Tempus fugit- time flies as they say. March already and spring is here. Although the rain is still with us and its effect is still having an impact on the countryside with landslides and tracks being washed away.
When the sun does come out it is warm, so warm in fact that sitting on the roof-terrace resulted in a burnt head. Well, who puts sun cream on in February !
The last Thursday in February saw us at the Fuente de Piedra, the largest inland lake in Andalucia, 6.5km long and 2.5km wide. Salt was extracted here until the 1950’s and this has resulted in the water taking on a saline nature. Perfect for Flamingos (Flamencos) which arrive in their thousands to breed on this inland lake. However, they are fussy and the water level is critical to their breeding. Too low and it poses a danger of predators getting to the nests. Too high and the nests will be covered by the water. The latter is the problem at the moment. The water level is incredible. The flamingos are actually swimming in the lake which had waves on it resembling more the sea than a lake.
However, we were there with members of the Axarquira birding group to see the Cranes (Grulla comun), wintering here before their return north back to their breeding grounds. A couple of Cranes were spotted on the way to the newly opened visitors centre.
Around the centre there are smaller ponds which attract other birdlife and on the entrance to the car park, Swallows (Golondrina comun) as well as Red rumped swallows (Golondrina daurica) plus House Martins (Avion comun) were seen as well as Black winged stilts ( Ciguenuela comun) and Coots (Focha comun) and Moorhens (Gallinena comun). Black headed gulls ((Gaviota Reidora) could be seen some with the breading colours already.
The hides around the back of the centre produced some good results, Common Snipe (Agachadiza comun), Common Sandpiper (Andarrios chico), Pochards (Porron comun), Gadwall (Anade fresco), Shovellers (Cuchara comun), Moorhen and Avocets (Avoceta comun).
After leaving the centre we headed around the lake where we parked up at the observation area, Mirador de Cantarranas, on the west side and spotted 50 plus Cranes as well as plenty of Flamingos and Lapwings (Avefria europeo).
We then moved onto Laguna Dulce off the main road just outside Campillos. For the last few years this lake has been bone dry and Little Bustards (Sison) have been spotted here as well as Marsh Harriers (Aguilucho lagunero). This time it is a lake once more and housed plenty of ducks, including the White headed duck (Malvasia cabeciblanca), Pintails (Anade rabudo) and Pochard, although not the Red Crested Pochard (Pato colorado) as we had hoped. A Great Crested Grebe (Somormujo lavanco) was spotted as well as more Avocets. By now the time was 2pm and the rain started once more, so time for Sarah and I to head home whilst the others went back to Fuente de Piedra for lunch.
A good day out with the added bonus of seeing the cranes just before they dissapear back to their northern breeding grounds.
