Our penultimate day in Spain and the weather resembled something more akin to the Scottish highlands with an absolute hoolie blowing in off the sea! Having said that when we arrived at our first stop, Laguna Dulce, Booted Eagle and Raven on route, at least the sun had come out.
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| Gull-billed Tern over Laguna Dulce |
The laguna has plenty of water currently and we were greeted by a hole raft of
Red-crested Pochard, numbering in the region of 50/60 birds. Lots of
House Martin, Sand Martin and
Barn Swallows feeding over the water, along with the odd
Common Swift and a nice pair of
Black-necked Grebes almost in full summer plumage. A decent selection of water fowl with
White-headed Duck,
Pochard,
Gadwall,
Shoveler,
Teal,
Great-crested Grebe and
Little Grebe.
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| Wood Sandpiper - This one at Fuente de Peidra |
Not too many waders represented today with a few
Lapwing, a single
Little-ringed Plover and a brace of
Black-winged Stilt. Around the hide area
House Sparrow,
Cetti's Warbler,
Serin and plenty of
Goldfinch, plus a
Hoopoe calling from across the road but not located. Towards the back and at real distance
Greater Flamingo and a group of Terns roosting were probably
Gull-billed Tern and a single
Cattle Egret was also noted. Out of the wind in the sunny areas a few butterflies to be seen with
Swallowtail,
Clouded Yellow and
Small White.
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| Whiskered Tern at rest - Fuente de Piedra |
On to Fuente de Piedra and the recent rains have certainly paid dividends with plenty of water on the flood meadow and in the main laguna, where 1000s of
Greater Flamingos shimmered in the sunshine. As we drove to the parking area several
Whiskered Tern along with
Gull-billed Terns were fishing and waders included:
Common Sandpiper,
Green Sandpiper,
Snipe,
Ruff,
Black-tailed Godwit,
Sanderling,
Black-winged Stilt and a single
Little Stint.
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| Common Sandpiper |
Standing on the boardwalk was extremely hard work, particularly with the scope attempting to blow over at any moment. Here a couple of
Wood Sandpiper along with more
Little-ringed Plover,
Kentish Plover,
White Wagtail and a number of
Yellow Wagtail (Motacilla flava iberiae)
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| Yellow Wagtail Motacilla flava iberiae |
Around the mirador a
Little Owl Calling but not picked up and a walk south along the perimeter track that runs parallel to the laguna was very windy. Despite the conditions several
Corn Bunting, a large flock of mixed
Jackdaw and
Spotless Starlings,
Crested Lark, Meadow Pipit, and deep in the reed bed my first singing
Nightingale of the year. We visited the Lagunetta hides which were, dare I say, too full of water offering no wader potential but the gulls were in their element with
Black-headed,
Yellow-legged and
Lesser Black-backed all noted. Wildfowl included
Pochard,
Shoveler and the odd
Gadwall, plus on the Island several
Cattle Egret and a single
Little Egret.
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| A lone White Stork over the visitor centre |
As we left the centre a lone
White Stork graced the sky and the drive back, taking in several stops around the the lagoon produced
Lesser Kestrel,
Kestrel,
♂♀Marsh Harrier,
Red-legged Partridge,
Zitting Cisticola,
Sardinian Warbler and to end a very challenging day a small flock of
Linnet.
