Our final day and we went out with a bang, this was a long day but we really enjoyed our day and recorded our highest day-tally of the tour.
We set off at 8am and drove straight to Laguna Medina, it was a lovely morning, hazy sunshine and a very light breeze. Cetti's Warblers were in good singing form and lots of Flycatchers dashed in and out of the thick bushes along the track to the hide. We also heard Penduline Tit (not seen), but we logged Garden Warbler, Blackcap and an Osprey, a large 'covey' of Red-legged Partridges flew over us. From the hide we spent a good hour scanning the water and the reedbeds below us. A Little Bittern was found feeding directly below us, it caught a frog whilst we watched. A Reed Warbler flitted by as did a Cetti's Warbler, on the water we found White-headed Duck, Common Pochard, Shoveler, all 3 Grebe Species, Grey Heron, Little Egret, Marsh Harrier and lots of Sand Martin.
SLENDER BILLED GULL
On the way back to the car park we had great views of a Red Kite what a beautiful bird, also several Booted Eagles flew over. On a distant tree we found a Black-winged Kite, finally, as we got into the car a Pied Flycatcher showed well in the car park bushes.
At the Salinas de Puerto de Maria we spent a short time looking for Stone Curlews without success but we did find: Woodchat Shrike (juv), thousands of gulls, which were mainly Lesser Black-backed and yellow Legged. We did also see Black-winged stilt, Common Sandpiper, Ringed Plover and White Storks.
After a quick stop for coffee we drove to the next leg of our trip, Sanlucar de Barrameda where we visited the Salinas de Bonanza. What a treat that visit was, the salt pans are an excellent site to gain good close views of many species of waders. Using the car as our hide we approached flocks of waders feeding next to the track, we saw Black-winged Stilt, Whimbrel, Dunlin, Little Stint, Curlew Sandpiper, Avocet, Ringed and Kentish Plover all very close. As we moved through the pans we added:Black-tailed Godwit, Grey Plover (my first for the autumn), Knot, Redshank, Greenshank, Common Sandpiper and many Little Egrets, Greater Flamingos and White Storks. Up to 5 Red Kites were drifting over the pans and one of them swooped down and took a wader- I have never seen that before.
A couple Ravens and an Osprey joined the Kites and both Booted and Short-toed Eagles sailed over. We had superb views of Slender-billed Gulls and we logged 14 Caspain Terns (again, my first for the autumn).
JUVENILE REDSHANK SHOWING YELLOW LEGS - IT GOT ME OUT OF THE CAR QUICKLY HOPING FOR IT TO BE AN AMERICAN SPECIES!
Our visit ended as we searched for an American Golden Plover that had been seen earlier, but we failed to see it.
Just around the corner we stopped at laguna Tarelo where we found one of our target species, the Marbled Duck, three of them were present along with White-headed Duck, Shoveler, Common Pochard, Black-necked Grebe, Night Heron and many Coots and Moorhens.
Just as we were leaving we saw a Squacco Heron, our only one of the week!
GREY PLOVER STILL IN SUMMER PLUM.
We drove through the pine woods of Algaida looking for Azure-winged Magpie, dipped again, but we did find Pied Flycatcher, Tree Sparrow and Short-toed Treecreeper. On the marshes at Trebujena we saw many waders and a few Spoonbills, but we also saw Northern Wheatear, Skylark and Marsh Harriers. These last few species took our daily tally to 88, quite a remarkable score and some good sightings too!
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