Thursday 19 September 2013, Gaucin, mostly sunny, light W-NW wind, 28C

Today I joined Wingspanner on a day tour to the lagoons and saltpans near Jerez/Cadiz. We left Gaucin at 0715hrs collecting visitors Jane and Dave on the way.

Laguna Medina
We arrived at Laguna Medina just after 0900hrs. The water level was higher than it has been in the past and there were few birds on the lagoon but we did see:
Common Buzzard, Common Kestrel, Red-legged Partridge, Purple Swamp Hen, Cattle Egret, Great-crested Grebe, Red-necked Grebe, Little Grebe, Gadwall, Common Pochard, Shoveler, Common Snipe, Yellow Wagtail, Pied Flycatcher, Penduline Tit, Reed Warbler, Melodious Warbler, Willow Warbler, Cetti's Warbler and Serin.

Santa Maria and Bonanza Saltpans:
It always seems slightly surreal birding amidst the strange salt pan landscape but it's worth the effort to see;
Osprey, Red Kite, Marsh Harrier, Short-toed Eagle, Slender-billed Gull, Sandwich Tern, Little Tern, White Stork, Black Stork, Greater Flamingo, Great White Egret, Black-winged Stilt, Eurasian Spoonbill, Pied Avocet, Stone Curlew, Whimbrel, Ruff, Black-tailed Godwit, Bar-tailed Godwit, Knot, Redshank, Spotted Redshank, Greenshank, Dunlin, Little Stint, Sanderling, Ringed Plover, Kentish Plover, Curlew Sandpiper, Common Sandpiper, Green Sandpiper, Northern Wheatear, Red-rumped Swallow and Common Whitethroat.

Laguna Tarelo:
Despite the water here having turned red, presumably due to an algal bloom, a brief stop led to some good sightings including Purple Heron, several Black-crowned Night Heron and a female Red-crested Pochard.

En-route to the Trebujena marshes we saw a single European Bee-eater, Spotted Flycatcher and Chiffchaff sp.

Trebujena Marshes:
Squacco Heron, eclipse male Garganey, Red-knobbed Coot, Whinchat and Short-toed Lark.

Other species seen at, or whilst travelling between, sites were:
Griffon Vulture, Booted Eagle, Raven, Jackdaw, Collared Dove, Wood Pigeon, Lesser Black-backed Gull, Yellow-legged Gull, Black-headed Gull, Grey Heron, Little Egret, Common Coot, Moorhen, Mallard, Spotless Starling, Blackbird, White Wagtail, Barn Swallow, House Martin, Great Tit, Blue Tit, Stonechat, Sardinian Warbler, Zitting Cisticola, House Sparrow, Crested Lark, Goldfinch, Greenfinch, Chaffinch, Linnet and Corn Bunting.

A great day's birding with a grand total of 97 species including some quality individuals!

Greater Flamingo