Friday & Saturday, 8 & 9 November
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| Juvenile Black-winged Kite Elanus caeruleus |
Jenny feeling a lot better so decided I would actually make the journey down to the Brazo del Este in south-west Sevilla Province. No point driving straight past Fuente de Piedra so first to the Laguna Dulce, then Fuente and, finally, arrived in Los Palacios y Villafranca just after 4pm.. Too late to do justice to the Bazo site so overnight in a basic hostal in readiness for an early morning start on the Saturday. With tickets for the monthly dance that evening, it was a case of straight home afterwards rather than a repeat visit to the Osuna area for a second chance to check out the Great Bustards.
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| White Storks Ciconia ciconia by the score |
Leaving home just after 8am the weather looked set fair with just the odd, scattered cloud in the sky but quite a strong breeze.
Thekla Larks and
Goldfinches on the way down the mountain and
House Sparrows,
White Wagtails and
Blackbirds as I passed through Los Romanes. Then, once off the motorway and onto the Campillos road the first
Spotless Starlings,
Rock Doves and even a
Southern Grey Shrike. Then, arriving at
Laguna Dulce, a very sleepy
Buzzard resting atop one of the disused wooden electricity poles (and still there when I drove back over an hour later) and a number of
Cattle Egrets in the neighbouring fields. The water was calm and, once again, full with hundreds of
Coots to be seen. Plenty of
Mallards and
Shovelers about and scoping the laguna I was able to record
Pochard,
Gadwall and at least 150+
White-headed Ducks. Not so many grebes, or so it seemed, but more concentration revealed all three resident species with mainly
Little and
Black-necked but also a few
Great Crested Grebes. A few
Lesser Black-backed Gulls and three
Purple Swamphens seen along with a few
Moorhen. A
Stonechat popped up in front of the hide but it was the four
Marsh Harriers that captured my attention.
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| One of three Purple Swamphen Calamon Comun Porphyrio porphyria at Laguna Dulce |
Next the short drive round to
Fuente de Piedra with a couple of
Kestrels hovering as I covered that horrible road towards the Mirador de Cantarranas. Yes, the
Cranes were back with a flock of towards 200 resting to the left of the large pool between land and the main laguna. It certainly seemed from their behaviour that these were probably newly-arrived birds. Just a single
Black-winged Stilt to be seen. The
Visitors Centre proved more active with, surprise -surprise, water in the laguneta at the back. Here, mainly
Shovelers but also
Teal along with more
Coots and a couple of juvenile
Flamingos.
Chiffchaffs fed in the small path-side bushes and there were scores of
Jackdaws about, the largest flock totalling over fifty individuals.
Flamingos, on the main water, could still be countered in their thousands but were now well dispersed over the water. A pair of
Shelduck were recorded along with a handful of
Lapwings. However, the field containing the newly-repaired electricity tower held more along with the above
Jackdaw flock and, with careful study, I was able to pick out some of the resting
Stone Curlews.
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| Distant Stone Curlew Alcaravan Comun Burhinus cedicnemus at Fuente de Piedra |
Travelling westwards via
Osuna, I hoped to find a few of the local Great Bustards but, on this occasion, I was to be unsuccessful. However, I did have a number of
Serins and
Crested Larks along with many
Marsh Harriers. Stopping at the first new railway bridge I put up a
Red-legged Partridge and the resting
Spotless Starlings included a couple of
Common Starlings. Looking over the trees I was able to pick out the first
Red Kite of the day. Driving back to the road I had my only Little Owl; unfortunately it was on the road as a fresh-dead specimen, presumably hit by a car earlier in the morning. Getting back into the car I looked up as a pair of
Ravens passed overhead. Breakfast?
Collared Doves and a
Hoopoe were also recorded but the best sights were those of the three
Black-winged Kites that I came across. In addition to
Kestrels I also found a pair of
Peregrine Falcons. Stopping to take a photograph of the remaining female, looking at the result I discovered that I had also managed to included a resting
Black-winged Kite immediately above the
Peregrine.
Juvenile Black-winged Kite Elanus caeruleus and then two raptors for the price of one!
Having booked into the hostal in
Los Palacios y Villafranca, I took the short drive over to
Los Chapetales to both make sure that I knew which road to take in the morning and check the site conditions. The rice had been mainly combined leaving large watery expanses which held many
White Storks,
Herons and
Little Egrets and I even had a
Squacco Heron welcome me on the bend as I crossed the channel. Meanwhile, a start had been made on harvesting the local cotton crop.
