Waterbirds

A free theme for this week's SMAP contest! Thanks @nelinoeva, this makes it easier! 😁

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For this edition I made a roundup of some of the waterbirds I've seen in Doñana National park, in Spain. Although the park was a lot more dry than I was hoping for, there were still a few wetlands with tons of wildlife. And the waterbirds started appearing even before I got to the water part!

^{Eurasian spoonbill - Platalea leucorodia}

The spoonbill is a bird I normally don't see on dry land, but this one was roaming this field, alone. Although not the usual scenario, they're unmistakable: big bird, white plummage... and as the name implies, a beak shaped as a spoon! Truth be told, the water wasn't that far away.

Maybe he was tired of all the noise and decided to relax in quieter grounds. Because as I reached the water, birds were all over the place. Just look how crowded this tree was!

This is one of the reason why I enjoy visiting these habitats so much, the diversity of species in the same place. And among the foliage near the water, spotted a species I rarely see:

^{Black-crowned night heron - Nycticorax nycticorax}

These herons have a bulky body, and sexes are alike. This one was in a typical upright position, preening while trying to blend in with the environment. Fortunately I spotted another one out in the open.

The smooth colours, with the dark top of the head and back and white/grey body only appear in the adults; juveniles are brownish and with patches before molting to the cooler adult plummage.

More commonly found, even in urban parks, the coots were swimming around as well.

^{Coot - Fulica atra}

And a little further away, a couple was just exiting the water.

I'm assuming it was a couple, but just like the previous species, there's no way to tell sexes apart here. Neither in this next species, one that it's also hard to see around these parts!

^{Great white egret - Ardea alba}

Their are very similar to the little egret (Egretta garzetta), white with black legs, but they are a lot bigger, almost the size of the grey heron!

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Although escaping from the title a bit, I'll throw in a couple of birds of prey that I've seen on the way back! It's always great to see them, especially when they can be observed perched, and not flying high above.

^{Comon kestrel - Falco tinnunculus}

The couple was chitchatting on top of a chimmney, probably cursing at the tourists disrupting their dating time.

As for the black kite, it was an introspective moment, contemplating the landscape.

It's amazing the amount of kites I can watch in Spain; they can be observed in Portugal as well, not that they are uncommon here; but it seems that I soon as I cross the border, their number increases tenfold. Not that I'm complaining, more photo opportunities! 😉

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