With Dave all birded out after Saturday's long one a more leisurely day on Sunday and while he had a lay in I took an early morning visit to Guadalhorce.
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| Spoonbill - smile please! |
Arrived just after sun up, a few black clouds around and thunder rumbling around the sierras. The walk from the church to the footbridge had
Sardinian Warbler,
Cettis's Warbler, Reed Warbler, Zitting Cisticola, and
Whitethroat, plus feeding over the bridge a group of mixed hirundines with
Barn Swallow,
Red-rumped Swallow and
House Martin. I decided to begin at the Del Rio Viejo and Laguna de la Casilla hides in the hope that the regular
Little Bittern might be showing. Unfortunately not the case but an
Osprey drifted past as I took my seat and five
Little Tern were fishing away.
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| White-headed Duck - Exellent population at Guadalhorce |
Kingfisher, (5)
Little Grebe,
Little Egret, (4)
White-headed Duck,
Greenshank, (4)
Dunlin, (3)
Ringed Plover, (9)
Teal, (2)
Shelduck, and a single
Snipe, plus a group of three
Spoonbills frantically feeding on Laguna Casillas were nice, one finally taking a breather long enough for a snap!
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| Dunlin |
Just after the hides a little area of activity along the track produced ♂♀
Common Redstart and at least four
Spotted Flycatchers happily popping up and down from ground to perch. The old river was a little quiet but
Curlew Sandpiper were an addition and by the time I'd reached the sea
Yellow-Wagtail,
Sardinian Warbler,
Crested Lark and well over 100
Monk Parakeets at the mouth of the Viejo.
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| Sanderling - Lovely little birds, unusual to see one so still! |
The sea walk was very quiet with no Terns to be found and only a group of (8)
Sanderling to keep me company.
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| Black-winged Stilt |
Finally a half hour in the hide overlooking the Laguna Grande and here a dozen or so
Oystercatcher asleep on the Islands. Not so many Gulls around this morning but the usual
Audouins Gull and
Yellow-legged Gulls were noted. In the dead trees across the lagoon a
Turtle Dove perched briefly along with the many
Spotless Starlings and additions of
Cormorant,
Grey Heron,
Gadwall,
Common Pochard,
Common Sandpiper,
Kentish Plover,
Black-winged Stilt,
Redshank and
juvenile
Greater Flamingo
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| Rat I think! Big ears? |
The walk back to the car further added
House Sparrow,
Collared Dove,
Goldfinch and
Greenfinch but apart from the early
Osprey no other raptors to be found this morning. The above
Rat, well I think it's a
Rat, it had extremely big ears ended a good if not prolific morning.
