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Site Updates I - February 2024

10/10/2023

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Area Recreativa El Picacho  
The wooden viewing platform at "Area Recreative El Picacho" (E2.2 a in my guide) is now finished.  Whilst it improves the view over towards the vulture feeding station (c1 km distant slightly to the left of the structure), it does not permit views of the station itself. Even so it's a good spot to stop and scan for vultures, other raptors and Ravens (50+ possible) 

Centro de Interpretación Montes Propios
Note that the gate off the CA 503 to this site (E 2.2 f) was closed on my visit in February - possibly also due to increased fire risk noted above.  Check locally before driving up to the centre.  
Charco de los Hurones
Note that the road from the CA 503 up to the Charco de los Hurones (E 2.2 h) is currently (​March 2024) closed. It's blocked off and a sign reads "Carretera de acceso al poblado cortada por riesgo de incendios y obras" (Access road to the town closed due to risk of fires and works).  I'm told that the "works" are to repair the route after a serious landslip. Presumably, as access to the dam is of sufficient importance for it to be repaired in the relative near future although when the fire risk will be at an acceptable level is difficult to say. However, an extended closure may put the venta here at risk of closure. Fortunately, it's not a major site for birds although it is an attractive one. 
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Laguna de Torrox
I spent a couple of hours walking around this laguna (NW 12 g/h) one morning and managed to find my 'target bird' - a Red-knobbed Coot.  I also had an early Sedge Warbler, an abundance of Chiffchaffs, Serins, Red-crested Pochards, Great-crested Grebes, Crag and House Martins and plenty of Swallows, etc. The western arm of this 'figure-of-eight' laguna had the largest area of reeds so is presumably the best place to look for Purple Swamphen and Little Bittern (I only saw the first here but both occur).  Fortunately, the reeds here are less well screened by tamarisk than much of the laguna.  The eastern end was a little more open and less enclosed by buildings.  Both have small islands on which herons, gulls, ducks and Cormorants rested.  Although not a major birding destination this site is an excellent option if staying in Jerez without a car (buses run from the centre to here) or when doing a shopping run. 
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The far eastern end of the laguna has less cover.
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Incidentally, the "Red-knobbed Coot" I saw last year at the Costa Ballena  (see below) has now been confirmed as a Common Coot x Red-knobbed Coot hybrid.  The clues were there but like most other observers I missed them being seduced by the bluish bill and incipient red knobs! 
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Laguna de los Tercios
Given the state of Laguna de Medina (see below), I was surprised that the Laguna de los Tercios (NW 12 f)  had any water at all.  Mine was a very short investigation but it had a couple of Green Sandpipers, a small flock of Shovelers, Black-winged Stilt and a couple of Flamingo.  I had an even quicker look at nearby Laguna Juncosa which proved to be entirely birdless although it did hold some water. 
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Laguna de Medina 
Laguna de Medina (NW 9) should be full of water (and birds) in late winter but it presented a sorry spectacle this February. What little water remained was very shallow and crowded with gulls (mainly Yellow-legged and Lesser Black -backed Gulls) with a small flock of Shoveler. It was such a sad scene that I didn't linger so their may have been more birds of a greater variety but not the masses of Coots, grebes and ducks there should have been. The blue line in the upper photo indicates the usual waterline.  Only a period of heavy sustained rain will rescue the laguna this spring.  As it dries out less often than the other lagunas lagunas, its state bodes ill for other laguna complexes (i.e. Lagunas de Puerto Real, de Chiclana, de Espera and del Puerto Santa Maria). 
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Laguna de Jeli (Lagunas de Chiclana)
As expected, Laguna de Jeli (NW 13) proved to be bone dry with only a small bare muddy blemish to show where water had been with the rest of the 'laguna' being grazed by cows.  
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Some better news to follow in the second part of this review ... 
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Autumn Update II - Lagunas in Peril?

