For any birders/naturalists heading for southern Spain in the future, this trip report of our adventures earlier in the year may be of some help....then again it may not _ you maybe better going to Surfbirds....
I take no responsibility for exaggeration, porky pies and licence used by John Bannon in the compilation of this report, but at least the bird accounts are correct. The photos are by Neill Hunt, and any childish field sketches which may appear are by me (I don't think Lars Jonsson has much to worry about).

The saga of the Southport Birders expedition to Southern Andalucía from Thursday evening May 19th to Wednesday evening May 25th 2005, including the strange experience of the lucky Rafa Benitez plaque, the continuing mystery of the Andalusian Hemiphodthe e and the very unlucky Lynxes, who don't know their Green Cross Code.

Participants listed in the traditional descending age order

John ( Pacquero) Bannon,
Paul (Tropical)Thomason,
Simon (Exotica) Jackson
John (The Brick) Dempsey
Neil ( No Trouble) Hunt
June (Even Less Trouble) Watt
Mike (The Occasional Moaner) Stocker
Pete ( Right-Hook) Allen
Matt (Blackberry) Bannon

Thursday May 19th

We all eventually turned up at Liverpool John Lennon International Airport for our late afternoon Ryanair flight to Granada, which was spot on time departing and 15 minutes early arriving. Picked up rental nine-seater VW TDI Transporter minibus; excellent value and brand-new from Crown Car Hire and set off for our first night's stop at the Hotel Mulhaçen in Guadix, 60 km east of Granada along the A94 autovia. A quick and very tasty selection of nice snacks and cervecas in the local bar, was nicely finished off with singing Nightingales and no less than four Scop's Owls responding to the Brick's nuptial calls.

Friday May 20th

Up and out by 0530, which was one and a half hours before actual dawn, to the Guadix Depression, which in fact was extremely productive and put us all in a very positive mood, for the birding challenges to come. We birded the area until early afternoon, scoring with 30 plus Calandra Larks (sketch above), Rock Buntings, Blue Rock Thrush, Golden Orioles, Dartford Warbler, European Bee-eaters, 10 Black-bellied Sandgrouse, at least six Great Spotted Cuckoos, two Stone Curlew, Thekla Larks, Choughs, Raven, Black-eared Wheatears ,Sardinian Warblers and Woodlarks. A really good site, which I would recommend to all for steppe species...except the usual deaf, dumb, mute, invisible and subterranean Dupont's Larks of course.

Pressing on towards our first overnight stop near Cabo de Gata, we decided to take the hair-raising minor road (A337) over the Sierra Nevada through the 2000 metres pass at the Puerto de La Ragua, where we stopped by the restaurant and information centre to look for Citril Finches. Thanks to excellent. Up to date info from Andy Paterson, co-author of 'Where to Watch Birds in Southern & Western Spain', we soon had them in the pines near the information centre. Coal Tit, Sparrowhawk, Common Buzzard, Grey Wagtail, Crested Tit, Firecrest , Southern Grey Shrike, more Rock Buntings, Blackcap, Short-toed Treecreepers, Subalpine and Western Bonelli's Warblers were seen, as well as our first Red-rumped Swallows and Crag Martins. The very scenic, but tortuous road dropped down from the mountains and we stopped at the bridge over the Rio Andarax, where Griffon Vulture, Lesser Kestrel, more Golden Orioles and Bee-eaters, Common Sandpiper and Spotted Flycatcher, boosted our already excellent first-day tally.

Near Cabo de Gata, we were directed to the Ramblas de Morales, where a sub-adult Lesser Flamingo (SR) waded in the shallows, along with 10+ White Headed Ducks, a dozen or so Black Winged Stilts and two Avocets. Where the ramblas met the beach, 20 + Kentish and 15 Ringed Plovers where roosting with a solitary Grey Plover, plus single Sanderling, Dunlin, Redshank and Whimbrel, 14 Little Tern, three Gull-billed Terns, two Slender-billed, six Audouins, several Yellow-legged and a solitary Lesser Black-backed Gull, completed the collection. The surrounding scub was also very interesting with displaying vocal Lesser Short-toed Larks, Fan-tailed Warblers and Woodchat Shrike.

