Today's birding trip led me to the Cetina Marshes in Puerto Real. On my way to my initial first stop in San José del Valle, I was hoping to pick up some roadkill in order to provide the birds of prey I was looking for with some natural bait. After barely fifteen minutes on the road I spotted a dead rat which I put in a plastic bag. It was not the only dead animal I would see lying on the road, unfortunately.
Apart from wonderful views from the top of Cruz del Valle, there was not much of interest for a keen birder, so I decided to drive to a familiar place of which I knew there would be birds of prey for sure. The idea was to attract some Marsh Harrier to prey on the unfortunate rodent. That turned out to be much more complicated than expected. First of all, I had to walk through the muddy marshes to set up my heavy tripod, only to find out that the hood of my camouflage suit was missing. Desperately I had to put my camouflage trousers over my head in an attempt to make myself invisible to the birds, but I am pretty sure that tactic didn't work.
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| Marsh Harrier |
The rat didn't attract any special visitors either. A glimpse of a Hen Harrier amongst the reed beds gave me a sparkle of hope that the day would at least produce some decent pictures to take home.
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| The unfortunate rat hit by a car while crossing the road … |
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| … moved to the Cetina Marshes, fifty kilometres further |
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| Hard to spot Hen Harrier |
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| Fortunately I had the chance to photograph it flying relatively close |
After walking several kilometres on muddy ground carrying heavy gear, my last effort of the day was to lay the bait on a concrete pole and use the car as a hide, hoping the Harriers would come really close. They did fly pretty close, but in the end ignored the bait completely.
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| Hen Harrier being curious |
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| For a moment I thought this one was going to give it a try … |
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| … but it couldn't be bothered |
The four Marsh Harriers that I saw during my visit seemed to be residents here. The sure have a great time flying over the wettest part of the marshes, scaring the hell out of the other birds. Today they tried to mess with a huge flock of Teals, invisible from the main track, but I saw them flying up several times, disturbed by a fierce Harrier.
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| Flock of Teals scared away by an overflying Marsh Harrier |
First, they were having a laugh at me because of my failing camouflage, now the Harriers were having a great time chasing the ducks. But it's impossible not to like them, with their beautiful yellow eyes and naughty looks.
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| Marsh Harrier having fun chasing the Teals |
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| Sharing the airspace with a martin |
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| If I were a little bird I'd stay far away from them |
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| Marsh Harrier flying low over the reed beds |
The Harriers were not the only birds of prey in this area today... Several Ospreys and Buzzards also made the afternoon more worthwhile.
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| Osprey |
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| Booted Eagle checking out the Marsh Harriers' airspace |
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| A bulky Buzzard |
Some days you don't get the shot you were after, but if you spend hours in the same place, in the end something special turns up, guaranteed. As soon as my new camouflage hood arrives, I will go out again to try and capture a bird of prey snatching some bait.
Henry.