6/10/2023

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Laguna de Medina
Of all Cadiz's famous lagunas, the Laguna de Medina is the least likely to dry out.  So seeing it last month looking more like a dust bowl than a lake was not a good sign. As I've noted before occasional droughts are what make the lagunas here special as they kill off any carp that may have been deliberately introduced (or arrived from local fisheries in rare times of flood).  Having seen so many dry laguna basins this spring (when they should be wet), the state of the Laguna de Medina didn't surprise me.  Seeing it in such a state meant I didn't bother to look at any other natural lagunas. Although I've not kept a detailed record, it seems to me that these drought conditions are happening more often and the future of the smaller lakes must be in question. 
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Embalse de Barbate from Lomo del Judio
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Embalse de Barbate, my local reservoir, was  drier than I've ever seen it with the shoreline a kilometre or two from where it was a decade ago. Even a couple of years ago an Osprey's nest on a pylon was surrounded by water but now it's stranded in the middle of what seems a well-established. pasture. Whilst it is a remarkably shallow reservoir, not so long ago much of the area indicated in the photo above (taken from Lomo del Judio) held water rather than just a few distant puddles (circled in red). As my map shows the arms of the reservoir once extended north towards Alcala and eastwards towards the A 381 (and at one point actually extended under that road and the service road beyond).  

Although natural lagunas were dry, I knew that small abandoned sand pits in intensively irrigated areas,  water-works and golf courses were the most likely sites to find any standing water. I didn't visit the latter but I did check out Lagunas de Camino Colarado, Laguna Tarelo  and, briefly, Lagunas Martín Miguel (all near Bonanza). 
Water levels at the Lagunas de Camino Colorado were well below normal so the number and variety of ducks present was lower than usual.  I could only find a single White-headed Duck whereas I usually expect to see tens of birds (c20-40) at this site which is a hot-spot for this species, particularly if you want good views.  Mallard were the most numerous duck although there were fewer of them than usual too whilst Red-crested Pochard were entirely absent. However, I was very pleased to see five Marbled Ducks dabbling around and resting on the muddy margins. These are handsome little ducks and, when present, this is often the best place to obtain good views.  The low water levels were not all bad news as the necklace of smelly glutinous mud around the remaining water seems to be particularly attractive during migration periods to Temminck’s Stint.  I’ve seen 13 Temminck’s here in the past but I was well pleased to get good views of five birds (plus a Little Stint) on my visit.  The birds were mainly on the two pools beside the Camino Colorado.  There were also a handful of Black-winged Stilt and Lapwings here plus a Green Sandpiper and a trio of Purple Swamphens.
Walking around to the back pool along the Camino Troncosa, I was disappointed to see that locals continue to use the site as a rubbish dump despite its recent designation as a protected site.  This problem has been the subject of protests by Ecologistas en Acción Jerez  so it’s disappointing that it continues to be an issue. 

I’d seen Red-knobbed Coot here in the spring and I knew it was still present but the number of flies was off-putting so I didn’t stay long.  There were plenty of Little Egrets and a few Night Herons but I dipped on the coot.

My next stop was Laguna Tarelo which is hidden in the pinewoods just beyond La Algaida.  This is usually another good spot for White-headed Duck but, unusually, I failed to find a single one here.  However, despite the lower than usual water levels the laguna had many more ducks than usual and I was surprised to find so many of them were Shovelers (c400-500). Amongst them were two more Marbled Ducks. 

Finally, I had a very quick look at Lagunas de Martín Miguel and discovered where all the Coots had gone!  Also present were 150+ Glossy Ibis, Great-crested Grebe and a few more Night Herons. 


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Laguna Tarelo
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Laguna Tarelo - Disturbed by workers from the surrounding trees these Night Herons found a less atrctive place to roost
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Glossy Ibis at Laguna de Martin Miguel
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Autumn Update III - Chipiona

