Coot Red-knobbed 206 El Fondo 1912
Red-knobbed Coot - a more accurate name but less graceful than the previous moniker of Crested Coot. I had only ever seen a couple of distant individuals in Andalucia before. I had been on a disasterous to trip to Valencia where I was to photograpg birds at waterholes in this arid region. Unfortunately it has intermittently poured down for the last few weeks and didn't stop raining on any of my scheduled hide days. A quick change of plans took me to El Fondo Nature Park near Alicante where I got amazing views of over a dozen of these amongst Common Coot, Moorhen and Purple Swamphen. It is a great and very easy place to bird with lots of interesting species but, for me, these were the stars.
Coot Red-knobbed 206 El Fondo 1912
Red-knobbed Coot - a more accurate name but less graceful than the previous moniker of Crested Coot. I had only ever seen a couple of distant individuals in Andalucia before. I had been on a disasterous to trip to Valencia where I was to photograpg birds at waterholes in this arid region. Unfortunately it has intermittently poured down for the last few weeks and didn't stop raining on any of my scheduled hide days. A quick change of plans took me to El Fondo Nature Park near Alicante where I got amazing views of over a dozen of these amongst Common Coot, Moorhen and Purple Swamphen. It is a great and very easy place to bird with lots of interesting species but, for me, these were the stars.