We checked in to the good quality Hotel Blanca Brisa in Cabo de Gata and then sought out a suitable hostelry overlooking the sea, for a few very welcome beers. Even here the birds came to us, with 10 + Cory's Shearwaters close inshore and a flock of what was very likely Common Scoters, flew past, but as none of us expert birders had brought our bins out with us, they remain only a probable.

As the night closed in our first full day in scintillating Southern Spain, an unsuccessful tour around the saltpans in the fading light didn't give us any of the hoped for Red-necked Nightjars (sketch above); but we heard more Stone Curlews, glimpsed our first Hoopoe and 1000 + Greater Flamingoes made a fine sight in the evening light. Not a bad first full day.

Saturday May 21st

As usual, we were up and out with the dawn, determined to connect with the much desired Trumpeter Finches as soon as possible and then to return to the hotel for a well-earned breakfast. Three hours later we were still looking, whilst the resident TF's, and we now have a new meaning for that abbreviation, which goes something like 'tiny f.*!X*!.s'!, were no doubt watching us from the shade of some invisible rocky outcrop, blowing disparaging trumpets in our direction.
Black Wheatears and Black-eared Wheatears were very much in evidence, with Red-rumped Swallows, Sardinian and Melodious Warblers, Spotted Flycatchers, many Thekla and Crested larks and a single Whitethroat. Offshore 15+ Audouin's , 50+ Yellow-legged Gulls, two Cory's, 15 + Balearic and two Yelkouan Shearwaters were passing off the cabo, and two very localised Shags were picked up, flying across the bay. Cetacean interest was excellent, with at least 500 Common Dolphins porpoising offshore, along with half-a-dozen Striped Dolphins.

The flora of the cabo was also outstanding and a total contrast to the arid mountains behind, but being total birding philistines, we ignored it all and trudged dejectedly back to our digs for breakfast and a reassessment of our chances of TF. It was over our coffee and tabnabs, when Neil suggested that no doubt a Trumpeter Finch would turn up in England this week. Five minutes l;ater this prediction came amazingly true when his phone mega-alert went off and guess what, a Trumpeter Finch had turned up at Landguard Point.

We were all astounded. Here we were in Spain with absolutely no Trumpeter Finches, whilst most of the UK's birders were grilling one back home. Such are the vagaries of birding, but it certainly did hurt. Anyway, always positive, I rang our local contact to be advised that three TF's had been seen only days before, not far from where we were. So 30 minutes later saw us at the car park, by the historic chapel on the beach at nearby Retimar, to continue our quest.

The area of sandy, scrubby steppe extended well inland and we decided to split up to widen the net. 90 minutes later, we all met up to compare notes, which included many Sardinian Warblers, five Stone Curlews, four Southern Grey Shrikes, two Short-toed Larks, many Theklas and even more Crested Larks a two-foot long Ladder Snake and several different species of lizard.

Mr Accident-Prone, alias Pete Allen, had also managed to get himself badly stung on his ankle by a Lion's Mane Jellyfish, so as he lay writhing in agony we discussed our next attempt to find said TF's, which involved a trip into the real badlands of Almeria, known as the Cuevas de los Ubedas; where by walking the dry riverbeds and hills in 100% F heat in the midday sun, we would be duly rewarded by flocks of the tiny f!%*$rs. Have I any need to relate the outcome?

A superb Roller, female Orphean Warbler, nesting Red-rumped Swallows, two Lesser Kestrels, two Black Wheatears and four Woodchats were amongst the birds that were seen, but not a sniff of any Trumpeter Finches or the resident Dupont's Larks.

Sensibly conceding defeat, we headed off west-south-westwards, towards our evening destination, 'somewhere near Tarifa', but first we decided to try the Canadas de las Norias, in the heart of the plastic-coated province of Almeria.
A further sensible decision as it turned out, which added many species to our growing trip list, but you will not believe the hundreds of square miles of plastic greenhouses that totally surround it.

