My main aim today was to go and count the cormorants that were here. Celia had been here a few days ago to run around the lakes and told me she had seen a lot of them. I counted over a hundred of them indeed, but the highlight of my visit was the encounter with a wonderful Bluethroat. More about that at the bottom of this report!
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| Bluethroat |
The Torrox Lagoon is actually divided into two parts, each part having a little 'island' in the middle. It is on these islands that the cormorants were gathering, joined by gulls and herons. |
| One of the two 'islands' |
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| Part of the flock of Cormorants |
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| Cormorant flying from one island to the other |
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| Grey Heron |
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| Yellow-legged Gull |
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| Grey Heron in the air |
There were also plenty of Crag Martins. Clearly visible and sometimes very close but always extremely hard to photograph, although with some patience you can get decent results.
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| Crag Martin |
I would not call this place a birding hotspot, but at times you can see interesting species here. It is nice if you are into running and want to get the chance to observe some birds at the same time.
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| Female European Stonechat |
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| Chiffchaff |
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| Another female European Stonechat |
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| Chiffchaff jumping from branch to branch |
Then just before walking back to the car I spotted something hopping in the grass and I immediately knew it was something special. A gorgeous Bluethroat, a bird I had never seen before!
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| Bluethroat |
This wonderful bird had spotted some worms in the grass and was not bothered by my presence at all. I lay down flat on my belly on the path to take some photos and after that I sat on a bench to observe it for another while, knowing that it might take a long time until the next encounter with this beauty.
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| Bluethroat eating a rainworm |
During my two-hour walk I spotted 23 different species, of which the Bluethroat was by far the most spectacular one. Excellent start of another year full of birding!
Henry.
