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Tuesday, 23 June 2026

Fuente de Piedra, Laguna Dulce and Campillos, Malaga Province, Spain.

Birding with Paqui, Derek and Barbara over in Malaga Province.
Ebird List for Fuente de Piedra.
Ebird List for Laguna Dulce.
Ebird List for Campillos.
 
Greater Flamingo's (Flamenco Común / Phoenicopterus roseus).
Paqui and I were off at 06:30 to meet Barbara and Derek Etherton in the Car park at Fuente by 07:30 as it was going to be too hot to be out for too long. 
Greater Flamingo's (Flamenco Común / Phoenicopterus roseus).
Greater Flamingo's (Flamenco Común / Phoenicopterus roseus).
After we all met up we walked back out of the car park to check what remained of the roadside pool which wasn't a lot however we still found European Turtle Dove (Tórtola Europea / Streptopelia turtur), Greater Flamingo's (Flamenco Común / Phoenicopterus roseus), Common Moorhen (Gallineta Común / Gallinulas chloropus), Common Swift (Vencejo Común / Apus apus), Black-winged Stilt (Ciguenuela Común / Himantopus himantopus), Pied Avocet (Avoceta Común / Recurvirostra avosetta), Black-headed Gull (Gaviota Reidora / Chroicocephalus ridibundus), Gull-billed Tern (Pagaza Piconegra / Gelochelidon nilotica), Zitting Cisticola (Cistícola Buitrón / Cisticola juncidis), Barn (Golondrina Común / Hirundo rustica) and Red-rumped Swallow (Golondrina Dáurica / Cecropis daurica), Western House Martin (Avión Común Occidental / Delichon urbicum), Spanish (Yellow) Wagtail (Lavandera Boyera / Motacilla flava iberiae) and European Goldfinch (Jilguero Europeo / Carduelis carduelis).
Zitting Cisticola (Cistícola Buitrón / Cisticola juncidis).
At the far end of the pool we went along the back track to the gate and then came back a short way and crossed the boardwalk, during this time we added Mallard (Anade Azulón / Anas platyrhynchos), Common Woodpigeon (Paloma Torcaz / Columba palumbus), heard Eurasian Stone Curlew (Alcaraván Común / Burhinus oedicnemus), Woodchat Shrike (Alcaudón Común / Lanius senator), Western Jackdaw (Grajilla occidental / Corvus monedula), Crested Lark (Cogujada Común / Galerida cristata), Common Reed Warbler (Carricero Común / Acrocephalus scrpaceus), European Stonechat (Tarabilla Europea / Saxicola rubicola), European Serin (Serin Verdecillo / Serinus serinus), Corn Bunting (Escribano Triguero / Emberiza calandra), Small Fleabane (Pulicaria vulgaris), Wild Carrot (Daucus carota), Common Chicory (Cichorium intybus), Black-tailed Skimmer (Orthetrum cancellatum) x1Red-veined Darter (Sympetrum fonscolombii) x2♂1♀Small White (Pieris rapae) x3, Perez's Frog (Rana Común / Pelophylax perezi) and Rabbit (Conejo / Oryctolagus cuniculus).
Gull-billed Tern (Pagaza Piconegra / Gelochelidon nilotica).
Gull-billed Tern (Pagaza Piconegra / Gelochelidon nilotica).
Gull-billed Tern (Pagaza Piconegra / Gelochelidon nilotica).
Once we had crossed the Boardwalk we followed the tamarisks around the ditch before going up to the Mirador, species seen included 
Eurasian Collared Dove (Tórtola Turca / Streptopelia decaocto), Little Ringed Plover (Chorlitejo Chico / Thinornis dubius), Great Tit (Carbonera Común / Parus major) and Western Olivaceous Warblers (Zarcero bereber / Iduna opaca) with 4 adults and 2 juv's being seen.
Western Olivaceous Warbler (Zarcero bereber / Iduna opaca).
From the Mirador we added Eurasian Coot (Focha Común / Fulica atra), Western Cattle Egret (Garcilla Bueyera / Bubulcus ibis), Eurasian Blackcap (Curruca Capirotada / Curruca capirotada), Sardinian Warbler (Curruca Cabecinegra / Curruca melanocephala), Spotless Starling (Estornino Negro / Sturnus unicolor), Common Blackbird (Mirlo Común / Turdus merula), Common Nightingale (Ruisenor Común / Luscinia megarhynchos), Common Chaffinch (Pinzón Vulgar / Fringilla coelebs) and Painted Lady (Vanessa cardui).
Around at the two back hides Northern Shoveler (Cuchara Común / Spatula clypeata), Gadwall (Anade Friso / Mareca strepera), Marbled Duck (Cerceta pardilla / Marmaronetta angustirostris), Red-crested (Pato Colorado / Netta rufina) and Common Pochard (Porrón Europeo / Aythya ferina), White-headed Duck (Malvasia Cabeciblanca / Oxyura leucocephala), Little (Zampullín Común / Tachybaptus ruficollis) and Black-necked Grebe (Zampullín Cuellinegro / Podiceps nigricollis), Great Cormorant (Cormorán Grande / Phalacrocroax carbo), Glossy Ibis (Morito Común / Plegadis falcinellus) and Common Buzzard (Busardo Ratonero / Buteo buteo) were all added before we made our way back to the cars and around to Laguna Dulce.
At the Laguna there were clouds of Red-veined Darters (Sympetrum fonscolombii) x200+, Northern Lapwing (Avefria Europea / Vanellus vanellus), Great Crested Grebe (Somormujo Lavanco / Podiceps cristatus), Short-toed Snake Eagle (Culebrera Europeo / Circaetus gallicus), Spotted Flycatcher (Papamoscas Gris / Muscicapa striata) which were new for the day as well as many of the species seen earlier at Fuente.
Long-eared Owl (Búho Chico / Asio otus).
Long-eared Owl (Búho Chico / Asio otus).
By now it was getting hot so we made our final stop near to Campillos were we went to look for and found a stunning 
Long-eared Owl (Búho Chico / Asio otus) which is a regular bird in the site and a species Paqui had never seen so she was very pleased.
We did go for a quick check on the Vulture feeding station, it was quiet so as it was by now very warm so we all headed off home. 

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