6/10/2023

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One of the most interesting developments in Cadiz birding in recent years is the development of regular autumnal pelagic trips into the Atlantic. It's something I'd advocated for many years so it's good to see my hopes become reality.  I managed to go on one last year so I was keen to repeat the performance in 2023.  This proved more difficult than anticipated as these jaunts fill very rapidly and all seemed to have been booked during my stay (despite my emailing bird tour companies earlier in the year). Fortunately, an additional trip was organised for 23rd September and I was able to book on to it. 
Since the pelagic was due to depart at 07.30, I opted to have a day birding around Sanlucar the previous day and stay over in Chipiona at Hostal Andalucia (hostal-andalucia.com/ - highly recommended & very good value at under 40€).  I've noted some of the birds I saw in an earlier update but I also visited Montijo beach hoping to catch up with the semi-resident Elegant Tern. I had no luck with my target bird but did see Common, Little, Sandwich and Caspian Terns here plus Slender-billed and Mediterranean Gulls and the usual selection of waders (Kentish, Ringed & Grey Plovers, Oystercatcher, Greenshank, Bar-tailed Godwits, etc). I can also highly recommend the beach-bar (chiringuito) at Montijo not only because the food is good but also because the friendly owner speaks excellent English!  
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Staying in Chipiona also afforded me the opportunity to explore this pleasant little resort. It boasts the tallest lighthouse in Spain (62m) and has several fascinating ancient fish corrals.

The information board about these enclosures reads
-The locality of Chipiona is known, amongst other attractions, for its traditional fishing and fish-rearing corrals; enclosed areas made of porous stones from the sea or sedimentary rocks formed from sea shells, connected by goose barnacles, oyster shells and limpets, which act as a natural mortar. The traditional shell-fishermen make use of them at low tide to catch fish and shellfish.

Situated at the mouth of the River Guadalquivir, one of the most important estua- ries in the Peninsula because of its great ecological diversity, the corrals of Chipiona have been in use since time immemorial. It is believed they are of Roman origin, but they may have been constructed by previous civilizations.

The corrals fill and empty according to the tides. They are connected to the sea by a series of closed pipes with gratings, which allow the water to flow in and out, but stop the fish from getting out at low tide.

At present the Hondo, Chico, Canalete del Diablo and Mariño corrals are still pre- served on the Camaron-Tres Piedras beach, as are the Nuevo, Cabito and Trapillo on the las Canteras beach, the Longuera on del Muelle beach, and the Montijo corral on Montijo beach. Their vast size gives them an appearance of great solidity, but in fact they are fragile structures due to the traditional nature of their construction, and they are easily damaged by the force of the sea or human activity.

The fishing technique developed in these corrals is respectful of the natural environment and follows a series of norms of conservation. Each corral has a 'catador' who is responsible for its management and maintenance. This 'catador', like the traditional fishermen, makes use of certain implements; a fija' (an iron implement with a trident on one side to spear the fish and a hook on the other side to get them out of the cavities), a francajo' (similar to the fija but with a wooden handle) or a 'cuchillo de marea' -tide knife, (with the appearance of a sabre, although lacking a sharp edge)

The corrals constitute an ideal habitat for a wide variety of species of fish and in- vertebrates, notable amongst which are the large fish (Stone Bass, Sea Bass, Pomfrets, etc) and other species such as the Cuttle Fish, Sea Urchins, Crabs and Shrimps, it is a spawning ground for them, a refuge during the juvenile period, and feeding ground.


The towns third claim to fame is that it was a victim of a tsunami caused by 1755 Lisbon earthquake. The Lisbon earthquake is largely forgotten today but at the time it had a profound impact not only physically but also politically and philosophically spawning, amongst other things, Voltaire's morality tale, Candide.  However, the people of Chipiona have longer memories than most since not only is there a memorial to the event on the promenade but also the place is dotted with signs indicating the best escape route should another tsunami occur. Cautious folk these Chipionites! 

And so to the pelagic ... 
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We left Chipiona at dawn full of hope and high expectations but our optimism proved to be misplaced as ours was one of the few trips this autumn that failed to score a storm-petrel of any kind or any of the less common shearwaters or skuas.  
The official tally as published on e-Bird was as follows:- 
2 Little Swift
8 Ruddy Turnstone
4 Great Skua
5 Arctic Skua
4 Audouin's Gull
28 Yellow-legged Gull
200 Lesser Black-backed Gull
1 Common Tern
10 Sandwich Tern
4 Cory's Shearwater
7 Balearic Shearwater
18 Gannet
1 Little Egret
14 Glossy Ibis
1 Hoopoe
2 House Sparrow


I'm not sure who did the tallying but it seems a pretty accurate record although I had at least 6 Little Swift (all distant) and would put the number of Audouin's Gulls (and possibly skuas) somewhat lower.  It's notoriously difficult to estimate the number of birds in these circumstances and my caution stems from noticing a distinctively marked immature gull that drifted in and out of the boat's wake at intervals (20-30 mins) throughout the trip.  The big disappointment was that for the second year in a row the chum failed to draw any birds in (although it worked on a small shark!).  On the other hand, close views of "Cory's" Shearwater allowed me to note the distinctive features of Scopoli's Shearwater for the first time and honestly tick the species/subspecies. This ID was backed by Michael Bergman's excellent photos (who has kindly allowed me to reproduce them here). 

