• Welcome to BirdForum, the internet's largest birding community with thousands of members from all over the world. The forums are dedicated to wild birds, birding, binoculars and equipment and all that goes with it.

    Please register for an account to take part in the discussions in the forum, post your pictures in the gallery and more.
ZEISS DTI thermal imaging cameras. For more discoveries at night, and during the day.

Guadalhorce - Another Warning. (1 Viewer)

Barred Wobbler

Well-known member
This time, with a lesson in relative values.

I've said before here that I like to look in on Guadalhorce Reserve on my was from arriving at Malaga airport.

This visit was different in that our son came out for the first week, so there was too much luggage to pack unseen in the boot of our hired Ford Fiesta, so it wasn't worth the risk, given the experience of others, to leave the car with goods on show while we visited the reserve.

Our son went home today;so after dropping him at the airport we went to Guadalhorce for two or three hours. Bearing in mind the avice not to leave any valuables in view I made sure we took nothing that we couldn't carry on the visit. I even left my second camera and rucksack in our apartment because the day was promising to be hot and humid and I could do without the encumbrance and I didn't want to leave it in the boot.

I have a rule never to take anything from the boot, or more importantly, never to put anything in on arriving anywhere, because you don't know who is watching. To that end my small scope and tripod travelled on the back seat. We left the car empty at the small parking area near the beach. i had my bins, camera and scope. My wife carried her camera, bins and small rucksack with food & water. Nothing was left at all that could be of any interest I thought.

When we got back to the car three hours later it looked fine. I opened the boot to put my scope away then opened the driver's door. A clatter alerted me to a small piece of plastic trim that fell from the door lock. It was a push fit so I replaced it and got in.

That's when I noticed that a single 1 Euro coin that has lain in the drink-holder for the past few days since we used it for a supermarket trolley was no longer there.

I checked the door lock. Bent metal around the key hole showed that the lock had been popped, hence the loose trim. The key no longer goes in.

All that was missing was the one Euro and for this some toerag had wrecked a lock.

That's where relative values come in.

They say never to leave a car with valuables on show. I thought a one Euro coin would get under the wire on that score. Someone else thought differently.
 
Last edited:
I'm not sure how the police react or act in these area such as Nature Reserves with regards to car break ins and thefts, I don't know why more police forces don't set up more stings in places with a high record of thefts from vehicles, by "stings" I mean leave a car with valuables on display, keep watch on it and anyone seen tampering or breaking in arrested and taken to court. I'm sure thieves would think twice if they thought this kind of sting was ongoing in their area.
 
Thanks for the warning again. Things must be desperate - last time I was there, I took everything except some old shoes and left the internal cover of the boot off so anyone could see in. I was hoping to call in in early October when I collect my family off a late flight. Now I'm not so sure. Perhaps I'll just drive the inland route and check out Fuente de Piedra and Laguna Dulce again.... Saves on motorway tolls too!
 
Thanks for the warning again. Things must be desperate - last time I was there, I took everything except some old shoes and left the internal cover of the boot off so anyone could see in. I was hoping to call in in early October when I collect my family off a late flight. Now I'm not so sure. Perhaps I'll just drive the inland route and check out Fuente de Piedra and Laguna Dulce again.... Saves on motorway tolls too!

I went up to Fuente de Piedra and Laguna Dulce this afternoon. Loads of water at both places. Reasonable, but not large numbers of flamigos at Fuente - all greater as far as I could see. Avocets, stilts, shovelers and a lapwing were the supporting cast. The tamarisks that have grown between the lake and the path east from the visitor centre are now hiding the lake completely

One bird caught my eye and it had me guessing for a bit. It zoomed around the pool below the visitors' centre a few times. White body, longish winged with a mottled grey and black mantle and wings, I didn't know what to make of it. I suggested to my wife that it might be a Racing Seagull.

It didn't help when it landed behind some ducks on the far bank and all I could make out was a white head and neck with a shortish red bill with a blackish tip. Wind wobble on my scope made things worse. After a few minutes it stepped more into view, revaling itself as a leucistic ruff. A funny looking thing.

Laguna Dulce had loads of white-headed ducks and black-necked grebes and coots.

One pleasant find at Guadalhorce was a tiny chameleon, only a couple of inches long that I found crossing the path in front of me. Otherwise it was quiet, but we were speaking to a local British birder at Laguna Grande who was off for his lunch and had had a really good morning with 72 species including honey buzzard and osprey amonng the raptors, three pintail and a good assortment of waders.
 
Last edited:
I went up to Fuente de Piedra and Laguna Dulce this afternoon. Loads of water at both places. Reasonable, but not large numbers of flamigos at Fuente - all greater as far as I could see. Avocets, stilts, shovelers and a lapwing were the supporting cast. The tamarisks that have grown between the lake and the path east from the visitor centre are now hiding the lake completely

One bird caught my eye and it had me guessing for a bit. It zoomed around the pool below the visitors' centre a few times. White body, longish winged with a mottled grey and black mantle and wings, I didn't know what to make of it. I suggested to my wife that it might be a Racing Seagull.

It didn't help when it landed behind some ducks on the far bank and all I could make out was a white head and neck with a shortish red bill with a blackish tip. Wind wobble on my scope made things worse. After a few minutes it stepped more into view, revaling itself as a leucistic ruff. A funny looking thing.

Laguna Dulce had loads of white-headed ducks and black-necked grebes and coots.

One pleasant find at Guadalhorce was a tiny chameleon, only a couple of inches long that I found crossing the path in front of me. Otherwise it was quiet, but we were speaking to a local British birder at Laguna Grande who was off for his lunch and had had a really good morning with 72 species including honey buzzard and osprey amonng the raptors, three pintail and a good assortment of waders.

Donde esta Laguna Grande?
 
Donde esta Laguna Grande?
It's the first one at Guadalhorce as you come in from Guadalmar. The big one with the hide on the raised ground. You'll know it, i'm just using its Sunday name. One or two white-headed ducks there today, but no flamingos, black-necked grebes or spoonbills.

Loads of gulls when we looked in again on the way back seemed to have put everything else to flight. More Meds amongst them than I've seen before, but no repeat of the Caspian terns we saw on the same occasion last year.,
 
It's the first one at Guadalhorce as you come in from Guadalmar. The big one with the hide on the raised ground. You'll know it, i'm just using its Sunday name. One or two white-headed ducks there today, but no flamingos, black-necked grebes or spoonbills.

Loads of gulls when we looked in again on the way back seemed to have put everything else to flight. More Meds amongst them than I've seen before, but no repeat of the Caspian terns we saw on the same occasion last year.,

Caspian Tern (1) present on Saturday! See here for ABS trip report:
http://www.andaluciabirdsociety.org/members-area/members-articles/137-guadalhorce-members-day.html

Peter
 


I had a caspian tern there on the equivalent vist last year (10th Sept 2010 after dropping the bairn off at the airport). It was resting on the shore to the right of the hide on Laguna Grande while we had some lunch and then later as we walked off across the beach it gave us a superb close-up show as it hunted on the old river - good photo ops.

So far on this visit I'm still to connect with one.
 
Last edited:
Warning! This thread is more than 13 years ago old.
It's likely that no further discussion is required, in which case we recommend starting a new thread. If however you feel your response is required you can still do so.

Users who are viewing this thread

Back
Top