Andalucia – Day 6 Around Jerez de la Frontera

Fri 30 May 2014

We travelled about 100km west today to explore the area around Jerez de la Frontera. We noted a dozen or so species as we travelled, including Glossy ibis, Black kite and Raven (any large black corvid is almost certainly a raven as carrion crow and rook are absent from this region). A Sardinian warbler darted across the road in front of the car, an unfortunate habit that leads to the demise of many.

Laguna de Medina Natural Park

We arrived just after 9.00 am and began a walk on a boardwalk/cycle track along the southern edge of the lake, leading eventually to a nice hide overlooking this large (120ha) body of water. We found a good selection of warblers (Reed, Great reed, Cetti’s, Melodious, Sardinian, Zitting cisticola) in the reeds and trees along the track. Bob glimpsed a Penduline tit, but despite standing and searching for some time, it never showed again. On the lake itself were Great crested grebe, Little grebe, Mallard and Pochard.  From the hide we had very distant views of Night herons and a Purple swamphen in the vegetation on the far side of the lake. A Purple heron flew over.

As we drove away to our next port of call another ocelated lizard ran across the road in front of us. Whilst driving on to Laguna Juncosa we kept a particular eye our for Magpie as they are rare in this corner of Spain. We spotted one on top of a roadside telegraph pole.

Laguna Juncosa

We stayed here for just twenty minutes as there was not a great deal of birdlife about. The two best were a male Montagu’s harrier and a Tawny pipit. Black-winged stilt, Black-tailed godwit, Ringed plover, Swift, Mallard, Little grebe, Shelduck and Zitting cisticola made up the rest of the list.

Salinas de Bonanza (Bonanza Saltpans)

The shallow evaporation ponds held good number of Greater flamingo, as well as a few Avocet, Sanderling, Kentish plover and Ringed plover. An elegant new gull species for me was the Slender-billed variety.

We pulled up by a small pumping station in a corner of one of the lagoons where we ate our picnic lunch and watched a Little tern hovering low over the water and plunging to catch fish. A Little egret posed for photographs nearby and a Slender-billed gull also floated on the water close to us. Glossy ibis and Flamingo treated us to a fly past.

Laguna Tarelo

Only a stone’s throw from our previous stop, this lake held some interesting birds. A good selection of ducks – Pochard, Red-crested pochard, Mallard, Gadwall and White-headed. On an island in the lake were Spoonbill, Little and Cattle egrets and Squacco herons. Several young Squacco herons (probably from more than one family) scrambled in the vegetation begging food from the adults. An interesting insect on the wire fence was a Migratory grasshopper. A male Little bittern perched in the trees across the lake showed well for a couple of minutes before flying off and disappearing. Best of all were a few Marbled ducks swimming in and out of view amongst the lakeside vegetation. We eventually counted a total of eight. Others were Coot, Moorhen, Little grebe, Yellow-legged gull and and overflying pale morph Booted eagle.

Pinar del la Algaida

We drove through this umbrella pine forest but saw little. A ten-minute stop only produced a Spotted flycatcher and Sardinian warbler. Griffon vulture and several Black kites soared over the canopy of trees, amongst them a solitary Red kite - the only one we saw during the week.

Trabujena Salt Marsh

Our final site before beginning the long journey back to Gaucin. We drove slowly through this area, specifically to find Lesser short-toed lark. I spotted a Purple swamphen sat on the bank of a small pond by some farm buildings that Bob dismissed as a chicken! As we passed and Bob got a better view he conceded that it was a Purple swamphen – the best view I had of one during the week. As we drove slowly along the track we saw only Crested larks and Yellow wagtails. A Back kite perched on a fence post and a Woodchat shrike on the wire. A large flock of Black-tailed godwit and good numbers of Avocet were across the marsh. We failed to find any Lesser short-toed lark.

In the late evening relaxing on the roof terrace we watched many swift, and the odd pallid swift, screaming over the roof tops of Gaucin, and of course, the pair of blue rock thrush.

See also Bob’s Wingspan blog of Day 6.

Today’s List
Shelduck	Gadwall
Mallard	Marbled Duck
Red-crested Pochard	Pochard
White-headed Duck	Little Grebe
Great Crested Grebe	Greater Flamingo
White Stork	Glossy Ibis
Eurasian Spoonbill	Little Bittern
Black-crowned Night Heron	Squacco Heron
Cattle Egret	Grey Heron
Purple Heron	Little Egret
Red Kite	Black Kite
Griffon Vulture	Marsh Harrier
Montagu’s Harrier	Booted Eagle
Common Kestrel	Purple Swamphen
Moorhen	Eurasian Coot
Black-winged Stilt	Pied Avocet
Ringed Plover	Kentish Plover
Black-tailed Godwit	Sanderling
Collared Pratincole	Slender-billed Gull
Yellow-legged Gull	Lesser Black-backed Gull
Little Tern	Turtle Dove
Collared Dove	Swift
Pallid Swift	Hoopoe
Woodchat Shrike	Jay
Common Magpie	Jackdaw
Common Raven	Penduline Tit (Bob only)
Crested Lark	Red-rumped Swallow
Cetti’s Warbler	Great Reed Warbler
Reed Warbler	Melodious Warbler
Zitting Cisticola	Sardinian Warbler
Spotless Starling	Nightingale
Stonechat	Blue Rock Thrush
Spotted Flycatcher	Yellow Wagtail
Tawny Pipit	Greenfinch
Goldfinch	Corn Bunting
70 Species