is a natural park just north of the City which rises up to 1000 m and is covered in Aleppo pines. Andalucia was originally de-forested in the 15th century by the Catholics to provide timber for construction and shipbuilding and to make way for agriculture. This denudation caused repeated flash flooding in Malaga so from 1930 -1950 the area was replanted. It had once been a valuable wine producing region until the disease phyloxera wiped out the grapevines in the late 19th century. There is currently a project to replace the pines with broad leaved trees to improve the soil and increase bio diversification.
| Not having visited this location before Elena and I decided to stay overnight in the country Hotel Humaina to join the Andalucia Bird Society field trip starting very early the following morning. On arrival however we had a walk around the hotel gardens and the surrounding area & picked up some woodland birds including Nuthatch, Coal Tit and various others, most of which I couldn't identify as they flitted around so quickly.  Coal Tit |  Nuthatch |
The most interesting sight however was of the wild boar family that hovered around the edge of the hotel terrace hoping for food from the staff, they were indeed rewarded with figs which were devoured with gusto. There were at least four young adult Jabali and eight piglets, all very healthy looking. It is difficult to resist their pleading eyes and we discovered that they really like sugar lumps.
Wild Boar family (Jabali)
Next morning we met our guide Luis Alberto at seven and even before first light heard a nightingale call and spotted a Robin flying across the grounds. As soon as the light was good enough we set off for a walk up a trail that took us above the hotel. A lone Short-toed Eagle floated and hovered in the sky above us and very soon it was joined by a party of Black Kites.
Black Kites The Kites gradually swelled in numbers to more than twenty birds, wheeling around gradually making their way west on migration, a fine sight.
Small birds were about in some numbers, including Chaffinch, Coal Tit, Great Tit, Crossbill and best of all a single Dartford Warbler which was apparently a first for Luis in this location.
Small birds were about in some numbers, including Chaffinch, Coal Tit, Great Tit, Crossbill and best of all a single Dartford Warbler which was apparently a first for Luis in this location.
Crossbill
Great Spotted Woodpeckers After breakfast at the hotel we were joined by other ABS members for a nine am field trip which turned out to be extremely pleasant walking in delightful surroundings with some stunning views across to the coast, taking in all the sierras and peaks of the Axarquia across to the Sierra de Los Nieves and beyond. We saw most of the birds encountered on our earlier walk, with the exeption of the Black Kites and Dartford Warbler, but we added Crested Tit, Firecrest, Great Spotted Woodpeckers (3), Booted Eagle, Kestrel, Great, Blue and Long-tailed Tits, Common and Pallid Swifts, Barn and Red-rumped Swallows and Spotted Flycatcher. There were probably many that I have forgotten but by 1 pm it was getting quite hot and most birds hunker down for a siesta at this time, so we returned to the hotel for a pleasant lunch before making our own ways out of the Montes de Malaga.
