Bonanza Salt pans and Pools, Sanlucar Beach and Chipiona sea front, Cadiz Province.

A morning on the salt pans, afternoon on the beach and and evening in the bar !!

Red Knot ( Correlimos Gordo / Calidris canutus).

The day started with a good breakfast at the Hotel Barrameda and then getting Jayne and Barb set up for a day on the beach, once they were there I headed off to the salt pans just to the North of Bonanza. 

Black-winged Stilt (Ciguenela Común / Himantopus himantopus).

The main track up through the center was very quiet right up until the last pool on the left where I scanned the edges and found a couple of Sanderling (Correlimos Tridáctilo / Calidris alba), 3x Little (Correlimos Menudo / Calidris minuta) and 1x Temminck Stint (Correlimos de Temminck / Calidris temminckii), 4x Black-winged Stilts (Ciguenela Común / Himantopus himantopus) and a dozen or so Greater Flamingo's (Flamenco Común / Phoenicopterus roseus) on one of the more distant pools.

Caspian Tern (Pagaza Piquiroja / Sterna caspia).

I turned right and drove down towards the pump house at the far end seeing Grey Heron (Garza Real / Ardea cinerea) and Little Egret (Garceta Común / Egreeta garzetta) in the ditch on the left and good numbers of  Avocets (Avoceta Común / Recurvirostra avosetta), Slender-billed Gull (Gaviota Picofina / Larus genei), Caspian (Pagaza Piquiroja / Sterna caspia) and Little Tern (Charrancito Común / Sterna albifrons) on the pans to my right. 

Western Osprey (Águila Pescardora / Pandion haliaetus).

I got to the pump house and met two more birders there, both from Germany but one was on holiday and the other from Marbella. 

Slender-billed Gull (Gaviota Picofina / Larus genei).

We spent some time scanning the pools and pans here and soon boosted the list with several new species including Ringed Plover (Chorlitejo Grande / Charadrius hiaticula), 3x Red Knot ( Correlimos Gordo / Calidris canutus), Ruddy Turnstone (Vuelvepiedras Común / Arenaria interpres), Common Sandpiper (Andarrios Chico / Actitis hypoleucos), Black-headed (Gaviota Riedora / Larus ridibundus), Lesser Black-backed (Gaviota Sombria / Larus fuscus) and Yellow-legged Gulls (Gaviota Patiamarilla / Larus Michahellis), 3x Shelduck (Tarro Blanco / Tadoma tadorna), Black-tailed Godwit (Aguja Colinegra / Limosa limosa), Greenshank (Archibebe Claro / Tringa nebularia), Common Redshank (Archibebe Común / Tringa totanus), Ruff (Combatiente / Philomachus pugnax), Black Stork (Ciguena Negra / Ciconia nigra), Western Osprey (Águila Pescardora / Pandion haliaetus), Red Kite (Milano Real / Milvus milvus), Marsh Harrier (Aguilucho Lagunero Occidental / Circus aeruginosus), Zitting Cisticola (Buitrón / Cisticola juncidis), Willow  (Mosquitero Musical / Phylloscopus trochillus), Sardinian (Curruca Cabecinegra / Sylvia melanocephala) and Reed Warblers (Carricero Común / Acrocephalus scrpaceus), Crested (Cogujada / Galerida cristata), Greater Short-toed (Terrera Común / Calandrella brachydactyla) and two Lesser Short-toed Larks (Terrera Marismena / Calandrella rufescens) which flew right over us, Kingfisher (Martin Pescador / Alcedo atthis), Barn Swallow (Golondrina Común / Hirundo rustica), Spotless Starling (Estornino Negro / Sturnus unicolor), Common Moorhen (Gallineta Común / Gallinulas chloropus) and out on the large lake several Northern Shoveler (Pato Cuchara / Anas clypeata), 3x Great White Egret (Garceta Grande / Egretta alba) and loads more Greater Flamingo's. 

Black-tailed Godwit (Aguja Colinegra / Limosa limosa).

The German lady (Briget I think, sorry useless with names) followed me in her car to the small pools in the fields nearby, a site she had never visited before but on the way out of the site I added Red-rumped Swallow (Golondrina Dáurica / Hirudo daurica), Red-veined Darter (Sympetrum fonscolombii) and Lesser Emperor (Anax parthenope) to the list. 

The Saltpans.

We arrived and parked and stright away added a calling Cetti's Warbler (Ruisenor Bastardo / Cettia cetti) to the day list as well as several Eurasian Coot (Focha Común / Fulica atra), White-headed Duck (Malvasia Cabeciblanca / Oxyura leucocephala), Common Pochard (Porrón Común / Aythya ferina), a very smart Marbled Duck (Cerceta Pardilla / Marmaronetta angustirostris) wnich was the second year tick of the day after the three Red Knot seen earlier, Mallard (Anade Azulón / Anas platyrhynchos), Little Grebe (Zampullín Común / Tachybaptus ruficollis), Western Swamp-hen (Calamon Común / Porphyrio porphyrio), another Kingfisher, Common Waxbill (Estrilda Ondulada / Estrilda astrild), several Common Sandpipers and a single Green Sandpiper (Andarrios Grande / Tringa ochropus).

White-headed Duck (Malvasia Cabeciblanca / Oxyura leucocephala).

I then made my way back to Sanlucar and spent the rest of the day on the beach with Jayne and Barb where I did not add much except for a single pale phase Booted Eagle (Aguililla Calzada / Hieraaetus pennatus) which drifted over the Stone Pines on the far shore, a Sand Martin (Avión Zapador / Riparia riparia) which was flying south east down the coast towards Tarifa, 3 Great Cormorant (Cormorán Grande / Phalacrocroax carbo) which flew in land towards the saltpans and several Monarch (Danaus plexippus) butterflies going inland along the beach.

Marbled Duck (Cerceta Pardilla / Marmaronetta angustirostris).

Later we drove down to Chipiona and had a very breezy walk along the sea front where I saw singles of both Eurasian Curlew (Zaoaito Real / Numenius arquata) and Whimbrel (Zarapito Trinador / Numenius phaeopus) as well as an immature Lesser Black-backed Gull with a ring on. 

Lesser Black-backed Gull (Gaviota Sombria / Larus fuscus) with a ring.

After the walk we returned to Sanlucar and to the square near the hotel for some Tapas and then a birthday Whiskey back at the Hotel, thanks Barbara.