Laguna de Torrox (or Laguna de Torro) was once a celebrated wetland just south of Jerez de la Frontera well known to pioneer British hunter/naturalists Able Chapman and Walter J Buck (see http://www.entornoajerez.com/2012/09/la-laguna-de-torrox-cronica-de-una_28.html). Chapman and Buck who introduced a generation of Victorians and Edwardians to the fauna of Andalucia through their two best-selling books Wild Spain (1893) and Unexplored Spain (1910). These books later inspired Guy Mountfort et al to visit Andalucia in the 1950s and their expeditions and Mountfort's book "Portrait of a Wilderness: The story of the Coto Doñana Expeditions" (1958) were instrumental in the creation of the Coto Donana reserve.
In '"Unexplored Spain" Chapman and Buck wrote about what must surely be Laguna de Torrox as follows: "Even Jerez with its 60,000 inhabitants boasts no suburban zone. Within half an hour's walk one may witness scenes in wild bird-life for the like of which home-staying naturalists sigh in vain. We are at our "home- marsh," a mile or two away : it is mid-February. Within fifteen yards a dozen stilts stalk in the shallows; hard by is a group of godwits, some probing the ooze, the rest preening in eccentric outstretched poses. Beyond, the drier shore is adorned by snow- white egrets [Ardea hubulcus), some perched on our cattle, relieving their tick-tormented hides. Thus, within less than fifty yards, we have in view three of the rarest and most exquisite of British birds. And the list can be prolonged. A marsh-harrier in menacing flight, his broad wings brushing the bulrushes, sweeps across the bog, startling a mallard and snipes ; there are storks and whimbrels in sight (the latter possibly slender-billed curlew), and a pack of lesser bustard crouch within 500 yards in the palmettos. From a marsh-drain springs a green sandpiper; and as we take our homeward way, serenaded by bull-frogs and mole-crickets, there resounds over- head the clarion-note of cranes cleaving their way due north. (see- archive.org/details/unexploredspain00chaprich/page/n9/mode/2up).
Mention of palmettos reminds me that it was reputed to be one of the last areas the Andalucian Hemipode could be found near Jerez. When Roger Tory Peterson joined Mountfort et al on one of his expeditions to paint and familiarise himself with European birds for his forthcoming field guide this was a species he was keen to see. He succeeded in doing so but only because a barber in Jerez had one in a cage, perhaps it was caught here.
Mention of palmettos reminds me that it was reputed to be one of the last areas the Andalucian Hemipode could be found near Jerez. When Roger Tory Peterson joined Mountfort et al on one of his expeditions to paint and familiarise himself with European birds for his forthcoming field guide this was a species he was keen to see. He succeeded in doing so but only because a barber in Jerez had one in a cage, perhaps it was caught here.
Inevitably, the growth of Jerez's population since then to just over 213,000 has impinged on this small wilderness to such an extent that it is now little more than an ornamental pond in an an urban park at the edge of the city. In fact, it's questionable whether it should really bear the name of its antecedent being almost entirely the artificial creation of developers. Although larger than its namesake, embanked and constrained it must bear little resemblance to the site Chapman and Buck knew. The old lagoon survived into the 1960s but was neglected and abused. Even its replacement has suffered neglect (see http://www.entornoajerez.com/2012/09/la-laguna-de-torrox-cronica-de-una_28.html).
So, this is probably not a site a keen visiting birder will detour to on a birding jaunt to the area, but for those staying in Jerez with a family or without any means of transport, it does allow the opportunity to see some birds that might otherwise be missed. Besides, as any seasoned birder knows good birds can turn up in unexpected places and with drought conditions any sheet of water will draw birds and two small islands on the laguna offer a safe roosting place for herons, cormorants and ducks.
It's c2.5 km from the city centre so should take c30 mins to walk there. Happily, however, the No13 bus runs to the laguna and both the No 8 & 9 stop in Ave. Puerta del Sol from where it's a five-minute walk (along Calle Austria & Ave. de Italia). Even on my very brief visit I had Little Egret, Night Heron, Spoonbill, Black-tailed Godwit, Green Sandpiper, Red-rumped Swallow, Cetti's Warbler, Common Redstart, Pied and Spotted Flycatchers. A check on e-Bird shows that 110 species have been recorded here including Purple Swamphen, Little Bittern, Bluethroat and even Red-knobbed Coot (see - https://ebird.org/hotspot/L12777970) The north-western arm of the laguna seemed to offer most promise with reeds and exposed mud offering cover and a source of food for passing birds.
It's c2.5 km from the city centre so should take c30 mins to walk there. Happily, however, the No13 bus runs to the laguna and both the No 8 & 9 stop in Ave. Puerta del Sol from where it's a five-minute walk (along Calle Austria & Ave. de Italia). Even on my very brief visit I had Little Egret, Night Heron, Spoonbill, Black-tailed Godwit, Green Sandpiper, Red-rumped Swallow, Cetti's Warbler, Common Redstart, Pied and Spotted Flycatchers. A check on e-Bird shows that 110 species have been recorded here including Purple Swamphen, Little Bittern, Bluethroat and even Red-knobbed Coot (see - https://ebird.org/hotspot/L12777970) The north-western arm of the laguna seemed to offer most promise with reeds and exposed mud offering cover and a source of food for passing birds.
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