Saturday 16 November
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Common Cranes Grulla Comun Grus grus over Laguna Dulce |
With the sun already shining in a clear blue sky and, at last, the wind abated I set off for a morning at the
Laguna Dulce near Campillos just after 9 am. Already up to 11C as I departed but upon arriving, having received a frost warning in the car when the outside temperature dropped to 3C at the top of the long climb up from Malaga, I arrived jut before 10.30 to be greeted by 5C, lots of birds on the water but very cold when standing at the hide as my hands gradually turned to ice. But it was worth the effort and by the time I returned to Mezquitilla in mid-afternoon the temperature on the coast was up into the low twenties.
Checking out the water, try as I might I could not find a single Great Crested Grebe; scores of both
Little and
Black-necked Grebes but not a single sight of their larger cousin. On the other hand, in addition to the hundreds of
Coot, I had a marvellous selection of ducks. Very many
Mallard and
Shoveler and diligent searching produced about a score of
Common Pochard, handful of
Red-crested Pochard and a single
Shelduck. No Teal but a good number of
Gadwall. However, despite losing count at in excess of 250
White-headed Ducks my pride of place probably went to the score or more of
Wigeon, not a bird I find that often in southern Spain, but then welcome sighting of a quartet of
Garganey, my bird of the day.
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Mainly Gadwall Anade Friso Anas strepera in this group of ducks |
Whilst a good number of
Crag Martins were feeding over the water and both
Chiffchaff and
House Sparrows were foraging below me in the greenery along with calling
Cetti's Warblers, I looked up to watch the passing female
Marsh Harrier. This reminded me of the
Black-shouldered Kite that I had just past on top of a wooden telegraph pole as I drove through
Santa Ana just down the road. A single
Moorhen wandered out towards the hide whist on the opposite side of the nearby bay to my left an arriving
Lapwing also drew my attention to
Black-winged Stilt,
Ringed Plover and both
Grey and
White Wagtails working the shore. A little further behind them working both shore and hedgerow was a small flock of
Meadow Pipits.
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Flamingos Phoenicopterus roseus at Laguna Dulce in the company of Coot Fulca atra and, if you carefully, Crag Martin Ptyonoprogne rupestris |
Next job to find the wintering
Common Cranes. To the very far right-hand corner a tight group of about thirty
Flamingos were busy feeding and to their rear four
Common Crane. At that moment a half-dozen flew across the water, right to left, so I knew the main flock had to be somewhere in the immediate area. Meanwhile, there was a presence of about 100 plus
Black-headed Gulls to the rear of the water and as I looked I could still be not unimpressed by the huge swathe of
White-headed Ducks which seemed to stretch right across the back of the water. Time to drive over to the far side and take the farm track towards Fuente de Piedra but first a check in the shrubbery behind me where I duly found a lovely
Zitting Cisticola.
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About 30+ of the White-headed Duck Oxyura leucocephala with a few Shoveler Anas clypeata |
Moving along the back of the water I quickly found both
Crested Lark and
Stonechat and the first of three good-sized flocks of
Linnets. A trio of
Collared Doves were resting in trees near the farm to my left at the crossroad and, as I watched, a pair of
Raven with a quartet of
Jackdaws above the moved to the the left. As the
Ravens continued the
Jackdaws joined a few more of their number also at the above farm.
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Raven Corvus corax (above) and Jackdaws Corvus monedula (below) |
At about the same time I found the grazing flock of at least an hundred
Cranes near the back of the water. As I watched a good section moved away to the front of me and I discovered two further large flock so bringing the
Crane total up to well over 300.
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Common Cranes Grulla Comun Grus grus |
Continuing on down the track nothing to record at the old ruin though I did pick up a solitary
Buzzard resting on a relatively recently-ploughed field. A good number of
Jackdaws were seen at the "nesting tower" along with a few
Spotless Starlings. More
Linnets and then both
Serin and
Goldfinches before re-joining the road and taking the anti-clockwise circuit to the salinas of
Fuente de Piedra.
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Female Linnet Carduelis cannabina (above) and Stonechat Saxicola torquatus (below) |
Unlike the Laguna Dulce, Fuente de Piedra was almost devoid of water, just a couple of large puddles and the entrance fields and scrapes completely bone dry. The only birds to be seen on the "lake" was a tight mixed flock of mainly
Lesser black-backed and
Black-headed Gulls.
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Flamingos Flamenco Comun Phoenicopterus roseus at the laguneta |
So round to the back and the laguneta where, even here, the water level was conspicuous by its dramatic fall in level. Never mind islands, all we now had was a couple of small humps on the barren bed. On the remaining water mainly a few
Mallard,
Shoveler and
Coot along with little more than a handful of
Flamingos. A
Lapwing walked the nearby shire and in the bushes the occasional
Linnet and
House Sparrow.
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Northern Lapwing Avefria Europea Vanellus vanellus |
Walking back towards the car both
Goldfinch and a couple of
Greenfinch were recorded then a male
Sardinian Warbler and a number of feeding
Blackcaps in the olive trees. A female
Black Redstart put in an appearance and a male
Blackbird made a hasty retreat as a
Kestrel drifted overhead, so bringing up the day's total to
45 species.
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Female Black Redstart Colirrojo Tizon Phoenicurus ochruros |
Birds seen:
Shelduck, Gadwall, Wigeon, Mallard, Shoveler, Garganey, Red-crested Pochard, Common Pochard, White-headed Duck, Little Grebe, Black-necked Grebe, Flamingo, Black-shouldered Kite, Marsh Harrier, Buzzard, Kestrel, Moorhen, Coot, Crane, Black-winged Stilt, Ringed Plover, Lapwing, Black-headed Gull, Lesser Black-backed Gull, Collared Dove, Crested Lark, Crag Martin, Meadow Pipit, Grey Wagtail, White Wagtail, Black Redstart, Stonechat, Blackbird, Cetti's Warbler, Zitting Cisticola, Sardinian Warbler, Blackcap, Chiffchaff, Jackdaw, Raven, Spotless Starling, House Sparrow, Serin, Goldfinch, Linnet.
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More Common Cranes Grulla Comun Grus grus |
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