universal Flood and whiskered whales The Saturday in La Mancha was simply terrifying. I do not remember a heavy rain so intense since the birding in the area, at least since 1999. I started my journey in the lagoon water Lillo: futile task, since I could not even get the telescope out the window of the car. The flooded roads, many of them impassable for any vehicle.
Still, I could access, not without difficulty, some perimeter roads. The day ended with a big surprise showing once again that the persistence and patience are essential for bird watching.
Gaps visited were the following, in this order:
- Lillo (heavy rain)
- Villacañas (heavy rain)
- Miguel Esteban (intermittent rain)
- Pedro Muñoz (intermittent rain))
- The Retamar (heavy rain)
- Alcahozo (without rain)
- Manjavacas (intermittent rain)
The real birding began in Miguel Esteban, in the rain, but at least I could get the camera and the telescope through the window of the car. Obviously, the photos are dark and little decent, but ...
The rain did not affect the Malvasia, leading their normal love just like that.
I love this "ugly duckling", so curious and peculiar.
Interestingly, the most interesting point was a small pond storm, which housed about 15 whiskered terns feeding in flight ...
... and a beautiful dark
redshank T. erythropus
Unfortunately, abuses are common on the roads surrounding the Charcones. And while it would be unfair to generalize, some villagers are fun and try to speed run over when crossing aquatic front of your vehicle. This is the case of this unfortunate coot. Who has visited the charcones knows that it is easy to see wildlife crossing the roads, but you have to move really fast to run over a fast coot or moorhen. I hope this very rough and wild behavior is an exception.
The webbing of the feet of the coot Fulica atra
, are unique. Below I show a detail, using the sad end of this beautiful animal.
The charcones alive with life, despite so impressive that rain fell on Saturday.
black-necked grebe Podiceps nigricollis Fulica atra with one of their young offspring. And below, with a far more developed chick.
way to the lagoon of El Retamar, I was surprised a band of about 30 beekeepers
apivorus Pernis, cycling and taking height. Finally, they lost to the north.
extended here to one of the beekeepers. The picture is very bad, but to appreciate fully the unique silhouette and the list pararelo in lower parts of the prey.
The pigeons do not usually take an interest, being common species, but they are elegant and beautiful birds. If they get close, do not hesitate to immortalize them with my camera.
Above, a little bustard in the municipality of Pedro Muñoz. And in Lake Alcahozo, the highlight was the small flock of sandpipers tridactyle (7), restless scurrying across the eastern shore of hypersaline wetland.
Despite the distance, you can see the different stages of change in each of the individual. No two are alike. This, along with the beauty and clean colors of this species, making it one of my rare waders "preferred" in the peninsular interior.
And as the "Bird of 2011" SEO / BirdLife is the
Little Owl Athene noctua , could not miss the portrait of one of them, near the hamlet of Manjavacas. ;
Do you see in the picture below? And now details of this wonder, which has seen reduced their numbers dramatically in recent years:
few photos could be made between the downpours. The road was impassable, so I walked along the lake about 400 meters on its eastern side. Some fighters in his fledgling outfit summer, common sandpiper, tiny, terns, whiskered, and various waterfowl that typically inhabit the wetland.
And the surprise came at the end of the evening, just as the sky threatened to throw manchego all the water that remained. I was about to go home much sooner, Pedro Muñoz, discouraged by poor results and the incessant rain.
If I get to go to Manjavacas, I would have lost a personal bimbo La Mancha: A
f umarel whales Chlidonias leucopterus . In the photo above, the whales. At the bottom, a Ch
niger Black Tern for comparison. The main features to identify a whiskered whales are
* rectrices and rump-white (gray in the Black Tern)
* edge and shoulder feathers also white (greyish in common)
* axillary and coverts of a pure black, in continuity with the stomach, chest and head.
Above, the whales in a more general view on the side of whiskered. The rump stands out among them, but it is not easy to locate, given the speed and agility of your flight.
Attentive to the black bottoms, are diagnostic!
And last, the three species of whiskered together. Ladies and gentlemen, I present, from left to right:
whiskered whales, Whiskered Tern and Black Tern. Full of mud, both inside and outside, my car looked like a half-track of the second world war. But, as you may have guessed, I went home with a smile from ear to ear. As usual.
