Several birds here in Spain – Rock Doves, Mallards and Northern Shovelers come to mind – seem to be about the same as in the U.S. The Little Egret is just like its close relative, the Snowy Egret, that we see in Texas and other southern states. Great to watch this patient hunter.
Note the classic yellow “slippers” which also mark the Snowy Egret.
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.
We are in southern Spain for several weeks and learning a little more Spanish and some new birds. We hired a guide yesterday and he brought us to one of the great spots in the area: Cabo de Gata Natural Park – Las Salinas.
Our guide, Jesus Fronteras, knew the birds, natural geography, and history of his home province well. He was great.
We visited some salt mining lagoons and watched dozens of flamingos. Here are some shots in poor light:
A Black-tailed Godwit forages under a flamingo.
A flamingo heading west and a Black-headed Gull heading east.
It was a spectacular start on a hot day and in the next post, I’ll share some of the other birds we saw. Adios, amigos