We were astounded by both the number and the variety of birds present as we eagerly grilled the lakes from the convenient causeway at the eastern end. The list included 15 fine adult Whiskered, three Little and half-a-dozen Gull-billed Terns, three Little Bitterns, three Night and two Squacco Herons, Purple Heron, six plus Collared Pratincoles, Purple Gallinule, 20 White-headed Ducks, six Red-Crested Pochard, ten Common Pochard, a dozen Gadwall, a male Shoveler and at least a hundred Black-necked Grebes. Eight Bee-eaters 'preeped' over the water and other sightings included Lesser Kestrel, Fan-tailed Warbler, Stone Curlew, Little and Great Crested Grebes, our first 'Iberian' Yellow Wagtail and at least six Turtle Doves.

Even though we couldn't find any of the supposedly resident Marbled Teal or occasional Red-knobbed Coot, it is a must visit site for any birder in the area and we finished off our very productive stop, with three superb Lesser Emperor dragonflies hawking along the southern edge of the main pool, adjoining the main road.

Now all we had to do was to drive almost 400 km to our overnight stop near Tarifa, so it was foot down on the Autopista del Sol until dusk, with two Red-necked Nightjars hawking over the motorway, followed by total confusion looking for the 'newly upgraded and resurfaced' road across the Ojen Valley. This mis-information was cruelly perpetrated upon us by Mr Paul Thomason, who was duly and regularly named and shamed, as we bumped and rattled along the tortuous 55 kms of the Ojen valley 'short-cut' to the excellent hotel San Jose de Valle at the Bolonia crossroads on the main E5, some 15 km north of Tarifa . Another Red-necked Nightjar was flushed off the so-called road, but again was not seen by any of the group in the back, most of whom needed said 'goatsucker' as a lifer.

Sunday May 22nd

All the advice on connecting with the White-rumped Swifs at Bolonia, strongly recommends being up and out at dawn and being parked near their nesting cave at no later than 0700, after which time they disappear into the heavens. There was just one problem. A late evening phone call to the ever helpful Andy Paterson the night before, had given me the dismal news that they hadn't been seen there yet and as very late migrants, they may not have even returned from Africa.

After 'dipping' on both Marbled Teal and Red-knobbed Coot, I chose to ignore this negative news and instead lied through my teeth; advising our motley crew, some of whom are prone to persistent and probably permanent pessimism, that our object of desire had in fact been showing very well only the day before. This calculated gamble could of course be explained away if they didn't show, by confidently stating that they would be probably flying up and down over the stream on the nearby beach, as detailed in Birding World magazine...and that no doubt we would catch up with them there.

Then there was another major problem. It concerned the jolly jape known as hiding your mate's binoculars, when he was the only person in the group who had visited the nesting cave previously and then him refusing to show you the way unless the missing optics were returned to him . Despite persistent exhortations, this episode saw us having to turn round the van on a vertical hillside dirt track, almost burning the clutch out in the process, consequently we did not arrive at the nesting cave in the Sierra del Plata until gone eight-o-clock.

Amazingly, the first swift we 'grilled' was a superb White-rumped, obviously investigating the cave's potential as a breeding site yet again and it was then that I confessed to my moral-boosting, but morally incorrect subterfuge.
This was also the moment that the realisation dawned on 'young 'Pete' - he's only 30 for god's sake - that his binoculars really were missing. Furthermore, he was convinced that they been stolen from him in the night and at that very moment were being traded by an unscrupulous Moroccan camel-dealer in a souk in Marrakesh for the very latest Kylie Minogue DVD.

We raced the 7.56 kms back to the hotel in 3.34 minutes and when he declared to the receptionist that his £799 bins had been knicked from her obvious 'den of thieves' establishment, she calmly assured him that all was well. They had been found on the table the evening before, or rather at four-o-clock in the morning, nestling comfortably amongst the debris of some 30 beer glasses and bowls of half-chewed olives... and if you could just wait a moment senor, I will send someone upstairs to retrieve them for you. He sighed the sigh of man who they named the Bridge of Sighs after.

We returned to the cliffs without accompanying tyre squeals and of course the White-rumped Swift had disappeared, apparently no more than two minutes after we had first arrived. So if you want to improve your chances of seeing them please heed the following advice .

