Yet every cloud has a silver lining!
As I mentioned in my last post about the house it’s been wet here in La Mancha. So wet that the weather people say we’ve had 20% more rain this year than last year. It really is a feast or a famine here as during the spring last year we had so little rain farmers were beginning to cut crops whilst still green just for fodder and others lost quite a bit. The grape and olive harvest was also reduced. And yet the aquifer under la Mancha, Aquifer 23, which provides water for both the Tablas of Daimiel and a lot of agriculture, was in superb form from the rains 2 years ago. Well, it should be getting even better with this recent rain. The Tablas will be assured to be full and under water for quite some time which is excellent news. The effects of the rains are very visible on all the fields around the area and any at the foot of hills have streams coming down through them.
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| The Raso of Picón |
Picón is at the foot of such hills, being surround on pretty much three sides. Therefore a lot of water has fed it’s normally small stream that passes alongside our house. This stream then flows through the Raso, a flat commonage area, where it’s joined by a myriad of other seasonal flows.
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| The Arroyo de Picón at one of the fords |
After it passes the Raso in Picón, it flows on around some copses of oak and onto a flood plain where it eventually joins the Guadiana, about 500 metres from the village. This floodplain at the moment is a great spot for waders and ducks at the moment. Just the other day, between showers I was down there watching Snipe, Ruff, Common Sandpipers, Great and Little Egrets, White Storks and Mallards. Marsh Harriers overfly this area also near the roosting cormorants in the trees. As I was watching a Wild Boar trotted across the fields and into the reeds.
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| The Guadiana looking downstream |
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| The Guadiana looking upstream |
The Guadiana is also now in full flow due the the Vicario dam letting off water as the reservoir has reached it’s maximum. Thus the river is from bank to bank and flowing fast.
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| The Vicario Dam |
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| The Vicario Dam |
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| The Vicario Dam |
So don’t waste this opportunity to visit La Mancha and see the fruits of the rains. The Tablas de Daimiel will be full, the orchids will be spectacular, bird life will abound, dragonflies will be flying everywhere, and the countryside will be emerald green mixed with the vivid colours of the wildflowers. Spring will be beautiful. Life will be good.
Join us for our guided birding, wildlife and butterfly tours in La Mancha, Spain with Oretani Wildlife.
