If you have ever read the entire manual of your digital camera, you may have come across the term 'operating temperature' somewhere. For most cameras, this is between 0 and 40 degrees Celsius. I do not expect freezing temperatures in the province of Cadiz, but today was a day where we reached the upper limit of this operating temperature. But it was just as hard for people as it was for the cameras.
A sensible look at the weather forecast the day before had taught me that it would have been unwise to go birdwatching in the afternoon. So I arrived at Playa de Montijo in Chipiona just after sunrise, when the temperature was still bearable. I knew that the water would be at its highest level at that time, so I expected the waders to be closer to the beach.
However, it was only after a few hours that I was able to observe and photograph the most interesting species. As the water receded further from the coast, I was able to move further to photograph, among other species, different terns. Following the example of the water level, the birds also moved further away from the coast. The most spectacular species was undoubtedly the Lesser Crested Tern, of which I found two specimens.
The Lesser Crested Tern can be distinguished from other terns by its large, orange-yellow bill. Both birds I saw let me approach relatively close, allowing me to take the photos below.
I actually managed to capture three species of different species of terns in a single photo, each ne sitting on a different rock off the coast: the Lesser Crested Tern, with a Little Tern in the background and also a Sandwich Tern.
Together with the Lesser Crested Tern I could also tick the Black Tern and the Roseate Tern off my life list. Together with the Common Tern, Sandwich Tern and Little Tern they provided a truly impressive diversity of tern species within a relatively small area.
The numbers of terns, and especially the Little Tern, were spectacularly high. Especially the photos of the birds in a group against the background of the blue sea were worth it. I cannot remember capturing so many terns in one photo, not even during a birding trip to the Levante beach in El Puerto de Santa Maria where the largest Little Tern colony in Andalusia can be found.
As always it was a pleasure to watch the terns diving to catch fish.
The terns were not the only birds looking for food. Among others, Kentish Plovers, Turnstones and Greenshanks were willing to be photographed while foraging.
When I noticed the water rising again, around noon, it was time to turn around. My shoes had only just recovered from an unpleasant surprise during a birding trip in the saltpans of Chiclana and I really didn't want to find myself unexpectedly standing in knee-deep water again.
Surrounded by so much birdlife it is easy to become almost unsuspectingly isolated on one of the 'islands' in the water. The difference between ebb and flow is easily one and a half metres.
On the way back to the coastline I passed a number of interesting species, including the Common Ringed Plover.
I reached the dry bank in good time, where the temperature was already much higher than at the spot where I had photographed the birds, almost surrounded by the fresh water. Even though the conditions here are far from ideal, this place almost always has a surprise in store.
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