The Camargue

The Camargue was rather spoilt by the weather, it was blowing a gale,overcast and cool when I arrived and the following day it rained until mid-afternoon. I met a Belgian couple who were leaving for Spain having had 10 days of poor weather. They have spent a month in the Camargue at this time for the past 10 years and this is the worst weather they had experienced.
Consequently it didn't feel much like Spring and it looks like the weather has held the birds back. There were no marsh terns in sight and although I had my first Nightingale, Willow Warbler and Pied Flycatcher at the lovely La Capeliere Reserve migrants were hard to find. I did manage a nice portrait of Fan-tailed Warbler there, along with Cetti's these are the two most conspicuous passerines in the area.

Fan-tailed Warbler

I stayed 2 nights at Saintes Maries-de-la-Mer on the Med coast but visited most of the recommended sites on the Camargue.
There were plenty of Greater Flamingos and much more confiding than in Spain allowing me to get some nice close up shots of this remarkable bird.

Greater Flamingo preening

Marsh Harriers and Black Kites were on show for much of the time but I didn't see any other birds of prey.
Highlight for me was a party of about 25 Slender-billed Gulls sat together preening on one of the lakes. The breeding adults looked superb with the pink cast to their breasts.

Slender-billed Gulls

When it was very windy there was a large movement of Sandwich Terns along the Med coast and also on the Camargue itself, several thousand birds must have been involved and I only saw a handful the following day when the wind had reduced a bit.

I did see Coypu which is an animal I have not encountered before, I don't know where the original animals came from but they are apparently well establish, the Carmargue obviously providing similar habitat to their native South America.

Coypu

I left the Camargue this morning and paid a visit to La Crau, it's an area of flat grassland that holds Frances only Little Bustard and Pin-tailed Sandgrouse. It was still very windy so I didn't venture on to the plains but checked the canal which borders the Peau De Meau Reserve but without success, looks like I've had it for Melodious Warbler.
I'm heading for the Alps next and will have a look for the birds I missed by not going to the Pyrenees.

Huelva

We have spent a couple of days exploring the Huelva area, particularly the Odiel Marshes bordering the town but also El Portil (where we based ourselves) with a brief trip to Castro Marim on the border in Portugal.
The most obvious birds in the area are the Greater Flamingos with hundreds on the various pools, including El Portil, Castro Marim and the Isla Cristina area, which we passed through, but the best views and biggest numbers were on the Odiel Marshes.

Greater Flamingo

This is also a good area for Spoonbill although they tend to feed out of sight in the various creeks across the marsh for much of the time. Little Egrets were common and we saw several Great White Egrets.

Spoonbill

The pool by the visitor centre had around 50 Red-crested Pochard each morning but most left the pool during the day. There were plenty of Coot but I didn't managed to find any Crested Coots. Yellow-legged Gulls were regular visitors to the pool but the only terns I saw were Sandwich Terns feeding along the estuary channels.

Red-crested Pochard - male

Waders were reasonably plentiful with flocks of over 100 Dunlin and similar numbers of Grey Plover and Black-tailed Godwit with small numbers of Redshank, Greenshank, Avocet, Common Sandpiper and Whimbrel.
Birds of prey were in low numbers with just a couple of Marsh Harrier, several Osprey (which are using the nesting towers provided for them) and the occasional Griffon Vulture passing overhead. 

Marsh Harrier - adult male

No sign yet of any Montagu's Harriers and passerines were in low numbers with what I presume are resident Corn Buntings, Fan-tailed Warblers, Sardinian Warblers and a few Chiffchaff. 

Sardinian Warbler - male

I searched for European Chameleon but without any luck, is it too early I wonder?
Overall it felt like Spring was not really underway here yet.