27/04 : Fuente de Piedra

A rather brief entry in consonance that the time I spent there. It was cold, windy, with grey skies and few birds on the area by the pasarela, due in large part to the activities of three photographers from a club in Córdoba who flushed everything in their desire to get superb photos and would have definitely benefitted from a dose of curare or something similar. They are the sort who give photographers a bad reputation and who generally mess up things for others - pure b****y selfishness in my opinion and even made the Reed Warblers shut up for a short time but didn't deter a distant Nightingale. However .... 
As noted there were few waders because of (a) the interference and (b) water levels have fallen considerably. One can only hope that the rains promised for today (Sunday) and hopefully tomorrow will dump some tens of litres per sq.m. and alleviate the situation.

Of passerines, very little except this female Stonechat (L) who was busy dealing with a very large green caterpillar and which she eventually swallowed with some difficulty - you can see the tail end of it in her gape. Meanwhile, the male, a splendid little chap as male Stonechats tend to be at this time of year, was giving me hell for daring to be on his patch of thistle territory (R). I saw a nice male Red-crested Pochard flight in, where his missus was, I know not but possibly sitting on a clutch of eggs. Plus a beautiful pair but distant  pair of handsome Shelducks also flew in but I was slow with the camera.

As for the waders, Redshanks won hands down numerically, with at least 35 in the area, including 26 on one pool by the road to Sierra de Yeguas. On a much lesser scale, there were 5 Curlew Sandpipers, including one in splendid breeding plumage, 3 Ruff, 4 Common Sandpipers and singles of Green (disturbed and never seen again) and Wood Sandpiper (ditto as for Green), plus the usual Avocets and Black-winged Stilts which will look for any excuse to have an attack of the hysterics. By that time the weather weas looking distinctly ominous so it was head for home and the feeling that my morning hadn't been entirely fruitful.
Please note that there will be nothing from me until sometime after 8/9 May as Birding-the-Costa is going on a short hol for a long weekend birding in Central Park, plus perhaps another park, and out at Jamiaca Bay by JFK airport.