21 September 2024
“Seen Last Week” goes back today to 7 September for my best photos of the WINGS Spain in Autumn birding tour in southern Andalusia. Some sites are missed entirely in the slideshow because my photos were lousy.
Scenes include:
- The salt pans at Sanlucar de Barrameda where we saw shorebirds and flamingos.
- A beautiful cat watched us eat dinner in Sanlucar. Its subtle colors reminded me of my cat Emmalina.
- Great day of hawk watching on 10 September at El Algarrobo and Cazalla.
- Views of the Strait of Gibraltar, Tarifa and the Torre (watch tower) de Guadalmesi.
- Every day went birding at early as possible. Hot bright sun. No rain. Temperature reached 98°F some days.
- Cattle often present on the dirt roads where we looked for birds.
- Dry, dry, dry landscapes, even in the mountains.
- View of Montejaque, one of the Pueblos Blancos (White Villages) near Grazalema.
- Scenes from Ronda where the cliffs surrounding the town are steep! (No I will not get near that railing)
- Spain is the world’s 1st or 2nd largest producer of olives. Olive groves everywhere.
- Dried lake bed with a bit of salty water is a good place to look for flamingos near Fuente de Piedra.
- Narrow streets in Osuna as we walk to dinner on our last night together.
Wind power is BIG in Spain as seen in this video of wind turbines near Tarifa. During heavy bird migration some turbines are turned off to prevent collisions with hawks and storks.