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.
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!
The "Venta Piñero" track
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