It must have been the coldest night in a long time in the province of Cadiz, just above freezing at our facilities. Nevertheless I decided to set off to go birding in the early afternoon and pay a visit to the marshes near Puerto Real. It was actually milder and less windy than during my previous visit in May last year.
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| Greater Flamingo |
To many, the biggest attraction in this area is probably the large group of flamingos. There were hundreds of them, but most of them at a large distance. When they fly by you can appreciate their amazing beauty.
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| Two flamingos seem to run over the water as they take to the air |
There were also a lot of birds of prey. It would definitely be a great idea to put a hide in the middle of the marshes to photograph them. An interesting plan for one of my next visits. I am sure that after a couple of hours and a bit of luck I will be able to take some spectacular shots of the birds that today I could only admire high in the sky, like Marsh Harrier, Buzzard, Kestrel and Osprey. You could see them literally all the time.
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| Marsh Harrier |
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| Osprey against the silhouette of the Constitution of 1812 Bridge |
There were also some interesting wader birds, quite difficult to identify at times. Along one of the tracks there is a very useful information board, which might help.
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| Information board with the most common species to be seen here |
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| Red Knot (winter plumage) |
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| Black-winged Stilt |
Unfortunately, there were also a few sad sights. I found several dead Storks on the ground.
I had seen three large flocks of Storks in the air on my way to this place, each of them more than 100 individuals strong, but here I didn't see any, apart from those that were lying dead on the ground.
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| A female Stonechat |
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| Cormorant |
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| Osprey |
I counted almost 30 different species. I am looking forward to coming back to take photos from a hide, but before that... a whole list of other places waiting to be visited!
Happy birding,
Henry.