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| Red Kites Milano Real Milvus milvus west of Osuna |
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| Southern Grey Shrike Alcadon Real Lanius meridionalis |
Saturday morning and not a cloud in the breathless sky with the sun in readiness to create some real warmth. Coffee out of the way I was past Pinzon ready to enter the
Brazo del Este site near the rice depot. The usual
Spotless Starlings,
Collared Doves and
House Sparrows out of the way I was soon amongst the hundreds of
White Storks feeding on the former rice fields - but not before awakening the sleepy
Booted Eagle on an electricity pole just before leaving the road. But then a single, unexpected
Black Stork to give me real cheer for the morning. As the morning warmed, more and more
Marsh Harriers seemed to take to the sky but, I have to admit, no one adult male in its full glory was seen all morning.
In addition to the
White Storks there were numerous
Yellow-legged and
Black-headed Gulls and, further along, even
Lesser Black-backed Gulls. Again, no shortage of
Grey Herons and scores of
Little Egrets. On the drier land,
Cattle Egrets had come to feed and the first open water produced a score or more of
Cormorants. No shortage of
Coots and the occasional
Moorhen but ducks consisted of a few
Mallards.
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| One of scores of Purple Swamphens Porphyrio porphyrio to be seen, both in the open and hiding, at the Brazo del Este |
After the first
Purple Swamphen I seem to be seeing them on every pond . Only one water contained
Little Grebes and then the first
Spoonbill on the river. A small number of
Green Sandpipers was seen along with a handful of
White Wagtails. Two nearby
Squacco Herons were a join to behold. The return journey produced a fly past of formation
Spoonbill which rather took me by surprise and they were mainly passed before I could get a decent photograph. The track-side bushes contained a few feeding
Chiffchaff but the overwhelming passerine was the
Spanish Sparrow. There must have been well in excess of a thousand or more in a number of sizable flocks.
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Squacco Heron Garcilla Cangrejera Ardeola ralloides
and note the mass of white when the bird takes flight |
No Night Herons and the Black-headed Weavers had departed leaving their nesting trees to be occupied by a flock of over fifty
Spanish Sparrows. Returning to my starting point to take a last look at some of the more productive pools, I continued to find more and more P
urple Swamphens and a flock of 150 tightly-packed
Black-winged Stilts. The
Marsh Harriers continued to quarter the site and a single
Kingfisher flashed past. The return journey back to Los Palacios was by a different route and jut after the rice depot I came across a small party of
Meadow Pipits feeding on some grassy wasteland. Then I was able to add more
Lapwings and another pair of
Black Storks. Not too sure about the small flock of
Greylag Geese.
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| Male Spanish Sparrow Gorrion Moruno Passer hispaniolensis; one of thousands seen at Brazo del Este |
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| And then a flight of Spoonbills Espatula Comun Platalea leucorodia passed overhead |
FOOTNOTE:
It would appear that I was wrong when I said that the Black-headed Weaver colony had been abandoned. Looking a little close at my photographs I can now see why one of the Spanish Sparrows looks larger with a greenish tint. Yes, you guessed correctly, a female (or maybe juvenile) Black-headed Weaver.
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Female Black-headed Weaver Ploceus melanocephalas at the former breeding colony, Brazo del Este
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Birds seen:
Greylag Goose, Shelduck, Gadwall, Mallard, Shoveler, Teal, Pochard, White-headed Duck, Red-legged Partridge, Little Grebe, Great Crested Grebe, Black-necked Grebe, Cormorant, Squacco Heron, Cattle Egret, Little Egret, Heron, Black Stork, White Stork, Spoonbill, Flamingo, Black-winged Kite, Red Kite, Griffon Vulture, Marsh Harrier, Booted Eagle, Buzzard, Kestrel, Peregrine Falcon, Moorhen, Purple Swamphen, Coot, Crane, Black-winged Stilt, Stone Curlew, Lapwing, Green Sandpiper, Black-headed Gull, Lesser Black-backed Gull, Yellow-legged Gull, Rock Dove, Collared Dove, Kingfisher, Hoopoe, Crested Lark, Thekla Lark, Meadow Pipit, White Wagtail, Stonechat, Blackbird, Chiffchaff, Southern Grey Shrike, Jackdaw, Raven, Common Starling, Spotless Starling, Black-headed Weaver, House Sparrow, Spanish Sparrow, Serin, Goldfinch, Linnet, Corn Bunting.
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