On a beautiful, warm, sunny morning, 21 members of the Costa Blanca Bird Club and 5 guest visitors met at the Restaurante Galicia, at El Pinet beach, for the first club meeting after the summer break. It was wonderful to see so many people and to welcome the guest visitors. After some coffee and a great deal of catching up, we moved the very short distance up the road to the lagoon car park.
From the wooden walkway and first hide, the group had views of several Stone Curlews, Collared Pratincoles, Black-winged Stilts, Slender-billed Gulls, Greater Flamingos, a Common Greenshank and a Little Egret.
We then began the 30-minute drive to the El Hondo Visitor Centre near San Felipe Neri, stopping part-way along the Camino del Hondo to scan the open fields. Here we were treated to fabulous views of a circling light morph Booted Eagle, which stayed with us for several minutes. We also saw European Bee-eaters on the wires and hunting over the fields, a Common Kestrel, Common Hoopoe, Eurasian Jackdaws, a Northern Wheatear….and just as we were about to move on, a Honey Buzzard came into view at height.
We moved on again, and just as we were approaching the turning to the visitor centre, scores of Yellow Wagtails were seen close to the roadside, in fields that had recently been cut for hay. House Martins were seen overhead, and a Red-legged Partridge also scurried away to cover.
At the pond adjacent to the visitor centre itself, there were 10 or more Little Egrets, Common and Red-knobbed Coots, Squacco Herons and a Little Grebe. Barn Swallows were also flying overhead
As we reached the main boardwalk lagoon, we could see that much of the water had been drained from it. This is a temporary measure which is typically done each year, to allow the staff to manage the vegetation and eliminate invasive species (the lagoon will be refilled again very soon). This gave very good viewing opportunities for some species not usually seen including Bluethroat, Ringed and Little Ringed Plovers. Other birds seen were Purple Swamphen, Glossy Ibis, Shelduck, Grey and Purple Herons, a Pied Avocet and a Great White Egret. At the far end of the boardwalk, there was a small flock of Common Waxbills in the reeds, a couple of Little Bitterns and a Common Kingfisher (heard only). Some members at the Saladar hide were treated to flyover views of 20-30 Eurasian Spoonbills, several of which then landed in the boardwalk lagoon.
With the time getting ever closer to 2pm and the heat rising steadily, the group retired to the Restaurante Casa Anita by La Esquina in Catral, and enjoyed a very good Menu del Dia, which rounded off a splendid day nicely.
