Friday 7th May - El Hondo Area

White-headed Duck

This morning I headed over to El Hondo and walked the perimeter to both hides/viewing platforms. The vegetation has grown massively in the 3 weeks I have been away in the UK, due to the extremely wet weather this region has sustained. The rain has also aided the water levels on the reserve, particularly for Greater Flamingo which have nested here for the first time in 12 years with approximately 200 pairs present. A couple of hours produced a number of noteworthy species including, 2 Marbled Duck, 30+ White Headed Duck, 2 Fudge Duck, 9 Curlew Sandpiper, 130+ Collared Pratincole and numerous Montigues Harrier, Great Reed Warbler, Woodchat Shrike, Whiskered Tern, Little Tern, Common Tern, Purple Gallinule, Squacco Heron, Purple Heron, Night Heron and Little Bittern. The highlight of the day was whilst exploring a new area nearby where I was lucky enough to watch 4 male Roller displaying to a female for over 10 minutes, these superb birds are certainly worthy of their name!

Collared Pratincole

In the evening I went for a walk in search of Red-necked Nightjar which after waiting for a short while began calling. A total of 15+ where seen, whilst a singing European Nightjar was a welcome bonus along with Scops Owl.