I was granted a half day extra birding for Father's Day today so I hot-footed it to El Hondo again. Sightings included 2 Squacco Heron, male Little Bittern, Great White Egret, Purple Heron, c60 Glossy Ibis, 7 Purple Gallinule, 4 Marbled Duck, Marsh Harrier, Moustached Warbler, Woodchat Shrike, Greenshank, Little Ringed Plover, Kentish Plover, Yellow Wagtail, Kestrel, Melodious Warbler, Fan-tailed Warbler, many Great Reed Warbler, c80 Flamingos, several Black Terns, countless Little and Whiskered Terns, Southern Grey Shrike, Cuckoo, Red-crested Pochard, Stonechat, Med and Slender-billed Gulls, Sardinian Warbler, hundreds of Avocet and Black-winged Stilts, c50 Black-tailed Godwit, Pochard, Great Crested Grebe and absolute minimums of 300 Collared Pratincole and 250 Cattle Egret.
A Roller was again on wires by the northern gate and a Little Owl by the abandoned football pitches.
A quick visit to the two southern viewing platforms produced a further 2 Squacco Heron, Bee-eater, Southern Grey Shrike and a magnificent male Montagu's Harrier - there a few better sights in birding!! B
B