Don't hide your mate's bins if he knows the route to the stakeout; anyone else's would be OK. Try to stop drinking after the first dozen bottles of San Miguel,so you can get some sleep before dawn, especially if you have only had four hours shuteye in the previous 24 and have driven over 600kms already.

Griffon Vulture, Lesser Kestrel, Rock Bunting and a superb adult Blue Rock Thrush were also noted, but we certainly had the luck of the devil with the target bird, before we made our way down to the beach at Bolonia, with its jangling Corn Buntings, Cetti's, Fan-tailed, Sardinian Warblers and hordes of windsurfers. The fabulous Roman ruins were nearby, but as typical birding philistines , we returned to the hotel to fold our tents and to try our hand at a raptor watching from a nearby view point which resulted in 30 Griffons and one Egyptian Vulture, a Hobby, three Short-toed and a solitary pale-phase Booted Eagle.

They say that a 'little knowledge is a dangerous thing' and nothing could prove that this is more true, than when a very nice middle-aged Spanish gentleman and his equally pleasant wife, enquired of me in Spanish as 'to what we were doing'. My reply, given proudly in my burgeoning vocabulary of half-remembered Spanish, sent him into immediate apoplectic shock.

With the help of rapid hand movements and various excellent, but rather too descriptive sound effects, he explained that 'miros los pacqueros" meant that we 'we were watching the w*nkers' !

'Miros los packeros' - or much safer still - 'miros los aves' is the correct Spanish for 'we are watching the birds' he patiently explained. So at least you now know how to insult them in Spanish.

The nearby Ojen valley was our next destination for some midday birding in the hot Spanish sun, along with any mad dogs that might be about. It was surprisingly productive with more Griffons and Short-toed, Melodious, Sardinian and Bonelli's Warblers, plus Cuckoos, Golden Orioles ,Ravens and even a scarce Song Thrush. Non-avian interest was supplied by thousands of butterflies, including at least a dozen Cleopatras, Spanish Wall Browns and many 'blues'.

Three Wild Boar were disturbed from their shady roadside resting place and left us in doubt as to what they thought of this unnecessary disturbance. We would like to have spent more time in this superbly beautiful valley but needing to get to the Coto Doñana before nightfall, we returned to the E5, to find it blocked by an air ambulance, dealing with a bad road accident.

This forced us to take the dirt road on the eastern side of La Janda, once one of Spain's largest wetlands and now being successfully re-wetted in parts and this unscheduled diversion, once again proved to be a good move. A dead Montpelier Snake was on the road and other interesting sightings included Calandra and Short-toed Larks, at least 50 White Storks, 'Iberian' Yellow Wagtails and 18 Collared Pratincoles. As the road neared Benalup de Sidonia, passage raptors over the woodlands included our first Honey Buzzards and Black Kites, plus a resident Red Kite.

Then it was onto the E5 autopista from Cadiz to Sevilla, which was transited painlessly to the E49, turning off at the Bollullos Par Del Condado junction and south on the A483 - el Ruta de las Marismas - to Almonte and our destination at the La Aldea campground, just north of El Rocio. Our comfortable mobile homes/cabins had been pre-booked by John Butler of Doñana Bird Tours, who had arranged to meet us at 7am the next morning. But first we needed to explore the almost mythical El Rocío marshes, gateway to the Coto itself and the wild west town of El Rocío, with its sandy streets, hitching rails and wonderful 19th century atmosphere.

An amazingly confiding Great Reed Warbler, grackled and spluttered from the railings along El Rocio's superb promenade and out on the bird-filled lagoons, were a good variety of new species for the trip; such as 50 plus Spoonbills; Gadwall; Shoveler; Pintail,;Wigeon; Pochard and 50 Dunlin; plus all the usual fare such as squabbling Black Kites, White Storks, Bee-Eaters, Kentish Plovers and Red-rumped Swallows.
To finish off the day we took John Butler's excellently accurate advice about slowly driving the road from the La Rocina visitor centre to the Palacio de Acebrón and besides several Iberian Magpies, we were also rewarded with breath-taking close-up views of Red-necked Nightjars, warming themselves up on the tarmac road, just after dark. Although we didn't see any of the resident Pardel Lynxes, a calling Tawny Owl and a distant 'churring' European Nightjar, added to our already splendiferous list, before we 'mowzeed on down' to the million-horse town of El Rocío, for our evening refreshments. What a fantastic place.

