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| The Tabla de la Patata, Picón. |
Near our new house and guest accommodation in Picón the River Guadiana flows by about 500 metres down the road. You can go down the main road to it where the Marsh Harriers fly about or you can take the small country dirt road to the Tabla de la Patata, or Potato Pond which is an open stretch of the river where there are picnic tables, a barbecue enclosure, and places to go fishing. It’s a very pleasant area frequented by the locals on their afternoon walks, fishing outings and family get togethers. It’s so calm and peaceful down there.
Before you get to the Tabla, there is a large floodplain where the many streams from the hills congregate before joining the Guadiana which always has a variety of birdlife. In the shot above you can see the Guadiana entering from the left as it heads off North and then from the right through the trees come the streams from Picón onto the plain. It is this wet, rich green area in the middle of the shot where a lot of birdlife gathers. Over the last few days I have seen Black Stork, White Storks, Grey and Purple Herons, Little Egrets, Great Egrets, Black-winged Stilts, Pied Avocets, Lapwings, Greenshanks, Common Sanpdpipers, Common Snipe, Marsh Harrier, Common Kestrel, Common Coots, Moorhens, Cettis Warblers, Swallows and Martins, Common Kingfisher, Zitting Cisticola, House Sparrows and Spanish Sparrow by the hundreds, Stonechats, Corn Buntings, Stone Curlews in the fields higher up, Blue Tits, Great Cormorants, Northern Shovelers, Mallards, Eurasian Teal, overflying Griffon Vultures, a massive Wild Boar, and a raucous frog chorus as the sun sets.
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| Looking downstream at the Tabla de la Patata, Picón. |
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| Pair of rainbows over the Tabla de la Patata, Picón. |
At the Tabla these days, due to the rains, it’s very lush and the colours yesterday were beautiful with a pair of rainbows at one stage. It’s also a good spot as I said for family gatherings, picnics and barbecues, however we might have to wait until the waters go down again before we can use the tables. The barbecue enclosure though is right next to the water now and is an ideal ready made hide for photographing Kingfishers and friends.
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| The ducks picnic table, Tabla de la Patata, Picón. |
Contact Oretani Wildlife for guided birding, wildlife and flora tours in Montes Norte and Castilla La Mancha, in central Spain. We´ll provide the picnic as you soak up the nature.
