Mary’s Blog – Mar Menor

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Today we took a drive down to the Mar Menor, having a brief stop at Lo Monte on the way. There we saw 2 White Headed Duck, 2 Pochard, Shelducks, Cormorants, Little Grebe and Crested Lark.

Next stop was for coffee at the marina in Cabo de Palos before having a look round the lighthouse. Not a lot was showing here other than a few Goldfinches and Serins. Moving on the Palos Salinas we ate our lunch by the lagoons watching various gulls, including Black Headed, Audouin’s and Slender Billed Gulls. John spotted two distant brown birds which I thought were probably Stone Curlew. We were able to confirm this when we made our way round to a hide where we had a closer view of the birds. We came back to look at a water channel I had spotted and were happy to see a Kingfisher as it flew away at speed.

We next headed to San Pedro del Pinatar where there were lots of Flamingos, Avocets, Black Winged Stilts and a few other waders, namely Sanderling, a Ruff and a group of Black tailed Godwits. Thanks to Paul Coombes for helping with the I/D. There were hundreds of gulls too, mainly Black Headed and Slender Billed Gulls. A single Swallow flew by, not sure if it was a migrant of an over-wintering bird.

As we drove back along the N332 I added Red Legged Partridge, Hoopoe, Southern Grey Shrike and Great White Egret, all seen from the car.

Species list – Little Grebe, Cormorant, Great White Egret, Little Egret, Greater Flamingo, Shelduck, Mallard, Shoveler, Pochard, White Headed Duck, Kestrel, Red Legged Partridge, Moorhen, Stone Curlew, Black Winged Stilt, Avocet, Sanderling, Reff, Black Tailed Godwit, Black Headed Gull, Slender Billed Gull, Audouin’s Gull, Yellow Legged Gull, Woodpigeon, Collared Dove, Kingfisher, Hoopoe, Crested Lark, Swallow, Meadow Pipit, Stonechat, Blackbird, Chiffchaff, Sardinian Warbler, Southern Grey Shrike, Spotless Starling, House Sparrow, Serin, Goldfinch, Monk Parakeet.