🇪🇸 Thursday 20th April 2023 🌤 23C ~ Wind SE @ 3MPH ~The start of just over two weeks in Spain, staying as usual at my friend's villa in Mijas. I decided to begin this visit with a leisurely stroll around Guadahorce in the early afternoon, site details can be found on my blog HERE or by clicking on the SPAIN🇪🇸 link on the top header bar.
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| Love them or not Monk Parakeets are a common feature around Guadalhorce |
A
Hoopoe calling and plenty of
House Martins as I walked down to the bridge crossing from the church. The House Martins were busy nest building under the bridge arches and beyond under the road bridge the usual Rock Doves. A few
Sardinian Warblers and in the reeds along the river
Cetti's Warbler and
Reed Warbler and I could already see and hear the marauding
Monk Parakeets as I entered the reserve!
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| Marbled Duck ~ One of six birds noted today |
A
Zitting Cisticola was busily zitting overhead and a
Nightingale was singing as I reached the hide at Laguna de la Casilla. It seems that last year's reintroduction of
Marbled Duck to the site is progressing well as almost immediately after taking a seat a single bird dropped in, six were noted in total today. A half dozen
Little Grebes and five
Little Egrets, plus a few nest-building pairs of
Black-winged Stilt.
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| One of three Booted Eagles |
My next stop was the del Rio Viejo hide and as a walked along the track three
Booted Eagles and a
Common Kestrel were overhead. More
Black-winged Stilt nest building with
Redshank,
Ringed Plover,
Dunlin and
Shelduck on the pool, which had receded a good distance back from the hide.
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| Slender-billed Gull on the old river section. |
On the old river
Sanderling,
Ringed Plover and
Dunlin were feeding along the waterline, along with two
Slender-billed Gulls a short distance out.
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| One of the many Sandwich Terns on the Laguna Grande |
Very little of note on the sea from the de Aves Marinas and similar along the shoreline as I made my way around to the Laguna Grande, even the fenced nesting area was devoid of birds with the exception of a single
Crested Lark.
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| A Woodchat Shrike in the heat haze |
Walking from the beach to the Laguna Grande a passage of
Bee-eaters, plus a
Woodchat Shrike, which I managed to photograph through the heat haze.
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| Greater Flamingos from the Laguna Grande hide |
As always the Laguna Grande was the most productive and so I spent a good hour here. I estimated over 100
Sandwich Terns resting on the surrounding islands mixed in with
Mediterranean and
Black-headed Gulls. Two
Spoonbills were asleep on the far side of the lagoon and out on the water were three more
Slender-billed Gulls. A stunning
Audouin's Gull stood out for me and of course not to mention the odd
Yellow-legged Gull. Five
Greater Flamingos were also busily feeding during my stay.
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| An Audouin's Gull stands out on Laguna Grande |
There were a number of wader species to be found and these included Kentish Plover, Ringed Plover, Sanderling, Dunlin, Greenshank, Curlew Sandpiper, Avocet and Common Sandpiper. Strangely no Little-ringed Plover today!
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| A single Curlew Sandpiper on the Laguna Grande |
My final stop was the Laguna Escondida and here a single
Kingfisher just below the hide, along with a few
Black-tailed Skimmer dragonflies and lots of Terrapin. Two
Marbled Ducks and at least five
White-headed ducks were also noted at the rear of the Lagoon.
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| Painted Lady |
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| Swallowtail |
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| Lulworth Skipper |
Butterflies of note today included several
Painted Ladies and two
Swallowtails and I was quite surprised to find so many
Lulworth Skippers on the reserve.
More Images of the Day...
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| Black-winged Stilt |
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| Little Grebe |
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| Avocet |
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| Kentish Plover |
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| Sanderling |
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| Slender-billed Gull |
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Audouin's Gull
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| Audouin's Gull |
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| Curlew Sandpiper |
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| Yellow-legged Gull |
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| White-headed Duck (f) |
