It was a long and hot day today but the guys were up for it, we drove from Gaucin at 7:30am and arrived at Laguna Medina at 9am. A long drive let's hope that at the end of the day we think its worth it!
The weather was lovely clear skies all day, it reach 30C at the salt pans but we had a nice breeze to cool us down.
Along the route we notched quite a few species which included: Eurasian Hoopoe, White Stork, Montagu's Harrier, Black Kite, Griffon Vulture, Booted Eagle and lots of Cattle Egrets.
When we arrived at Laguna Medina the air was alive with bird song as usual, Great Reed Warblers, Cetti's Warblers, Common Nightingales, Zitting Cisticola, Turtle Dove, Greenfinches, Goldfinches and Melodious Warblers were all giving some volume. We saw all of those species as we walked the track to hide, but the best was seen by just me, a male Penduline Tit, I inadvertently flushed it before anyone else got a view! Viewing from the hide the pool itself was disappointing with just a few Mallard, Common Coot, Great Crested and Little Grebes. The surrounding scrub held Night Heron, Purple Swamphen, lots of Wood Pigeon and we saw Little Tern and Purple Heron flying over.
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| Banded Groundling - Brachythermis leicosticta (female) |
It took about 40 minutes to reach the saltpans at Bonanza, we passed through El Portil and notched a Eurasian Magpie along the way. We then passed through the busy town of Sanlucar before reaching the pans and even they were very quiet, the hordes of migrating waders that are usually present in spring were gone and only hundreds of Greater Flamingos, Pied Avocet and Black-winged Stilts remained. We also saw Kentish Plover, Ringed Plover, Sanderling in summer plumage and a good number of Black Kites flew overhead. We ate lunch at a small pumping station where we watched Little Terns, Slender-billed Gulls and Spoonbills at fairly close range.
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| three views of the beautiful Slender-billed Gull |
From the salt pans we drove around to Laguna Tarelo where we had a most successful hour. An island in the middle of the pool held a mixed breeding colony of Spoonbills, Little and Cattle Egret and Squacco Herons one of our target species, we saw several fledged chicks being fed by adults.
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| one of the many Night Herons partly hidden in the tamarisk scrub |
Then we found a Little Bittern another of our most wanted species, this bird flew to a high perch and showed well for a few minutes before disappearing. As we searched through the ducks we found 8 MARBLED DUCKS, a real treat for us and a bonus bird for the trip list, we had great views of them albeit distant ones.
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| a really poor record shot of Marbled Duck - I put this in for the OXFORD RSPB member's group to prove to them that the bird really exists, you can just about see three of them |
Other species seen included lots of roosting Night Herons and both Common and Red-crested Pochard, Gadwall and lots of Common Coot, none with Red-knobs on!
A short walk on the Algaida pines produced little, a single Spotted Flycatcher, Sardinian Warbler and many Black Kites, whilst looking at the kites we saw a Red Kite drifting on high and a few Griffon Vultures.
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| Little Egret taken at the salt pans |
Our drive through the salt marsh at Trebujena was enjoyable and there were many birds to see but none were new for us and we never found a Lesser Short-toed Lark, our target species. A huge flock of Black-tailed Godwits was impressive and a great many Pied Avocets joined them in the marsh. We also saw quite a few Yellow Wagtails, Crested Larks and Zitting Cisticola.
Time was moving on and so must we, we had a 2 drive back. We broke this up with an ice cream stop and later a caffeine boost was needed. All of us agreed that our sighting8 of over 80 species made it worth the long trek.
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