Monday May 23 ...(aka We Love You Butler Day)

Mr Butler duly arrived spot on time at 7am sharp, just as the sun was coming up and within ten minutes we were all watching two excellent Pin-tailed Sandgrouse in a barren field, along with Stone Curlews, Collared Pratincoles and Calandra Larks. A further stop not too far away along the southern end of the Corredor Verde al Guadimar, added several pairs of nesting Black-shouldered Kites (sketch above), up to five Booted Eagles, 70 Black Kites, three Quail, many White Storks and a singing male Common Whitethroat on territory, decidedly unusual for southernmost Spain.

The bridge over the river Guadimar gave us Kingfisher a nesting Penduline Tit, with further Black-shouldered Kites, our first Montagu's Harriers and a small lagoon produced an immaculate Red-knobbed Coot, with hordes of Common Coot, but luckily it was suitably neck-collared with a big white sign bearing its number X5. This 'branding' is not done for the benefit of birdwatchers, but rather to make sure 'legal' winter hunters do not blast it' red knobs off. Unfortunately for Red-knobbed Coots, for some reason they are genetically programmed to be much tamer than Common Coot and are usually the last birds swimming away from disturbance in a nervous mixed Coot flock...bye bye Red Knobs.

A singing Olivaceous Warbler was briefly located and both Melodious and Orphean Warblers were noted en route to the pinewoods nearby, where several Woodchats, Iberian Magpies and Hoopoes picked over the remains of what only a week before, had been one of the major camping sites for just some of the faithful attending the annual Fiesta de Nuestra Señora del Rocío (Our Lady of The Dew).

Staged in El Rocío at Pentecost (usually mid May), over one million pilgrims make their way to pray and generally have a good time, worshipping the 500 year-old statue of the Madonna, which mysteriously appeared in a tree and then disappeared and reappeared again to a confused local shepherd. The pilgrims include many gypsies in caravans and members of the mysterious local 'brotherhoods', who fiercly compete with each other for the honour of carrying the effigy of the 'Paloma Blanca' into El Rocío cathedral.

En route to our lunch stop at the Dehesa de Abajo, excellently provided by John Butler, we saw a colony of about 250 pairs of Spanish Sparrows, plus Savi's Warbler, many Turtle Doves, nesting Marsh Harriers, a probable Little/Baillon's Crake and even 35 Lapwings. The laguna at the Dehesa surprised us with two Marbled Teal (sketch above), when we stopped to grill a Spanish rarity in the form of a Mute Swan and amongst the hundreds of birds present, were some excellent Black Terns, a dozen or so Whiskered, 10 Red-crested Pochard, 150 plus Pochard, our first two Ferruginous Duck and five Greylag Geese, at least 250 Avocets and 70 plus Spoonbills.

Our last call of the day was the Cerrado Garrido and the San Jose Valverde Visitor Centre, which involved a long haul over bad roads and unfortunately, as southern Spain is currently suffering from severe drought conditions, the marismas themselves were totally dry and devoid of birdlife. However the visitor centre itself is very interesting and the permanent lake, was crammed with commoner waterbirds, such as Purple Swamphens. It's also a good place for a café con leche and much appreciated ice creams.

José Antonio Valverde was the much revered Spanish ornithologist, who with several well-known international names such as Sir Julian Huxley, Roger Tory Petersen and Peter Scott, was responsible for saving the Doñana from the clutches of the developers in the 1960's. They were able to buy large tracts of land around the spreading developments on the coast and passed on their interests to the newly-formed Spanish National Parks Organisation in 1969.

We bid a fond farewell to John Butler, whose services we can heartedly recommend, at his home town of Villmanrique de La Condessa, but not before a further surprise bird sprang up from a roadside channel on the barren marismas. A brief, flying-into-the-sun view of a pink-legged 'flamingo' with a Spoonbill's bill, was very probably the resident adult African Spoonbill, which has been present on the marismas for a year or more. Other 'African' species discovered in southernmost Spain in recent years have included Yellow-billed, Marabou and Saddle-billed Storks, Reef Heron, Marsh Owl, Tawny Eagle, Long-legged Buzzard, Moussier's Redstart, Ruppell's Griffon Vultures and the still-present Bald Ibis.

