Southern Spain is a desert and reminds me of parts of California the Southwest US where birds congregate around nearly any body of fresh or brackish water. The salt lagoons were packed with bids, some resident, and some starting their migration to Africa.

This Bar-tailed Godwit was foraging along, intent on fueling up for the trip ahead.

Gray Herons (Ardea cinerea) are much like the Great Blue Heron.(Ardea herodias)

A far-off Western Marsh Harrier hunting for food

A tableau of birds at one of the park’s lookout sites.

At the ocean, we came upon a familiar scene, where earlier a boat had unloaded immigrants from Africa. The police were there, there was clothing strewn around, but otherwise business as usual. There were dozens of very large swarms of insects – which left us alone – providing food for hundreds of Martins swooping every which way. This Guardia officer had a swarm right above his head, which you can barely see in the photo as a darker strip arising from his head as he talks on the phone. 

And finally, a couple of photos from our terrace as I try to identify some morning bird songs.