RG - Back to the Guadalquivir - this time at Brazo d'Este where we found a Savi's Warbler singing from the top of a reed - noticeably darker brown than Reed Warbler. Also a single Squacco Heron flushed from the reeds then landed in the open giving excellent views - but the only one of the week. Other birds here included c150 Collared Pratincoles and c30 Whiskered Terns, both species feeding over the open lagoons, a Gull-billed Tern, c8 Purple Herons and c4 Night Herons, a Spoonbill, c5 Purple Gallinules, 3 Glossy Ibises, 4 Marsh Harriers, 2 superb as always male Montagu's Harriers, 6 Kentish Plovers and more Bee-eaters, and our only flock of Spanish Sparrows seen in the week - about 30 dustbathing.
From here we drove the hundred kilometres or so to Laguna Fuente de Piedra which is an unmissable place - a huge, but shallow, lake covered with about 8,000 Flamingos! Six of them were Lesser Flamingos, rare
vagrants from Africa, with all-pink plumage and black bills, and only about three-quarters the size of the Greater Flamingo. They were John's sole tick of the week, and he picked them out almost immediately, despite the fact that the mainly British birders present had not made the attempt. The number of waders was staggering - of course many Black-winged Stilts and Avocets, but also c70 Little Stints, and we noticed Kentish Plovers, summer-plumaged Curlew Sandpiper and Spotted Redshank and a Ruff, and doubtless many more if we had had time to look! There was also a flock of about 150 Gull-billed Terns sat on a gravel spit, and a distant calling Hoopoe. I saw more Lesser Emperors here. We ended the day searching for bustards and sandgrouse in the Marchena / La Lantaguera area - to no effect - apart, that is, from seeing 3 more male Montagu's Harriers, c300 Collared Pratincoles, about 3 Calandra Larks and, inevitably, more Bee-eaters.
JC - Fortunately, when Robin opened the map to navigate from Brazo de Este to the Lantejuela area (where we planned to look for bustards), I realised that it was only another 100km (on a fast motorway) to Fuente de Piedra. I’d been there once before – staying nearby in Campillos expressly to see this site – only to find it bone dry and birdless. This time it was a stunning oasis of bird activity – a really superb area even without Lesser Flamingos! Although the Lessers were initially very distant, I was surprised how easy it was to pi
ck them out; not only were they distinctly smaller (and shorter) but also they sported really bright red plumage. At closer range the black bills and faces, pierced by a gleaming reddish eye, gave them a slightly sinister air. Robin, determined to locate them for himself, spent 20 minutes searching before anyone realised that his view was onscured by a tamarisk! Unfortunately this detour meant we gave the bustards less time than we'd hoped - next time perhaps. The only downside of this great day was the discovery, once back home, that a Wilson's Phalarope (which a Spanish birder we'd met told us about) was relocated, having gone 'missing for several days, at Brazo de Este after we'd left. Pity, but cutting our visit to the area short did ensure good views of the Lesser Flamingos! 
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