STAR BIRD OF THE DAY - BLUETHROAT
BRIGHT sunshine throughout with nice temperatures with a nice cooling breeze. We set off in the dark towards Huelva and stopped at the lagunas del Palos just before the city. With a backdrop of a large oil refinery this superb nature reserve looks so out of place, however over the years I have recroded many species there, including Re-knobbed Coot. We couldn’t find the Coot but we watched many other wildfowl, we added Wigeon, and Pintail to our list.
THE GRUESOME TWOSOME ON THE HEATH AT EL ROMPIDOAt the Marismas de O’diel we first stopped at the laguna Calatillo where the Coot had bred for the last few years, again we dipped but there many birds wading or floating in the water. Waders included our first Turnstone, but also Black-tailed Godwit, Common Sandpiper, Common Snipe, Ringed Plover, Dunlin, Sanderling and a single Curlew Sandpiper. The other species included Greater Flamingo, Pintail, Shovler, Teal, Gadwall, Common Pochard and Mallard.
FLAMINGOS IN THE MIST
DUCKS AT FIRST LIGHT
GREAT WHITE EGRET
We then spent the next couple of hours drive down towards the lighthouse on this superb salt marsh, we passed ancient salt pans, open dry scrub, stone pine woodlands and lagre expnses of marshes with open brackish water. Species present we in their thousands, we found White Stork, Great White Egret (2), Little Egret, Cattle egret, Eurasian Spoonbill (50+), Oystercathcer, Avocet, Black-winged Stilt, Stone Curlew (32), Knot, Redshank, Grrensahnk, Spotted Redshank, Grey plover, Little Stint and many of the other waders already listed. A few Common & Sandwich Terns sat amongst the Audouin’s, Lesser Black-backed and Yellow=legged Gulls.
On the dry marsh we added Crested Lark, Northern Wheatear, Stonechat and a single Hoopoe to the tally.
Next we made a short trip to the lauguna found at the roadside just outside of El Portil. A good amount of water held many birds, no new species but we searched for Ferruginous Duck and whilst doing so added Red-crested Pochard , Black-necked and Great Crested Grebe to the day list. We ate a lovly tapas lunch sitting in the sunshine before making the short drive to El Rompido.
On the semi-marsh alongside the Rio Piedras we searched for Bluethroat, we found at least 4 individuals, three of them were first winter specimens whilst the fourth was a nice adult male showing nice colours. During our spell on the marshland we also saw Southern Grey Shrike, Whinchat, Darford Warbler, lots of Sardinian Warblers, a Blackcap and a couple of Chiffchaffs.
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