​I'll be back next year when I hope that the chum does its job and gives me the close-up encounter with storm-petrels that I desire. 

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Autumn Update I - Conil Area Revisited

4/10/2023

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With the Marismas de Cetina and Barbate marshes within 50 minutes of Alcala de los Gazules, it's understandable that I have rather neglected visiting mouth of the Rio Salado (a) at Conil (which takes about the same time to reach). However, it's a different matter when I'm visiting friends Richard & Michelle Page-Jones who have a house c15 minutes away from the site.   

Although number and variety of shorebirds here is low compared to the other sites mentioned, upstream from the bridge there were Little Egret, Dunlin, Common Sandpiper, Sanderling, Redshank and Greenshank.  Where the Rio Salado soaks into the sands on the other side of the bridge there were many more Sanderlings plus dozens of Ringed and a sprinkling of Kentish Plovers.  Whilst I was there a dog walker came along and his off lead dog zig-zagged across this area disturbing all the birds (see photo).  Unfortunately, disturbance seems to be a regular feature here (although most people without a canine companion avoided the pools formed at the river mouth).  As can be seen from the photo looking towards Torre Castilnovo (which hosts a small colony of Bald Ibis), there's also a pool set back from and running parallel with the coast. I've had a variety of gulls and terns here in the past but on this visit two off-lead dogs got there first.  From the promenade by the car park you can get good views over the undisturbed saltmarshes which can hold dozens of Stone-curlews during migration periods although it took a lot of scope-work on my visit to winkle out a couple of distant birds. In short this site isn't so much a birding destination as a pleasant detour if you're passing or staying nearby.     
However, the main interest on this jaunt was to visit an area where Richard & Michelle had previously seen Little Bustard. I've long known that this area still holds a few Little Bustards but as there's a good site for them far closer to Alcala, I've never made any serious effort to find them. Another complication is that most of the roads crossing this area are busy with traffic with few, if any, places to stop and scan. However, Richard told me of a good 4 km gravel track (b) that transects the area affording leisurely stops and scans.  Unlike the busy main and minor roads in the area, this track allows you to stop and scan for birds particularly larks, Collared Pratincole, Montagu’s Harrier and, of course, Little Bustard.  Better still it crosses a shallow bowl making it easier to pick up birds on the surrounding gentle slopes. The start of this track off the CA 2144 is easy to find as it's opposite the Venta Piñero (GPS 36.2439, -6.0625). Alternatively it is similarly easy to join from the N 340 as the bridge that takes the track over the E5 (c350m  south of the Galp petrol station)  equally obvious (GPS  36.2506, -6.0222).  If you're unlucky here then it's probably worth trying the track (c) further north that passes the Sancha Pérez Bodega en route to Junction 30 on the E5 (see map) which certainly has the first two species.  A more problematic alternative is the track (d) off Junction 26. This area 2-3 km from the junction had Little Bustards a decade or more ago (and remains good for Black-winged Kite, Montagu's Harrier, larks, etc) but the track is now overgrown and very badly degraded in parts. I drove along it last year but would avoid doing so again. The section near Conil was in such a dreadful condition that I would have turned back, had there been anywhere to turn around!  
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The "Venta Piñero" track
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    About me ...

    Hi I'm John Cantelo. I've been birding seriously  since the 1960s when I met up with some like minded folks (all of us are still birding!) at Taunton's School in Southampton.  I have lived in Kent , where I taught History and Sociology, since the late 1970s. I've served on the committees of both my local RSPB group and the county ornithological society (KOS).  I also worked as a part-time field teacher for the RSPB at Dungeness.  Having retired I now spend as much time as possible in Alcala de los Gazules in SW Spain.   When I'm not birding I edit books for the Crossbill Guides series.

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