September 9th - DAY TOUR - Brazo de Este

A fantastic day was had in glorious sunshine and light winds, the temperature did reach 32C at times so we sought shade for lunch.

Martin & Louise came out with me for their second day and had decided they wanted to search inland for ducks, herons, egrets and storks, with the Purple Heron their main target species. We met just south of Espera at 8am and drove the short distance to the trio of Lagunas found just outside the town.


















Six of the (15) Ferruginous Ducks (Aythya nyroca) at Laguna Salada,
and White-headed Ducks (Oxyura leucocephala) top right

All of the lagunas still held plenty of water and were covered with ducks, coots and grebes. A great find was 4 Ferruginous Ducks on the first laguna and later was followed by another find of 11 more, I have never seen so many in one place in Spain! They were joined by White-headed Duck, Red-crested Pochard, Common Pochard, Shoveler, Gadwall and Mallard. there was also Great-crested, Little and Black-necked Grebes. We also saw many Bee-eaters flying over, Black Kites, Honey Buzzard, Common Buzzard, Booted Eagle and Short-toed Eagle, but the best prize of all was a juvenile Bonelli's Eagle which was mobbed by a couple of Marsh Harriers and a Common Kestrel.



At the smaller laguna we found Purple Swamphen, large flocks of Spanish Sparrows and many of the same ducks. During our return walk to the car we put up a Purple Heron which flew off into the reeds at the far side of the laguna.

After a refreshing cold drink we made our way to the lagunas de Lebrija and one the way we stopped to look at a freshly killed Red-necked Nightjar, what a beautiful bird in the hand and such a pity it had been killed on the track.

At the Lebrija lagunas we found even more Ferruginous Ducks (3), lots of Marsh Harriers and a Montagu's Harriers. In the sky above the first laguna Griffon Vultures circled above us and the sky was dotted with Black Kites, Booted Eagles and another large eagle was seen briefly as it was mobbed by a Marsh Harrier, the eagle perched out of site and never re-appeared, how frustrating because it was possibly a Golden Eagle.

The largest of the lagunas, Cigarrera, produced our first Greater Flamingos, four were present and three of those had damaged wings, maybe just a coincidence that the Spanish hunting season had just begun!!! we took lunch there and photographed some interesting Dragonflies before moving up to the Brazo de Este via Las Cabezas. along the way we encountered six Griffon Vultures settled in a field not far from the roadside, we also stopped at a roadside laguna called Pilon which held more Flamingos (undamaged), Black-necked Grebes, White-headed Duck and Red-crested Pochard.

Bonelli's Eagle (Aquila fasciata) at Espera - photo by Martin Murray

At the paraje natural of Braza de Este we spent 2-3 hours enjoying some fantastic bird watching. Small flocks of many species were in sky all the time, we notched two more Purple Herons, a couple of Squacco Herons, lots of Night Herons & Grey Herons. Cattle & Little Egrets appeared in their hundreds and smaller numbers of Glossy Ibis & Spoonbill were dotted about in the marshes which were patrolled by several Marsh Harriers.

Passerines included, Pied Flycatcher, Northern Wheatear, Zitting Cisticola and a couple of exotic species, Yellow-crowned Bishop and good numbers of Black-headed Weavers which were breeding in a hedgerow, we counted 25 nests and saw some beautiful birds. A pair of kingfishers seemed annoyed by all the noise and colour as they tried to catch fish just below the colony.

Waders in the rice paddies and marshes included, Green Sandpiper, Wood Sandpiper, Dunlin, Ringed & Little Ringed Plover, Black-winged Stilt & Redshank.

All in all a great day out, a little hot at times, but some great species were seen, we notched 82 species with some great birds on the list.

Black-headed Weaver (Ploceus melanocephalus)- Brazo de Este