Day Two

On Saturday 3rd February was a proper winter’s morning with the temperature at just above freezing and it took several hours before it rose significantly. Yesterday the top temperature was 17 degrees and today was about the same, more or less. For today we decided to venture into Portugal and in the scenic sense it was both very interesting and very different from Doñana. The entry over the Rio Guardiana was spectacular over a magnificent bridge. The landscapes were different and changed as we travelled towards our first destination of Mértola.

The Four Amigos!!!

Bridge to Portugal

We stopped when we were just over the bridge with farmland and marsh either side of us where we saw our first Mallards. Azure Winged Magpies flew in good numbers. They are common birds in many areas. We still birded as we went and at our first roadside stop, on the edge of Pine trees we added to the list a Green Woodpecker and heard a Dartford Warbler. We moved on and then there was one Long Tailed Tit feeding in the tree just above our heads.

The road to Mértola was interesting as the scenery and habitats changed along the way. We saw both species of Magpie, Corn Buntings, Stonechats, Goldfinches, Serin, Chaffinch and Linnet. In a small cluster of houses we heard Sparrows and in a flock Spanish Sparrows were spotted. This particular location seemed very poor, very rural and almost ‘backward’. Some of the villages that we passed through in this area possessed modern, well kept houses but with a mix of poorer properties amongst them. Interestingly to me some of the small field boundaries were cob and I can only assume that the base consisted of stone and they would have been capped to protect the wall part.



Just before the town of Mértola we stopped at the bridge and looked down onto the river. Here we watched Blackcaps and a Kingfisher flew from a perch and disappeared. Mértola is a stone town and the streets are cobbled. We sat in the sun drinking coffee overlooking the river watching Crag Martins flying overhead and Jackdaws too. One Aylesbury duck swam in the river.

Mertola

Leaving Mértola behind we drove towards Pulo de Lobo (Leap of the Wolf). This is a site that Bryan had visited in June and it is spectacular. Where the metaled road ends there is a gate and a cattle grid. The gate is not locked and the road is good. We drove down towards the river to find a weir and beautiful rocks where the water had cut through it. Close to the water Chiffchaffs flew with White Wagtails and then we saw our first Grey Wagtail. A Green Sandpiper was by the weir. Overhead Griffin Vultures circled and we spotted one Black Vulture.

Pulo De Lobo

We had already seen Crested Larks and they were checked out just in case one of them was a Thekla. Bryan identified one through the camera and so we were able to add another new bird to our list. Our first Song Thrush of the trip was seen.

We headed back into Spain and checked out the potential of Isla Cristina. We stopped on the edge of a lagoon that was littered with rubbish and where the hide had been vandalized, but the birds were as follows:
Little Stint
Redshank
Dunlin
Kentish Plover
Sanderling
Black-tailed Godwit
Common Sandpiper

The light was now fading and it signaled the end of this birding day.

Our total of species over two days stood at 94.