1 June at the Guadalhorce

A bit late this posting on yesterday morning's visit to the ponds where there was still a certain amount of things to see. Last week I mentioned the quantity of young plovers and Stilts and there are even more now!

A quick look at the highly conspicuous nest of a Little Ringed Plover showed the presence of 3 eggs and a very recently hatched chick, so recent that it was still damp and bedraggled. Patricia's photo (on right) shows what the little thing looked like, distinctly unappealing when one compares it with what it would be within a few hours, as
Antonio Toro's photo below, taken last week, of a dry, young Kentish Plover of less than a day old shows the downy cryptic plumage beautifully.



Otherwise, there were still some migrant waders around, including a couple of hormonally super-charged male Redshanks who were busily engaged in beating the living daylights out of each other. Apart from those and the resident breeders, there were still some 15 Dunlin and at least 7 Ringed Plover, a couple of Curlew Sandpiper and a single Knot, many of these still with considerable distances to go if they are going to breed.

The Dutch colour-ringed Spoonbill, which had been absent for a couple of weeks or more, was once more present, as was an immature Sacred Ibis, a bird which we don't want to see, given their predatory behaviour. Shoveler have bred and there were 2 males present.