Las Norias and Salinas Roquetas - A birding trip to the coast

On every visit to Valor we always like to venture back down from the hills for at least one trip to some of Southern Spain's birding sites nearer the coast. This is often Cabo de Gata or as in this case a combined trip to the Salinas near Roquetas du Mar and the reserve at Las Norias.

En route I picked up a Southern Grey Shrike just before Cherin and not too far down the road from where we started. This same area is also good for Rollers. We often pick up Black Wheatear and Little Owl on the drive down, but we didn't see anything more of note during the drive.

It usually takes us about three quarters of an hour to get down to Roquetas, and as usual decided to visit the western end of the site first.

Although there was a fair bit of water in the pools at this end (they are sometimes completely dry after the Summer), waders were almost totally absent. In fact we only picked up a single Redshank. Most odd, as there is usually plenty of other stuff about.

Plenty of Barn Swallows were still present, and the scrub carried good numbers of Willow Warblers, Stonechats and more Robins than I think I've ever seen before in one place. People often don't think of Robins as migratory, but there is a fair chance that the ones you see in your garden during the Winter are not the same individuals that were present all Summer.

Apart from the usual Serins, Sardinian Warblers and Zitting Cisticolas, things were a bit quiet, so we decided to drive around to the Eastern end of the site to see what was on the larger pools.

Scanning across the main pool from the road (where there has recently been a lot of new property development) we could see the usual large numbers of Greater Flamingos along with a few Little Egret. There was also a good sized group of Black-necked Grebe and a smaller number of Great Crested Grebe. Large numbers of coot were present, but I couldn't pick out any of the Red-knobbed species (difficult from distance at this time of year anyway). There has been a re-introduction programme in this area so it is usually a good place to find them.

Gulls were represented by Black-headed, Yellow-legged, Audouin's and Lesser Black-backed. Both the main pool at the Eastern end and the far pools up past the old lighthouse are good for gulls.

Raptors we spotted were Kestrel, Hen Harrier and Marsh Harrier.

After having a good look around at Roquetas, we drove the few kilometres back to Las Norias. This site always fascinates me. It's not the prettiest by any means, being smack bang in the middle of Almeria province's plastic greenhouse nightmare. These invernaderos cover a huge amount of the area and apparently can be seen from the moon (check them out on Google Earth). However the birds don't seem to mind and the two man made pools here are teeming with birds.

In addition to other species already seen at Roquetas, we saw Hoopoe, Little Gull, Great Reed Warbler, White-headed Duck, Black-winged Stilt, Pochard, Purple Gallinule, Kingfisher and best of all a beautiful Marbled Duck. Another Marsh Harrier also gaves some spectacular close fly pasts as it hunted over the reserve.

With that it was time to head back home to the Alpujarras. Overall 43 species for the day, which I have to say is far below what I would usually expect given the quality of Southern Spain birding, but it was a very pleasant day out none the less.

A fleeting week.

Well we're back in the UK already, and a week seems to have just flown past. It hardly seems like five minutes since we booked the flights. Still it was a nice break with lovely weather and temperatures in the mid to high thirties. Most days had at least a little bit of breeze to stop us getting too overheated.

Unfortunately, Maria tore a muscle in her right calf on only our second day. This put paid to us getting out for any more serious walks as she was hobbling round on a stick for the remainder of the trip. I still managed to get a few birding trips in below Valor and we had a drive through the Contraviesa which added a few different bird species.

But even a quiet beer or two in one of the village bars gives great views and allowed us to watch Spotted Flycatchers hunting and returning to a nearby nest.


At this time of year to get the best from a birding walk means a fairly early, but not ridiculously early start, and since I'm onto my local patch in about thirty seconds from leaving the front door seven am or so was just about right. The extra hour of darkness due to the local time difference compared to the UK also helps.

