Sunday 21 October
At last, decent weather and able to spend the morning at the
Charca de Suarez along with Derek, his brother Terry and Barbara Etherton. Lovely to see the
Bluethroats and even a very brief exposure by a
Water Rail on the Laguna del Alamo Blanco and a final tally well in excess of 40 species.
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Very young Little Grebe Tachybaptus ruficollis |
No sooner on site than we had
Kestrel,
Collared Dove and
Blackbird then off to the
Laguna del Taraje where we had a
Chiffchaff along with
Red-knobbed Coots,
Moorhens,
Mallard and
Common Coot but, on this occasion, no Purple Swamphen. Both
Spotless Starlings and a
Cormorant flew over and the
Little Grebe with her three very young chicks was still present and seemed to be thriving. Not so much the singing
Robin to our left but the very close appearance of a
Bluethroat that had all the cameras
snapping. A
Kingfisher flashed across the top of the reeds and
Blackcap was heard before we moved on to the
Laguna del Alamo Blanco.
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Bluethroat Ruisenor Pechiazul Luscinia svecica |
Once ensconced in the now full hide, all the other occupants seemed to be resident photographers, we quickly added the solitary
White stork and more
Mallard. At least nine
Snipe present and along with the visiting
Spoonbill and a small party of Teal. Two
Purple Swamphen and then a
Common Waxbill flipped across in front of the hide. Barbara managed to record a
White Wagtail. Patience is always a virtue and on this visit it was a
Water Rail rather than a Spotted Crake that put in a very brief appearance before disappearing once more into the vegetation.
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Water Rail Rascon Europeo Rallus aquaticus |
On to the
Laguna de las Aneas where we could see that
Common Coot numbers were once more beginning to build. Plenty of
Mallard but also a handful of
Teal, double that of
Common Pochard and even a distant
Ferruginous Duck. No sooner had we also recorded the
Shovelers than we also found a single
Pintail.
Moorhens and
Little Grebes on the water and both
Cormorant and
Black-headed Gull flew over. Just the one
Grey Heron arrived but Derek managed to scope the undergrowth at the water's edge to our right and duly found a late
Squacco Heron.
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Record shot of Squacco Heron Garcilla cangrejera Ardeola ralloides |
In the area around the little spinney we managed to record
Geat Tit,
Sardinian Warbler and even a
Reed Warbler and the path leading to the
Laguna del Trebol produced
Blue Tit,
Stonechat,
Robin and
Goldfinch. Other than more
Red-knobbed Coots and another
Grey Heron nothing to add once we reached the hide.
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Grey Heron Garza Real Ardea cinerea |
Our final stop at the
Laguna del Lirio produced more
Red-knobbed Coot,
Stonechat and a pair of
Grey Wagtail.
House Sparrows were nearby as we left the reserve and no sooner back on the road and we added
Cattle Egret. Stopping along Turtle Dove Alley the passing raptor was identified as a
Booted Eagle plus a couple of
Barn Swallows and so ended the morning and back home for lunch.
Birds seen:
Mallard, Shoveler, Pintail, Teal, Pochard, Ferruginous Duck, Little Grebe, Cormorant, Squacco Heron, Cattle Egret, Heron, Spoonbill, White Stork, Booted Eagle, Kestrel, Water Rail, Moorhen, Purple Swamphen, Coot, Red-knobbed Coot, Snipe, Black-headed Gull, Collared Dove, Kingfisher, Barn Swallow, Grey Wagtail, White Wagtail, Robin, Bluethroat, Stonechat, Blackbird, Cetti's Warbler, Reed Warbler, Sardinian Warbler, Blackcap, Chiffchaff, Blue Tit, Great Tit, Spotless Starling, House Sparrow, Common Waxbill, Serin, Golfinch
MORE PHOTOS:
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Some type of Cricket |
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Leaf Frog |
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Common Snipe Agachadiza Comun Gallinago gallinago |
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Mr & Mrs Mallard Anade Azulon Anas platyrhynchos |
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Pintail Anade Rabudo Anas acuta |
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Teal Cerceta Comun Anas crecca |
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Purple Swamphen calamon Comun Porphyrio porphyrio |
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Moorhen Gallineta Comun Porphyrio chloropus |
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Red-knobbed Coot Focha Moruna Fulica cristata |
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The long-staying Spoonbill Espatula Comun Platalea leucorodia (from Holland?) |
Check out the accompanying website at http://www.birdingaxarquia.weebly.com for the latest sightings, photographs and additional information
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