We went for a morning and spent most of the day there. Thanks to a bird that could be a first for me and Michelle and, possibly, for Clot. I am impatient for the jury to come back in!
Here we are again to give this wonderful wetland another go. This time we included the scrub area and pines and gave them a good going over. We did the equivalent of ‘a rough shoot’ as we walked around it. Our way of shooting is for Michelle and Bryan to fire away. And they did. The photos will prove my point.
We were out walking by 8.30 and with the intention to see what else there was to see. The short answer is not a lot, but we certainly saved the best for last!
It was interesting to see what the environs of the lagoons were like. Southern/Iberian Grey Shrikes - Alcaudon Real Meridional were obvious by calling and perching clearly. Two Spotted Flycatchers Papamoscas Cerrojillo perched on a fence and flitted down and around. We will look at the photos before we can say if they are a sub-species or not. ( we have blogged about this before). Amongst the pines we managed to see four Long-tailed Tits - Mito and that was it. It was 4 miles walked before we sat down at the new large user friendly hide.
All the time the air was active with Hirundines- both Barn and Red-rumped Swallows, the occasional House Martin and not one Swift. Higher up two raptors were spotted and we can say that one was certainly a Short-toed Eagle - Culebrera Europea. The other, possibly the same. All birds, of course, on a southerly course.
We stopped at the highest point where there is a viewing platform. A cool breeze was pleasant enough, but bird-wise very quiet.
At the hide we settled down viewed the water. No Gulls or Terns and no Purple Herons either. Between 1 and 3 o’clock from the hide there was a large number of Little Egrets - Garceta Común . Counting the full scope of our viewing there was in in excess of 150. In a Tamerisk amongst a large number of Little Egrets was a different bird. Showing clearly some grey plumage. No un-adulterated view was possible and we spent some time viewing this one bird. Bryan got shot after shot away. But what could it be. I will come back to that at the end.
On the water were over 40 Great-Crested Grebe - Somormujo Lavanco including their young, about a dozen Black-necked Grebe - Zampullin Cuellinegro with many Little Grebe - Zampullin Común White-headed Ducks -Malvasia Cabeciblanca showed very well and so did Shovelers - Cuchara Común , Pochard - Porrón Europeo and Mallard - Añade Azulón . The searching eagled-eyed Bryan spotted firstly a male Gadwall - Añade Friso and then a Ferruginous - Porrón Pardo as well. Two great spots to add to Gargany last time. A Marsh Harrier - Aguilucho Lagunero Occidental flew over the reeds and spooked a few birds. On the way out Michelle spotted a high flyer! It was a Spoonbill - Espátula Común and Bryan has not seen one of those ever in Clot. It was a good way to end but…..
We had checked in Collins, what our mystery bird could be, and back at Bryans via Google it is possible that our birds could be a Western Reef Egret/Heron- White Morph - Egretta Gularis Photos to be examined and views sought in time. We are hoping! We returned wanting to get a better view. It had moved to higher in the tree, but it now faced us head on. Again not a clear view it being partly obscured by foliage. We will have to see.
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