Charca de Suarez

Tuesday 17 September

Having spent the afternoon working in Velez de Benaudalla I let both Steve Powell and Gerry Collins know that I would call in for the evening opening at the Charca de Suarez reserve on the western outskirts of Motril.  Imagine my surprise when not only both Steve and Gerry were already there but also Louise Gray and her badminton partner, Peter.  Shame we did not have such a variety of birds to accompany the visit.

Red-nobbed Coot Focha Moruna Fulica cristata with neck collar tab "29" and "28" seen below

Having recorded a lone Kestrel outside the reserve along with a good number of Carttle Egrets, the first bird seen on entry was a male Blackbird followed by a single Zitting Cisticola as I made my way the main pool.   A short stop at the Laguna del Taraje had produced a small mixed group of Mallards and Coots plus a pair of Little Grebes but lots of tall vegetation around the water so no chance of seeing what might have been at the far end.


The (main pool) Laguna de las Aneas was awash with Common Coots and Mallards in a mixed state of moult plus a good number of Little Grebes and Moorhens.  A couple of Little Egrets sheltered on the island a single Heron was seen at the back of the water.  No sign of a "Bog-hen" so I wandered round to the Laguna del Trebol where a Purple Swamphen duly obliged by wandering across in front of me and a pair of "neck-collared" Red-knobbed Coots were in full view.  Also more Mallards a Common Coots.  A single Little Bittern flew in and rapidly disappeared in the tall reeds at the back of the water.  It was lovely to watch the dragonflies, especially the delicate blue of the Lesser Emperor.


Whilst I had seen a Pied Flycatcher on the track leading up the hide overlooking the Laguna del Trebol, we also had a pair of Spotted Flycatchers at the Laguna del Lirio along with another Purple Swamphen close to the hide.  Then, having stayed barely ninety minutes at the reserve, we all made our departures to be home and in time to see Manchester United score a comfortable win over their German rivals in the first match of the Champions League.


Birds seen:
Mallard, Little Grebe, Little Bittern, Cattle Egret, Little Egret, Heron, Kestrel, Moorhen, Purple Swamphen, Common Coot, Red-knobbed Coot, Black-headed Gull, Yellow-legged Gull, Collared Dove, White Wagtail, Blackbird, Zitting Cisticola, Spotless Starling, House Sparrow, Goldfinch.

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