SEPT 17TH - DAY 7 OF 7 - DAY MIGRATION TOUR

 LAGUNA MEDINA  -  BONANZA SALT PANS - ALGAIDA PINEWOODS  -  SANTA MARIA SALT PANS

 

  We left Gaucin at the early time of 7am it was dark very misty in the village but later it was mostly sunny, calm air-light SW wind, 33C.  Today we visited Laguna Medina and the Bonanza Salt Pans near Cadiz. As we left Gaucin it was cool with a little mist that developed into quite thick fog as we approached Laguna Medina; fortunately it thinned rapidly and visibility improved whilst at the lake and the sun broke through by 1030hrs. A brief summary of what we saw follows:

Laguna Medina - still lots of water and birds

Birds seen at Laguna Medina: Marsh Harrier, White-headed Duck, Gadwall, Shoveler, eclipse male Garganey, Ferruginous Duck, female Pintail, Common Pochard, Red-Crested Pochard, 6 Black-crowned Night Heron, 20+Red-legged Partridge in the adjoining fields, 7 Spoonbill, Great-crested Grebe, Little Grebe, Green Sandpiper, Pied Flycatcher, Stonechat, Reed Warbler (at least 2, interestingly quite happy in the shrubbery away from the lake fringes), Garden Warbler, Willow Warbler, Sardinian Warbler and Reed Bunting.

Puerto Real - we moved on towards Puerto Real hoping to catch up with a flock of Stone Curlew; we dipped on them but did see 3 Marsh Harrier, Black-winged Kite, an Osprey, Southern Grey Shrike and Woodchat Shrike.

Bonanza Salt Pans (see general scene photo that actually includes 2 Little Tern!) - Red Kite, Montagu's Harrier, Booted Eagle, Slender-billed Gull (see photos), Lesser Black-backed Gull, Yellow-legged Gull, Black-headed Gull, Little Tern (5 or 6 diving and feeding only 10m away - fantastic!), Whimbrel, Black-tailed Godwit (see photo of small portion of a large flock of 200+), Shoveler, Greater Flamingo (250+), Grey Heron, Little Egret, Spoonbill (see photo of all four preceding species!), Black-winged Stilt, Avocet (100+), Grey Plover, Kentish Plover, Ringed Plover, Sanderling, Dunlin, Little Stint, Curlew Sandpiper, Green Sandpiper, Common Sandpiper, Redshank and Greenshank.

two views of one of many Slender-billed Gulls

Laguna Tarelo - White-headed Duck, Glossy Ibis, Kingfisher, Curlew Sandpiper (still in summer plumage).

Algaida Stone Pine woods - Black Kite, Common Redstart, Pied Flycatcher, Spotted Flycatcher, Garden Warbler.

Finally we stopped at Santa Maria Salt pans hoping to catch up with the elusive Stone Curlew flock - but instead we found: Marsh Harrier, Common Buzzard, Black Kite, Jackdaw, White Stork, Cattle Egret, Calandra Lark, Skylark, Short-toed Lark, Northern Wheatear.

That concluded the day and in fact the birding for the week. The 7 days had flown by and we had recorded some interesting species. The total for the week was 168 seen plus 4 more heard only, an excellent total for this time of year and great credit to all the participants throughout the week .