The Baltic, Eastern Europe and Spain 2017: How to Find the Flamingos and More..WOW

Not that I am obsessed, but I am obsessed on occasions when I know something is out there and I cannot find it. I always research before we go so as not to wander and get frustrated trying to locate an area that is known to have exceptional birds that I would like to see.

Thus....a funny story.

Deb, Trudi, Gail and I went to Jerez to see the famous Andalusian Horses a few days ago via the train from Cadiz. As our train was travelling between Cadiz and our destination, I kept my eyes scanning out the window watching for the elusive Flamingos which I have been told are here in the salt pans.

Nothing.....nothing.....nothing. But wait.....

As we are getting closer to the El Puerto de Santa Maria train station I see on the right side of the train tracks HUGE mountains of salt? Realizing that the Flamingos wade in the salt pans I am now on guard watching out the window.

OMG.......far out in the estuary are huge birds on long legs!!!!!!

I have found my Flamingos.

However, we are off to Jerez for the day and decide to make a plan to come back in a few days.

I hope....I hope....I hope....they will still be there.

"Have faith" I repeat over and over.

Back at the train station, a few days later, in the early morning....8 am....we say good-bye to our friends, Trudi and Gail, who are leaving Cadiz for a few days in Madrid before their flight home to Canada.

We purchase tickets, costing less than 7 euros for two adult tickets, and board the train heading to El Puerto de Santa Maria about half an hour away.

We do not see any Flamingos as our train is coming into the station. But I am not giving up.

We figure out how to get over the tracks, which is actually a left out of the train station, and a left under the over pass, and a right on the first dirt road we see.

Funny to see that we are actually in the Natural Park of Cadiz, which is the place we hiked through about a month ago and never saw one Flamingo.

The sunrise on the estuary and salt pans of El Puerto de Santa Maria.

Gorgeous.

Our first wee sighting of wildlife is an adult Eurasian Curlew. Thick in the mud finding his morning breakfast.

We cross over the bridge, and are treated to a view of the vastness of this incredible, protected, estuary.

Half way across the bridge I believe I see Flamingos.

There is a sign, it looks like a mountain bike trail, and we head down.

OMG!!! There they are! With the sun coming up behind them, they are beautiful silhouettes in the water.

I take many photos to ensure at least one in case they take flight.

And there he is....a Greater Flamingo in the flesh.

Incredible.

Curiously, they have friends hanging out with them, that are not flamingos.

(Below) . These are called Pied Avocet's.

They are a wading bird, with a black cap and a slightly curved beak, which gives them their name.

The Greater Flamingo is the largest of the Flamingo family.

Recognized by their pink colours and their interesting curved down beak.

Not easily seen on this photo, but they have piercing yellows eyes.

A juvenile Flamingo feeding along side a Black-Winged Stilt which we have seen in other parts of the Natural Park of Cadiz near San Fernando Bahia Sur.

Juvenile Flamingos are gray, and will not turn pink until about 3 years of age.

More wee Pied Avocet's priming their feathers.

As far as we could see, through the estuary and salt pans, we could make out the silhouettes of flamingos.

A guess would be that there was more than 50 of them.

Other birds sharing their space was this very patient Grey Heron. Curiously, a distant relative to the Flamingos. His wee friend is an Eurasian Oystercatcher.

A Greater Flamingo will lay one egg at a time. Incubated for up to 31 days. In the colony of Greater Flamingos, the eggs, and young, will be protected by guards in a nursery while the adults go to feed.

Greater Flamingos taking flight. I didn't even know they could fly?

A very social bird, they live in large colonies of sometimes up to 20,000 - 200,000 pairs!

Not the very best photo, but it does show the brilliant colours when the Flamingo takes flight.

A Kentish Plover scurrying through the thick mud for tiny insects and food.

A Black Winged Stilt. My wannabe Flamingo that we saw a month ago, is hanging out with the big boys here.

This beauty looks like our Cardinals and I believe he might be a Fledgling Cardinal.

The male Greater Flamingo is larger than the female.

Funny enough, their call sounds like a goose.

Over 5 feet is the length of their wing span!

Standing more than 5 feet tall!

.....and they can fly??

Although he looks a wee bit like an European Robin, this fellow is an adult Common Redstart.

He perfectly and patiently posed for me while I zoomed in on him for this photo.

I LOVE this photo of the Flamingos with their feathers all puffed up and gorgeous.

We are standing in the salt pans in the province of Cadiz.

'Las Salines' or salt pans are located all over this area. A traditional way of harvesting the salt from the ocean that has been carried out for centuries.

One of the only industries in Western Andalusia it produces over 40,000 tons of salt a year.

Herring Gulls sharing a breakfast snack.

Sharing means caring.

The harvesting of the salt is a win win for humans and wildlife. This is a gigantic habitant for a large variety of flora and fauna.

Harvesting happens still by hand, in some areas.

The Flamingos are actually white in colour but because of what they ingest; algae, shrimp, and other crustaceans, it dyes their feathers pink. It is the carotenoids in the shrimp that causes this effect. As a matter of fact, it is the exact reason why a raw shrimp is grey and a cooked shrimp turns pink....the carotenoids.

Another common term for the Greater Flamingo is Pink Flamingo...no explanation needed there.

Two adorable pink legged creatures sharing space together.

The little guy is a Black Winged Stilt.