With the sun rising in the east, the valley below Valor remains mostly in shade until about nine. This not only keeps it nice and cool, but also allows you to see the lovely shadows and colours cast by the the early morning sun across the lower valley and the more distant Contraviesa range.



My usual circuit below the village is only about three or four kilometres (depending on my chosen return route), but it usually takes me three or four hours, with many stops at promising birding spots.

The small farms below Valor are a mixture of almond and olive trees, mixed with various vegetable and fruit crops such as tomatoes, peppers, onions, beans etc. There are stands of poplars which are grown for use as roof beams and joists in the traditional houses of the area. These are where you will often spot the many Golden Orioles that are present in spring and summer here. They blend well into the light green foliage, so often their gorgeous fluting song is heard well before you get a glimpse of one.



Amongst the other species spotted on the couple of walks I had last week were Cetti's Warbler, Olivaceous Warbler, Sardinian Warbler, Common Whitethroat, Turtle Dove, Red-rumped Swallow, Crag Martin, Cirl Bunting, Rock Bunting, Serin, Bee Eater, Spotted Flycatcher, Woodchat Shrike. Plenty of other birdlife too of course, and also some notable absences. I didn't hear or see any Wrynecks this trip, and would usually expect to see one or two overflying eagles, particularly Booted Eagle, but no luck.

A drive out in the car was a welcome break for Maria, who had been pretty much housebound on her new walking stick. We did a long circuit heading towards Cadiar via Yegen and Mecina Bombaron, stopping at the various viewing areas to admire the scenery and have a scan around with binoculars for any birdlife.

This picture below is of the valley just below Mecina Bombaron, always a nice place to stop and admire the lovely farm buildings nestling into the steep rock face, and watch the circling Crag Martins and Red-rumped Swallows.



On reaching Cadiar, we took the road towards Albunol before turning left onto the road through the Contraviesa range. Although almond and olive trees still feature, this area is more well known for its wine making, and you pass several large wineries and bodegas along the way.
We then headed down towards the man-made Embalsa de Beninar and stopped to take a few photos. The terrain is drier and more rugged at this end of the Contravieasa, and we saw a few Thekla Larks and Black Wheatears which are typical of the area.



Birdlife on the reservoir appeared to be limited to a few Great Crested Grebes, so we headed back for the return leg through the intriguing villages of Darrical and Lucainena. These villages were almost ghost towns until recently, with many ruined and empty buildings. Several initiatives have taken place to revitalise them, and now there are many restorations and rebuilds underway. It is very isolated, but whoever lives here will enjoy beautiful surroundings. One word of warning, the road along the valley here is very narrow, and its often loose surface has not been improved by the wagons serving the building that is now going on. Drive carefully, and perhaps give it a miss if you don't like heights, as there is often a sheer drop for many metres right at your elbow!

The home leg of the drive takes us back via Cherin and Ugijar back to our start at Valor. A very pleasant and interesting few hours drive, do give it a go if you're in the area.

Next trip booked for July.

We do find it difficult to stay away from Valor for too long, and since work has been so hectic recently we thought we'd treat ourselves to a quick week in Spain before the schools break up and the flight prices double!

It is usually getting up to some pretty fierce temperatures by this time of year, so any walking or bird watching will mean getting up at the crack of dawn. Although it is past the best time of year for birding (at least until Autumn arrives), there is still plenty to see even locally. Golden Orioles flit between the trees, usually only giving a brief flash of colour before blending back into the foliage. Strangely well camouflaged for such a brightly coloured bird. European Bee Eaters (as in the painting below), and the occasional Roller add another dash of the exotic.


Sometimes the best approach is just to let the wildlife come to you. Scops Owls are common in the area, but devilishly difficult to see. The best view of a Scops I ever had was whilst sitting outside a local bar having an early evening beer, and watching one hunting and returning to its nest in a hole in the wall just feet away from me. Great stuff (I'm easily pleased!).

So maybe we'll just go along with that. Chill out, watch the world go slowly by and see whatever we happen to see.