We picked up Dave and Linda and set off towards San Felipe and John pointed out a Kingfisher on the wire along the N332. We made a short stop at the back of the salinas where we saw an Osprey fly in and land beside the water. We continued on our way passing a field holding 40+ Lapwings. On the palm farm track we saw a flock of Glossy Ibis as we had last time we were there, and 2 Great White Egrets flew along in front of us for a while. A few Green Sandpipers were seen along the track we call ‘green sandpiper alley’ and a Grey Wagtail was seen from the bridge near the end of the track.
We had to take a diversion through Catral due to some roadworks, but eventually arrived at San Felipe. We decided to walk round to the green viewing tower which gave us good views across the lagoons. As we walked along the path we all had a brief view of a Dartford Warbler before it ducked back into the bushes. Quite a few small birds were flitting about but it was so hard to see them for any length of time!
There were plenty of Chiffchaffs around and the lagoon held good numbers of Greater Flamingo, Shelduck and Shoveler. We made our way back to the picnic area for lunch and checked out the pool where all the vegetation seems to have been cut down giving us good views of 6 Purple Swamphens, a few Coot, Red knobbed Coot, Moorhen and the odd Little Grebe, Chiffchaff and Black Redstart. As we walked back to the car a Kingfisher flew over our heads, a strange sight as there was no water nearby. We made a quick stop to look at the Elche tip but this held only Grey Herons, Jackdaws, Cattle Egrets and various gulls. Driving back across the Salinas we noted large numbers of Black tailed Godwits on the right but, as always, there was nowhere to stop to look at them. Another good day’s birding on a pleasantly warm and sunny day.
Species list – Little Grebe, Black necked Grebe, Cormorant, Great White Egret, Little Egret, Cattle Egret, Grey Heron, Greater Flamingo, Glossy Ibis, Shelduck, Mallard, Shoveler, Marsh Harrier, Osprey, Kestrel, Coot, Red knobbed Coot, Purple Swamphen, Green Sandpipier, Black tailed Godwit, Lapwing, Slender billed Gull, Yellow legged Gull, Woodpigeon, Collared Dove, Kingfisher, Crag Martin, Crested Lark, Grey Wagtail, White Wagtail, Black Redstart, Stonchat, Blackbird, Chiffchaff, Sardinian Warbler, Dartford Warbler, Southern Grey Shrike, Spotless Starling, Magpie, Jackdaw, House Sparrow, Serin, Reed Bunting.