Tuesday May 24th

After a well deserved lie-in to eight-o-clock, we decided on a leisurely breakfast at the park's main visitor centre at El Acebuche, on the road to the seaside resort of Matalascañas. The visitor centre and lagoons are tremendous and from the not too user-friendly hides, we all had excellent views of a 'reeling' Savi's Warbler and Great Reed Warblers. The pools weren't brilliant but the grounds and umbrella pines had many Iberian Magpies, calling Golden Orioles, singing Common Redstarts and 'Spanish' Pied Flycatchers and close views of several reptiles, such as Moorish Gecko and Spanish Wall Lizard.

However, our best 'sighting' was of a family of Pardel Lynxes with their young, which we were able too watch in comfort, from the padded sofas in the air- conditioned visitor centre. A very well dressed, important-looking gentleman, in a blue lounge suit, took time out to explain to us that what we were watching on the large plasma screen was in fact real-time footage of the first Pardel Lynxes to breed in captivity - in a large breeding pen, not 100 metres away.

He was the Director General of the Medio Ambiente and was awaiting the arrival of the Minister of the Environment and associated VIPS, plus most of the Spanish media, who were attending to celebrate their success. The downside, as we were to discover later, is that the EU's most threatened mammal, the Pardel Lynx has declined from 1100 to less than 200 pairs in the last 20 years, with about 30-50 individuals still remaining in the Coto.

Obviously, the myxamatotis outbreaks which have decimated the populations of its main prey, the rabbit, cannot have helped, but an even more serious current problem is the number of road kills, especially on the recently tarmaced 'Lynx' road, from Villmanrique to El Rocío. Strangely, like the also threatened Red-knobbed Coot, Pardel Lynxes are not shy, even lying on the roads through the Coto proper and taking some effort to shift them.

Suitably educated and well stocked-up with books and leaflets, we returned to the Palacio del Acebron, to seek out my one and only potential 'tick' on the entire trip. This former hunting palace has a wonderful exhibition on the history and heritage of the area, a rooftop raptor viewpoint to view passing Imperial Eagles, (now down to only five pairs) and best of all, Iberian Chiffchaffs (sketch above) in the mature woodland by the main car park.

Within five minutes, it's distinctive song - like a Common Chiffchaff to begin with but finished off by a Willow Warbler - was located and tracked down, with reasonable views obtained. A Honey Buzzard, perched not ten metres away, glared at us and amongst a good variety of woodland birds, were our first Great Spotted Woodpecker and Long-tailedTits. In the grounds around the palacio we came across Wryneck, Hawfinch and displaying Short-toed Treecreepers and a singing Firecrest - not bad for midday.

The effects of all those early mornings and late nights was now taking effect, so somewhat birded out we called in for a full scale lunch, in very good value restaurant, near the bridge at El Rocío, before returning to avail ourselves of the campsite's swimming pool and bar.

I decided to look over the lagoons at El Rocío just one last time in the early evening and consequently came across our first Spanish birder. He showed me a very distant tree-nesting Eagle Owl through his telescope, whilst several very late Arctic-bound Little Stints and a summer plumaged Curlew Sandpiper fed in the shallows below us.

The sun was going down on our last night in this heavenly place and as I made my way back to our campsite, accompanied by a chorus of 'gedocking' Red-necked Nightjars, all was indeed well with the world.

Wednesday May 25th

Our last day was not to be wasted, so determined to make the most of each and every moment, Tropical and I set off on the great Lynx Spotting Expedition at 3.30am in the morning. The empty (of traffic) road to Villmanrique de La Condessa has been expensively re-surfaced and re-designed especially to allow Lynxes to cross safely; with high fences; hundreds of 'Precaución Lynx' signs; piles of wood to enable them to climb over from the road if they do find themselves on the wrong side of the fence; wonderful Lynx underpasses and the result, five dead adult Lynxes killed on this road in the past eighteen months.

