Friday 14 January, La Janda, 1030-1530, sunny and still: Had a great day out in La Janda, just past Tarifa on the N-340. The site was once a large lake but was drained for agricultural use many years ago but the fields often flood in the winter and irrigation of rice crops provides further wet areas. It didn't take long before we spotted a juvenile Spanish imperial eagle sitting on a post eating its prey; this was followed by sightings of at least two more juvenile birds. It's fantastic to be able to see these wonderful birds so close to Gaucin. Other birds seen included: Great egret, Little egret, Cattle egret, White stork, Black stork (one), Common crane (several hundred were present), Night heron, Grey heron, Purple swamphen, Bonelli's eagle, Griffon vulture, Marsh harrier (several males, females and immatures), Hen harrier, Common buzzard (several pairs), Kestrel, Raven, Jackdaw, Spoonbill, Black-winged stilt, Green sandpiper, Common sandpiper, Common snipe, Golden plover, Lapwing, Common pheasant, Southern grey shrike, Calandra lark, Skylark, Teal, Shoveler, Reed bunting, Spanish sparrow, Kingfisher, Chiffchaff, Zitting cisticola, Starling and Spotless starling. Also seen (but not by me!): Water pipit. On the way home we had a quick look along the estuary at Palmones, Los Barrios and saw: Osprey (two), Sandwich tern, Yellow-legged, Lesser black-backed and Black-headed gulls, Curlew (a good bird for this site), Whimbrel, Little stint, Dunlin, Sanderling, Ringed plover, Kentish plover, Grey plover, Redshank and Spoonbill. In the photos: Purple swamphen, Common buzzard, Common crane, Little egret and Cattle egret.