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| A very alert Roller Carraca Europea Coracias garrulus |
Another blazing hot and sunny day complete with the very strong winds of yesterday..In the end I managed to find over 50 species during a long morning rather than all day so some advance there. In fact, no sooner home than the wind dropped considerably; a touch of the "Murphy's Law" me thinks.
Off reasonably early so that I arrived at the
Laguna Gosque pool just north of Martin de la Jara in time to have the sun on my back and get a good look at this lake which I only discovered yesterday evening. Quite a variety about in addition to the scores of
Coots on the choppy waters including
Red-crested Pochard,
Mallard and
Little Grebe on the water,
Avocets and
Black-winged Stilts on the edges along with a few
Great Crested Grebes and a family of
White-headed Ducks. On the far side 85
Flamingos and above the water feeding
Gull-billed and
Whiskered Terns along with the odd
Barn Swallow. The nearby vegetation held singing
Reed Warblers and a number of scurrying
Red-legged Partridges which rapidly disappeared when the lovely male
Marsh Harrier drifted over.
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| The Red-crested Pochards Pato Colarado Netta rufina are gradually losing their colour |
Next came the drive over to the
Osuna Lakes which were very much short of water. On the way a
Thekla Lark,
Jackdaw and
Raven and once the scope was set up at the main pool near the La Lantejuela turn I was soon into loads of singing
Great Reed Warblers,
Corn Buntings and
Turtle Doves on the wires and many
Whiskered Terns feeding over the water. Ducks included
Mallard,
Pochard and
Shoveler and even a single
Purple Swamphen put in an appearance. Naturally, there had to be at least one
Common Kestrel. However, the best sight was that of a
Collared Pratincole that flew over the road and then sat well exposed at the water's edge offering a very good view - but too windy and distant for a photograph. The neighbouring lake only offered up a single
Kentish Plover in addition to more
Black-winged Stilts and a small number of
Flamingos.
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| One of many Lesser Kestrels Cernicalo Primilla Falco naumanni seen at the old barn |
Then it was towards the steppes via the small town of
La Lantejuela with a
Buzzard,
Black Kite and
Crested Lark observed during the journey. All very quite hear and nothing new to add to yesterday's sightings. Lots of
Lesser Kestrels and at least three
Rollers seen along with a number of
Bee-eaters. Obviously not the shooting season as there seemed to be scores of
Red-legged Partridges running around all the wooded fields and orchards. But I did get another
Turtle Dove and the sight of a lovely
Southern Grey Shrike plus a few
Common Swifts very high overhead.
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| A very alert Southern Grey Shrike Alcaudon Real Lanius meridionalis |
With loads of time in hand I decided to make a stop at
Fuente de Piedra on the way home and, being the last day of the week, perhaps there would be some peace and quiet and no visiting school parties. Indeed there was! Still lots of
Coots and the
Curlew Sandpipers and
Dunlins were still present. However, on this occasion I also managed to find both the Wood Sandpiper and a pair of
Little Stint. Add on
Black-winged Stilts,
Avocets,
Moorhens,
Ringed Plovers and a couple of
Little Ringed Plover and all seemed well with the world. A quick visit to the laguneta at the back of the Visitors' Centre produced both
Common and
Red-crested Pochard in addition to a few
Shovelers and a pair of
Gadwall. As a bonus, I even had a very small flock of
Linnets as I made my way round to the back and, of course, the
Great Reed Warblers were blasting forth from their usual bushes and making, almost, as much noise as those in the main pool east of Lantejuela.
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| Found at last, one of the two Little Stints Correlimos Menudo Calidris minuta |
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| One very lonely Wood Sandpiper Andarrios Bastardo Tringa glareola |
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| A group of three Curlew Sandpipers Correlimos Zarapitin Calidris ferruginea |
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| This Common Pochard Porron Europeo Aythya ferina has seen more than enough for one day! |
So back home by just after 3pm having recorded
56 species for the day and time to sort the photographs before falling asleep and forgetting to telephone the lovely wife!
Birds seen:
Gadwall, Mallard, Shoveler, Red-crested Pochard, Pochard, White-headed Duck, Red-legged partridge, Little Grebe, Great Crested Grebe, Cattle Egret, Black Kite, Marsh Harrier, Buzzard, Lesser Kestrel, Kestrel, Moorhen, Purple Swamphen, Coot, Black-winged Stilt, Avocet, Collared Pratincole, Little Ringed Plover, Ringed Plover, Kentish Plover, Little Stint, Curlew sandpiper, Dunlin, Wood Sandpiper, Black-headed Gull, Lesser Black-backed Gull, Gull-billed Tern, Whiskered Tern, Rock Dove, Turtle Dove, Collared Dove, Swift, Bee-eater, Roller, Crested lark, Thekla Lark, Barn Swallow, House Martin, Blue-headed Wagtail, Stonechat, Reed Warbler, Great Reed Warbler, Southern Grey Shrike, Jackdaw, Raven, Spotless Starling, House Sparrow, Serin, Goldfinch, Linnet and Corn Bunting.
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