We didn't see any, either dead or alive, but we did see fresh tracks and heard plenty of Red-necked Nightjars and calling Stone Curlews. We also discovered several interesting back tracks, which on a future visit, would be well worth exploring further. Apparently, it is said that if you book a trip inside the National Park with Discovering Doñana, then you could well see Lynx if you are lucky, but don't waste you time looking for Andalusian Hemiphode, which apparently do still exist, albeit in very small numbers.

However, if like me you're a super-optimist, you will expect to see a Pardel Lynx carrying one off alive for it's cubs to play with, whilst a Spanish Imperial Eagle swoops down, frightening the Lynx into releasing the Hemiphode, which walks off unharmed into the undergrowth.

Our return to El Rocío on the Lynx road, gave us graphic evidence of why so many were being killed. Despite many 60/40 km/h speed signs and rumble strips, every white van full of Moroccan migrant workers sped past us at 120 kmh. Or rather they did, until frantic headlight flashing from the new Lynx Highway Patrol, (aka us) warned them of our disapproval and their potential prosecution. Lo and behold, each and every vehicle slowed each to a much more reasonable speed and with Pardel Lynx the most threatened mammal in the EU, surely such a patrol, staffed by local people and operated at peak hours, would be a practical and sustainable solution to the problem?

Breakfast at dawn in the farm workers local was both very interesting and very welcome and following a rapid packing session we were soon on the road back to Granada airport. We had decided to travel back through the northern marshes and cross over the Rio Guadalquivir on the small ferry (barca) to grill the marshes of the Brazo del Este. Unfortunately we also experienced our first puncture and a rapid reverse off the ferry resulted in a rapid and extremely cheap repair in a local garage, whilst we enjoyed morning coffee and tostados. Thank god we didn't get the problem out on the desolate marshes, as the miniscule wheel brace provided, would have only been suitable for use as a multiple cigarette holder and/or novelty doorstop

Paying our 10€ bill, was an absolute pleasure, especially as the mechanic, realising we were Liverpool FC supporters, confidently predicted we would beat AC Milan on penalties l;ater that evening, which combined with the yet to be related lucky 'Benitez' plaque tale, were obvious signs from the gods, that LFC's name was already inscribed on the Champions League trophy.

The marshes of the Brazo del Este lived up to expectations, even though Simon's ticking of Common Waxbills, was not as satisfying as he wanted after years of trying. The usual marshland species were present, including another four Marbled Teal, and yet more Red-crested Pochard and White-headed Ducks, plus hordes of Collared Pratincoles.

Reaching the main autopista to Granada, we headed east passing the empty salt lake of the Funta del Piedra, which this year due to the severe drought, has no breeding Flamingoes. Nearer Granada, we made a short detour to a quite a productive limestone mountain area, which added Cirl Buntings, Rock Thrush and Alpine Swifts to our ever growing trip list, as well as a superb Praying Mantis.

We checked in at the passenger friendly Granada Aeroporto in plenty of time, and to gain the best advantage for LFC, I searched the gift shop for some lucky omen or other and came across a series of wall plaques, giving the coat of arms and history of Spanish family surnames. Obviously if I could find Benitez, then that would mean we would win the match against AC Milan, but alas, his family's name was not in the B's.

An inspirational decision to check the R's for Rafa, turned up Benitez second one in after Rodriguez and thus was AC Milan's fate sealed. Joyfully I exhibited the 'lucky Rafa plaque', to all who were interested and even those poor souls who were not interested, on our crowded Ryanair B-737. The match kicked off at more or less the same time as our departure slot, but a heartfelt plea to the cabin staff to get the captain to find out the result, saw his later announcement of "Ladies and gentlemen...you will never walk alone," being drowned out by emotional cheering and back-slapping.

We somehow managed to see or hear 199 bird species, plus several interesting mammals and many butterflies and dragonflies, not to mention the superbly diverse flora. So if you get the chance, southern Spain offers a wonderful wildlife experience, excellent infrastructure, friendly people, good cheapish food and accommodation, superb climate and memories to last a lifetime...all for less than £400 for the week...all in.

John Bannon, on behalf of the Southport Birders, Southport, UK

5th August 2005

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