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B I R D W a T C H I N G • 18 . F UENTE DE PIEDRA - CAMPILLOS STAGE18 E S N O 158 BIRDWATCHING • GR-249 Great Path of Malaga F UENTE DE PIEDRA - CAMPILLOS 18 . STAGE 18 Fuente de Piedra - Campillos L O C A T I O N he José Antonio Valverde Visitor´s Centre at the TReserva Natural de la Laguna de Fuente de Piedra is the starting point of Stage 18. Taking the direction south around the taken up mainly by olive trees and grain. eastern side of the salt water lagoon This type of environment will continue to you will be walking through farmland the end of this stage and it determines until the end of this stage in Campillos the species of birds which can be seen village. The 15, 7 km of Stage 18 will here. You will be crossing a stream and allow you to discover this wetland well then walking along the two lakes which known at national level in Spain, and will make your Stage 18 bird list fill cultivated farmland which creates a up with highly desirable species. The steppe-like environment. combination of wetland and steppe creates very valuable habitats with DESCRIPTION a rare composition of taxa unique at European level. ABOUT THE BIRDLIFE: Stage 18 begins at the northern tip HIGHLIGHTED SPECIES of the lagoon where you take direction Neither the length, diffi culty level or south through agricultural environment, elevation gain of this stage is particularly DID YOU KNOW? ecilio Garcia de la Leña, in Conversation 9th of “Historical Conversations of Malaga” published by Cristóbal Medina Conde (1726-1798) and entitled «About Animal Kingdom of Malaga and some Places in its Bishopric», Ccomments: «…In some lagoons, along sea shores and river banks some large and beautiful birds breed, called Flamingos and Phoenicopteros according to the ancients...», after a description of the bird´s anatomy he adds: «The Romans appreciated the bird greatly, especially its tongue which was served as an exquisite dish…». TEXT: SMB GR-249 Great Path of Malaga • BIRDWATCHINGBIRDWATCHING 159 18 . F UENTE DE PIEDRA - CAMPILLOS demanding and you can spend some time Lesser Kestrel, Water Rail, Coot, Moorhen, around the Visitor´s Centre to enjoy watch- Black-winged Stilt, Avocet, Stone-curlew, ing water birds from purpose-built hides. Kentish Plover, Common and Little Ringed Little and Eared ( Black-necked) Grebe, Plover, Golden and Black-bellied Plover, Grey Heron, Little Egret, Cattle Egret, Greater Flamingo, Mallard, Gadwall, Northern Shoveler, Green-winged Teal, Red-crested Pochard, Common Pochard, Eurasian Marsh Harrier, Common and Breeding structure for Lesser Kestrels and other steppe species placed beside the Great Malaga Path. PHOTO: ARM 160 BIRDWATCHING • GR-249 Great Path of Malaga F UENTE DE PIEDRA - CAMPILLOS 18 . Facilities around the Visitor´s Centre of the Laguna de Fuente de Piedra. PHOTO: ARM Common Snipe, Green and Common considerably during migration passages Sandpiper, Lesser black-backed, Yellow- if we include those waders and passer- legged, Black-headed and Slender-billed ines which set off on migration journeys. Gull, Whiskered Tern, Gull-billed Tern and Once you are on the footpath you will Yellow Wagtail are the most frequently be entering agricultural environment seen species of birds found in water in quite an abrupt manner and getting environment, however the list can grow away from the lagoon progressively. GR-249 Great Path of Malaga • BIRDWATCHING 161 18 . F UENTE DE PIEDRA - CAMPILLOS As a result, sightings of waterfowl environment for the birdwatcher ends and other aquatic birds will be limited up being a real diversity hot spot. The to birds in fl ight commuting back and path leads through places where in forth from the laguna. winter concentrations of hundreds In this environment, bird species of Golden Plovers and Stone-curlews occurring in open areas prevail, as can gather; both species go unnoticed well as birds which favour olive groves; once they perch on the ground thanks noteworthy species are Red-legged to their plumage. Sometimes a low- Partridge, Stone-curlew, European fl ying Merlin on the hunt will help you Turtle Dove, Hoopoe, Barn and Red- fi nd these fl ocks of birds. Other species rumped Swallows, Meadow Pipit, White which can be found here are Common Wagtail, Crested Lark, Calandra Lark, Kestrel, Little Owl, Barn Owl around the Skylark, Common Blackbird, Song Thrush, ruined farmhouses, Common Buzzard European Robin, Common Stonechat, whose individuals arrive from Central Zitting Cisticola, Sardinian Warbler, and Northern Europe during winter Blackcap, Common Chiffchaff, Woodchat season (and which are visibly bigger and and Southern Grey Shrike, Great Tit, lighter coloured), Long-eared Owl and Spotless and Common Starling, House Red-necked Nightjar. At the