Trebujena-Sanlucar Road Improvements
As I suspected in a previous post, the CA 9027 (which takes you to La Algaida without the tiresome necessity of driving into Sanlucar de Barrameda) has now been resurfaced and is much improved. Surprisingly, the improved surface overshoots the turning for La Algaida itself (circled in red on the map) making the turning easy to miss (unfortunately the tracks cutting through to Lagunas de Camino Colorado have got worse). Oddly, this improved stretch suddenly ends after c1 km and becomes a gravel track again. This continues for c5 km until it reaches the turning for the pines. This gravel track was in good condition but inevitably the winter rains have taken a toll. (I didn't check but I gather the track through the pines is still in a poor condition). After passing the entrance to the pines, the road is again metalled (albeit very patched & bumpy), but at the weir a miracle happens ... the road along the river has been entirely tarmacked and resurfaced all the way to the turning up to Trebujena!. This isn't entirely good news as cars now whizz along this stretch at much greater speed!
As I suspected in a previous post, the CA 9027 (which takes you to La Algaida without the tiresome necessity of driving into Sanlucar de Barrameda) has now been resurfaced and is much improved. Surprisingly, the improved surface overshoots the turning for La Algaida itself (circled in red on the map) making the turning easy to miss (unfortunately the tracks cutting through to Lagunas de Camino Colorado have got worse). Oddly, this improved stretch suddenly ends after c1 km and becomes a gravel track again. This continues for c5 km until it reaches the turning for the pines. This gravel track was in good condition but inevitably the winter rains have taken a toll. (I didn't check but I gather the track through the pines is still in a poor condition). After passing the entrance to the pines, the road is again metalled (albeit very patched & bumpy), but at the weir a miracle happens ... the road along the river has been entirely tarmacked and resurfaced all the way to the turning up to Trebujena!. This isn't entirely good news as cars now whizz along this stretch at much greater speed!
Adventus Marismas, New Reserve, etc
As I didn’t have much time available to explore the area properly, the obvious target on my short visit to the Trebujena area was to find Pin-tailed Sandgrouse for my visiting friends from Sandwich Bay Bird Observatory. This could only mean checking the track besides the Adventus marismas.
I got there early, but even before I arrived I could see, as I dropped down from Trebujena, that the whole area was extensively flooded, more so than I’d seen it previously. This raised two concerns, first whether the track, which can be very slippery after rain, was going to be navigable and second whether the sandgrouse had remembered their water-wings & wellies! Happily, my first fear proved to be unfounded but the second was a real concern.
As I didn’t have much time available to explore the area properly, the obvious target on my short visit to the Trebujena area was to find Pin-tailed Sandgrouse for my visiting friends from Sandwich Bay Bird Observatory. This could only mean checking the track besides the Adventus marismas.
I got there early, but even before I arrived I could see, as I dropped down from Trebujena, that the whole area was extensively flooded, more so than I’d seen it previously. This raised two concerns, first whether the track, which can be very slippery after rain, was going to be navigable and second whether the sandgrouse had remembered their water-wings & wellies! Happily, my first fear proved to be unfounded but the second was a real concern.
Having driven the length of the track, it was clear that much of the most attractive sandgrouse habitats were under several inches, if not feet, of water (see photos). With few birds at the far end of the track, I headed back towards the road where I soon met up with my friends. We scanned the area for several minutes before they decided to check the far end of the track (c3 km). I thought it made sense for me to remain where I was and continue checking the area closer to the road.
I was really feeling the absence of my ‘scope (which had fallen apart a week earlier), but kept scanning back and forth with my binoculars. After 10-15 minutes I caught sight of two birds flying low – sandgrouse! They continued but soon dropped into the low saline vegetation c800m from the track. Even at a fraction of that distance Pin-tailed Sandgrouse can be impossible to spot on the ground. But at least I seemed to have found where the birds had an ‘island’ of suitable habitat to feed.
A quick phone call and, 10 minutes later, my friends arrived. I had kept scanning but hadn’t seen any more birds. Happily, the sandgrouse had waited until my friends arrived and set up their scopes … but this time it wasn’t two birds flying around but a considerable flock! At first 20 or 30 came up and circled around but they were soon joined by more birds. They were mainly distant but a few came much closer giving good flight views even through binoculars. I counted over 80 but another party came up to join them so the final count was of 96 birds! To put this into context, the previous high counts here on eBird have been around 20-30 with a maximum of 50 in 2022. Seeing almost 100 birds is even more extraordinary when you consider that estimates some years ago put the entire Andalucian population (mainly concentrated in the Lower Guadalquivir) at only 400-600 birds. Thus our flock may have constituted c25% of the Andalucian population! Presumably, the extraordinarily wet conditions had concentrated them in a small area. A magical moment!
I was really feeling the absence of my ‘scope (which had fallen apart a week earlier), but kept scanning back and forth with my binoculars. After 10-15 minutes I caught sight of two birds flying low – sandgrouse! They continued but soon dropped into the low saline vegetation c800m from the track. Even at a fraction of that distance Pin-tailed Sandgrouse can be impossible to spot on the ground. But at least I seemed to have found where the birds had an ‘island’ of suitable habitat to feed.
A quick phone call and, 10 minutes later, my friends arrived. I had kept scanning but hadn’t seen any more birds. Happily, the sandgrouse had waited until my friends arrived and set up their scopes … but this time it wasn’t two birds flying around but a considerable flock! At first 20 or 30 came up and circled around but they were soon joined by more birds. They were mainly distant but a few came much closer giving good flight views even through binoculars. I counted over 80 but another party came up to join them so the final count was of 96 birds! To put this into context, the previous high counts here on eBird have been around 20-30 with a maximum of 50 in 2022. Seeing almost 100 birds is even more extraordinary when you consider that estimates some years ago put the entire Andalucian population (mainly concentrated in the Lower Guadalquivir) at only 400-600 birds. Thus our flock may have constituted c25% of the Andalucian population! Presumably, the extraordinarily wet conditions had concentrated them in a small area. A magical moment!
Two shots of part of the distant flock of Pint-tailed Sandgrouse.
Although the rest of the day was by no means an anti-climax, we’d got out highlight of the day in early. Other than the much improved road, there aren’t many more changes to report. I was pleased to see that the Manegodor Taberna (behind the ruined thatched buildings) was open for once. Even more unusually, the gate into the small reserve across the road was open although I don’t know if this was by design or accident. The lagoons here had several Marbled Duck. The new reserve continues to be relatively birdless but the bare shingle is slowly being clothed in green and the vegetation grows. The Lagunas de Camino de Colorado, like all the lagunas this year was overflowing with water but had few birds. It was nice to see a new sign for the back pool though (see photos). The Lagunas de Martin Miguel were also full and birdless.
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