The Costa del Sol is renowned the world over for its glitzy night clubs, fine golden beaches and 300+ days of sunshine, but Andalucía is also home to an astonishing number of bird species. The region has long been favoured by natural history enthusiasts across Europe as a fabulous place for bird watching. For those owning a holiday home in Marbella or Malaga the Laguna de Fuente de Piedra in the north of Malaga Province is perhaps the best place to watch flamingos in their natural habitat.
The Fuente de Piedra Natural Reserve is situated ca. 19 km distance from Antequera. Its lagoon is the largest natural lake in the Iberian Peninsula, measuring 2.5 km in width and 6.5 km in length. Here bird watchers can look forward to spotting more than 170 different species of land-based and aquatic birds.
This area is particularly popular for its amazing flamingo population, whose pink beaks, feet and feathers are the reason why locals call the lake “the Pink Lagoon”. Laguna de Fuente de Piedra attracts the second largest colony of flamingos in Europe, after the Carmargue region in France. It is, in fact, the only inland site on the Continent where flamingos breed. Every spring, thousands of flamingos settle here to meet a mate. They prefer shallow waters with a high salt content as their favourite hunting grounds and that’s exactly what this lagoon offers them.
Seasonal Troubles
In winter the lake’s water levels swell with rain water, enlarging the lagoon’s circumference to ca. 15 square kilometres. In summer, the lake dries out almost completely, leaving little more than a puddle of mud, forcing aquatic birds to search for food as far away as Doñana National Park.
Located at the Cerro del Palo, just off the Sierra de Yeguas Road that leads out of Fuente de Piedra village, the visitor centre provides budding natural historians with a wealth of background information on the lake and the area’s flora and fauna. Tour guides take groups of visitors out into the reserve when the lake is brimming with water - but this year, the preferred spots near the Mirador de Cerrol del Palo and places along the walking route Sendero de la Vicaria won’t bag bird watchers armed with binoculars and cameras the expected number of bird species, for the lake is seriously lacking in water.
Reduced Rainfall
Lack of rain has kept water levels low but so far this hasn’t impacted on the number of birds arriving for breeding. The winter census shows 35,797 birds of 25 different species have already come to the reserve – and 4,700 of them are pink flamingos. That number is close to what the colony was last winter, when water levels were similarly sparse. Only around 23 centimetres of water remain in the lake at present, not quite enough to feed flamingo parents and their hungry offspring.
According to Manual Rendón, the reserve’s director, the birds require water levels of around 300 litres of rain per square meter before they get down to business and start courting. At present, the shortfall comes to ca. 130 litres.
“We experienced similar figures to this in 2006 and the flamingos that were here still reproduced. However, in other years this has not been the case,” explained Manuel Rendón, adding that breeding may depend on this spring’s rainfall, but the birds are able to adapt.
“Flamingos are birds that can adapt well to natural circumstances in terms of strategies and biological reproduction; they are long-lived creatures, in that they live for more than 50 years. They need water for reproduction but also drought for breeding. They can travel up to 200 kilometres in search of food.”
The lagoon is also home to crane birds, ducks and the lesser black-beaked gull. Fuente de Piedra Lagoon is part of an international network of wetland reserves, where flamingos were able to recover from a serious drop in numbers, after decades of persecution by salt producers who wanted the birds off their lakes.
How to get to Fuente de Piedra Natural Reserve
If you want to see this “pink invasion” for yourself, take the A45 north of Malaga and follow the A92 towards Seville. Fuente de Piedra lagoon is next to the exit for the village of Fuente de Piedra. The information centre is situated between the lagoon and the village. To take in the amazing sight of all 4,700 birds, take the MA454 road to Sierra de Yeguas from the village, as it circumvents the lake, offering the best photo opportunities en route.
An alternative route is to take the Cordoba or Seville train to Malaga and get off at Fuente de Piedra station, from where it’s a short 500 metre walk to the visitor centre. There is a local camping ground which overlooks the lake, where one can either arrive with one’s own tent or caravan or rent wooden cabins.
If you haven’t bought a holiday home in Marbella or Malaga yet, there are alternatives; a few B & Bs offer overnight accommodation locally. Finca Carihuela, a lovely converted farmhouse, is situated 5 km distance from Antequera. Humblebee Home is also a good choice: it lies about 3 km distance from Valle de Abdalajis. For more luxurious accommodation try either the hotel in Funte de Piedra, Antequera’s hotel or stay at La Casa se la Fuente in nearby Villanueva de Algaidas.