southern Sparrow, Goldfinch, Common Linnet, tip of the lagoon, at the level of the Serin, Greenfinch and Corn Bunting, Cortijo de la Rábita, you will need to the latter can be seen in large fl ocks in cross Arroyo del Hoyero, and you will winter. What can seem at the start to have to get your feet wet if the stream be an unvarying and not very attractive has water. In this environment, with its 162 BIRDWATCHING • GR-249 Great Path of Malaga F UENTE DE PIEDRA - CAMPILLOS 18 . strip of reeds and cane, you will be able Lesser Kestrel which is getting smaller to hear and see the Cetti´s Warbler, Reed year after year due to the general decline Warbler and Great Reed Warbler as well this species is suffering from. Within as a greater abundance of birds drawn the period of a few years the number to the focal point of the stream´s water. of pairs has dropped from 30 to only 5, Once you leave the stream behind and which resulted in direct action being enter the olive grove, and then a great taken to ensure that breeding places are extension of dry crops, the following birds are the most abundant: White Wagtail, Crested Lark, Calandra Lark and Skylark. A ruined farmhouse, Cortijo de Las Monjas, harbours a population of GR-249 Great Path of Malaga • BIRDWATCHING 163 18 . F UENTE DE PIEDRA - CAMPILLOS available for this charismatic species of specifi cally it is meant as a nesting place bird occurring in a steppe environment. for Lesser Kestrels and Rollers. At the In the same general area, once moment it is Common Kestrels and you leave the olive grove behind, you various pairs of Western Jackdaw that can delight in the Common Cranes are using the structure and they let you frequenting the open fields to feed, get quite close to watch. Further on, at Little Bustards which require meticulous the Laguna de Lobón, you will be able to observation and Montagu´s Harriers, enjoy some water birds again, depending easily visible as they soar in large on the availability of water; this laguna circles over the grain fi elds. During the is small and shallow which causes it to cold months White Wagtails gather dry out long before other lakes in the in large fl ocks which can contain over area. When there is water available, 4000 birds. Surprisingly, in winter and you can enjoy watching Mallard, Black- in summer, you can see Gull-billed Terns winged Stilt, Avocet, Common Ringed in this environment which is unusual Plover, Little Ringed Plover and Kentish for the species, hunting orthoptera in Plover, Collared Pranticole, Black-headed their elegant flight. Before walking Gull, Gull-billed Tern, among other water uphill high enough to see the Laguna species. The section which leads to Dulce de Campillos, you will walk past Campillos takes you along the edge of an orangey-coloured building on your Laguna Dulce, where it is not uncommon right. This is a purpose-built structure for to see Black-winged Kite and Ferruginous the conservation of steppe bird species; Duck at the water surface, together with 164 BIRDWATCHING • GR-249 Great Path of Malaga F UENTE DE PIEDRA - CAMPILLOS 18 . many of the species mentioned at the breed it is worth viisiting in spring beginning of this section of Stage 18. to be able to enjoy the pink colour Among the many Coots present of the surroundings brought by the at this laguna, you may be able to thousands of flamingos. In winter, the see a few Red-knobbed Coots, which flight of Common Cranes also creates requires a careful search focused on a spectacle of great beauty. the diagnostic features of the species. Basically, the Red-knobbed has two red NATURAL VALUES nodules above the bill; the side of the bill The Fuente de Piedra is the biggest does not form a white wedge which in Andalucían laguna (shallow natural lake) the common Coot extends towards the nape. Migration periods are remarkable in this aquatic environment, but also in the fi elds around the lakes, especially as the Rollers appear. Finally, other species you can fi nd at Stage 18 are Common Shellduck and Eagle Owl; the latter can be detected easier by its call. TIMING The characteristic features of Stage 18 make it recommendable during the whole year, except for the hot- test months when temperatures can be very high around midday. During those years when the Greater Flamingo GR-249 Great Path of Malaga • BIRDWATCHING 165 18 . F UENTE DE PIEDRA - CAMPILLOS and second largest in all of Spain, with Montpelier Snake and Ladder Snake. The the surface of over 1200 hectares. It is an easiest to observe mammals are Rabbit, endorheic basin (a closed drainage basin) Hare and Fox, whilst you can also fi nd which means that its water comes directly signs and tracks of Badger, Genet, Stone from rainfall and from run-offs.
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