Laguna Fuenta del Rey

Oh what a day! At Laguna Fuenta del Rey. In fact it was so good, we went there twice.

Situated on the outskirts of Seville, Fuenta del Rey is a 10-hectare natural environment and very much an oasis when compared to its surroundings. The area is relatively small but it is teeming with wildlife and the birds, as you will see from my images, are all within good sight. I really liked the hide shown below, but for those of you who enjoy more sophisticated seating there are 2 larger hides which you might prefer.

The reserve’s website says that it has “39 sedentary, 19 wintering and 18 summering bird species, and up to 50 nesting species” and that “the star of this lagoon is the glossy ibis, with a breeding colony of 300 pairs”. Coming a very close second, for us, has to be the little bittern. This was our first sighting of this elusive bird. We had no idea that there was one on the reserve but when this small bird surprised us and walked out of the reeds, there was no mistaking what it was.

It was also lovely to see small flocks of waxbill, greenfinch, starling and siren. We also saw kingfisher, flamingo, little egret, white stork, kestrel, avocet, little grebe, shoveler, purple swamphen, black winged stilt, swallow, crag martin, sandpiper, cettis and several other species and of course the terrapin.