'By the shorts in winter shalt thou know those from the frozen North.' 
I'm glad to know that I'm not the only one to bemoan a lack of birds. (Who muttered 'miserable old sod'?) They say that C4 or Semtex is good for camper vans, Dave. And now for their day out birding .....

Chiffchaff thinking about diving in

It was back to our local haunt this week. Gilly and I met up above the Rambla de Almanzora with 12 others, some members and some here on holiday. It was a wonderful sunny day but still a bit chilly, not that it put off Sarah, one of the holiday makers, who was wearing shorts! A scan of the pools on the opposite side produced a pair of Black-winged Stilts, some Mallard and Dunlin,a Grey Wagtail, a Redshank and a Water Pipit. I'd already spotted a single Crag Martin before the others had arrived. Land birds seen included Thekla Lark, Stonechat, White Wagtail and Robin. We walked up towards the sewage works, where, to be honest, there was even less bird life than our previous visit. We only added Magpie, Sardinian Warbler, Serin and a few Chiffchaffs. We headed back towards the vehicles, diverting down onto the rambla to check out the pools. We saw both Ringed and Little Ringed Plover, an assorted flock of Dunlin and Little Stint, Moorhen, Water Pipit and a Blackbird. A Grey Heron was also seen.

After coffee  (and tostadas for some) in Villaricos village we headed for the beach. We were not overjoyed to see 20 Camper vans parked up! The rocks outside the harbour produced numerous cormorants, a couple of Black-headed Gulls, a Grey Heron and a Yellow-legged Gull. Les spotted some Turnstones and some Sanderlings. We made our way to the estuary.

lots of Cormorants and a Grey Heron

Large numbers of Cormorants. Gilly counted the number on one exposed desalination water pipe and there were 125 just on there and there had to be at least 100 more around the place. 

Grey Plover (L) and Whimbrel (R)

I scanned the reeds and spotted a single adult Night Heron. A Little Egret was seen, but then its bigger cousin took off out of the reeds, a Great White Egret. It settled in some reeds on the island opposite us, playing peekaboo. Also seen were Audouin's Gull, Hoopoe and a single Black-necked Grebe out to sea. We walked onto the beach and checked out the shallows. Here we saw more Dunlin, Ringed and Kentish Plover. On the rocky shore Gilly did brilliantly to spot the sleeping Whimbrel. Although a Little Egret was still present, this week the Whimbrel, now posing on a rock, was joined by a Grey Plover. Out to sea the occasional Sandwich Tern was seen.

We then made our way to the Vera dual carriageway overlooking the shallow pools. Three immature Greater Flamingos were still down the far end. Below us was a mixed flock of Dunlin and Little Stint. Les spotted a pair of Ruff. Numerous Teal were seen. We proceeded to the Consum pools. Large numbers of Black-headed Gulls were seen together with a pair of Shelduck and some Grey Herons. Gilly heard a Cetti's Warbler. Lots of Chiffchaffs here as well as Crag Martins above us. A walk to the next pond produced White-headed Duck and Shoveler.

In total we saw 48 species. A very good days birding in good company.