APRIL 23RD - DAY 4 - ANDALUCIA 7- DAY. TOUR

ENCINAS BORRACHES TRACK - LAGUNA DULCE - LAGUNA FUENTE DE PIEDRAS - GAUCIN CHESTNUT WOODS

Quite a change in the weather today, it was quite cloudy with a cold north easterly wind which it feel very cold. We set off on the Ronda road stopping at the the Encina Borraches Track some 10km short of Ronda. We did see several rock Sparrows on the road side walls along the way.

it was cold along the Encinas Borraches track

It was very windy in the open valley of the Encinas track and there were not many birds to see. We did find Iberian Grey Shrike, Corn Bunting, Thekla Lark and lots of Rock Sparrows but not much else at first. Then as we moved into the more sheltered parts we heard Wood Lark singing and saw 3 of them in flight, next an Orphean Warbler was seen flitting about in the tamerisk, it gave short bursts of its tuneful song. A fleeting glimpse of a Spectacled Warbler was had before e set off back towards the bus.



After watching a few Griffon Vultures we saw a Common Kestrel and a Peregrine in flight, the falcon dropped like stone behind a ridge and suddenly a flock of some 60+ Red-billed Chough came into view. The flock circled around before landing some 300 meters ahead of us, we approached carefully and got some great views of them. As we neared the bus we found a superb male Black-eared Wheatear it showed down to 30 meters, what a gem.

Black-eared Wheatear

We drove to the Laguna Dulce and spent a lovely couple of hours scanning the lake and shoreline in glorious sunshine and much less wind. White-headed Ducks sat just in front of the hide, the males looking splendid in the bright light, as did several Black-necked Grebes. More distant species included Greater Flamingo, Common and Red-crested Pochard, Red-knobbed Coot, Gull-billed and Whiskered Tern, Purple Swamphen and many other common ducks.

Black Necked Grebe

However it was the Great Crested Grebe that stole the show as a pair performed their courtship dance right next to the hide, it was incredible and a sight not seen before by most of the group.

stage one of the courtship - the male offers some weeds!

 

they both stand on the water paddling vigorously

After that spectacular display we went to the larger Fuente de Piedras laguna where we saw many other species. We stopped to view the lake from a high position on the approach track, it was a fantastic sight, thousand of Flamingos gathered in huge colonies around islands in the lake.

Laguna Fuente de Piedras - the white ares are flocks of Flamingos!

The wild flowers were outrageous all around the lake and along the track edges, it was an unbelievable sight.

At the main entrance to the visitor's centre we walked around the smaller lagunas where a good selection of waders were pre3sent, we had good close up views of: Wood Sandpiper, Little Stint, Redshank and Spotted Redshank, Common Sandpiper, Common Ringed & Little Ringed Plover, Avocet and lots of Black-winged Stilts. In other areas we found Black Tern in with the large flocks of Whiskered Terns, we also found Common Shelduck, Ruff, Dunlin and a Sanderling.

Avocet

After that thrilling visit we set off to Ronda. Sadly, Vern and Trish were leaving us, they had been a delight on the tours for the last 11 days, Vern in particular had been a great help in finding birds and helping others to see them well, I will miss them both. We dropped them at Ronda train station and continued down to Gaucin, stopping at the chestnut woods just north of the village. We didn't see much but added Chaffinch, European Robin and Wren to our list. That was the last of our birding for the day, dinner was taken at 7pm and it was a lot quieter without Vern and Trish.