Overgrown clot hide

[sunseekers]

I was out last week and went to the clot in the hope that the flamingoes were still there and just to show my friend. When we got to the hide (entered the clot at the narrow pedestrian entrance just past the carabassi bars and turned right), to the hide we always use, tried to look through to the water and all we could see were overgrown reeds and grasses completely obscuring the view. Does anyone know why and if it will be cleared.
Hazel

[Mark Etheridge]

Just to be clear Hazel, are you talking about the scrape hide (the first one you come to just off the path about 50 metres from the entrance you used) or the main pool hide which is further along? The flamingos were on the main pool, although last time I was there two weeks ago they weren't about - they may have moved down to the marshy area around the big central civil war bunker, which is where I last heard them. They will be very difficult to see if they are in that area.

The scrape hide has long been a disgrace - it was completely cleared at the beginning of the year, but the reeds have been allowed to grow unimpeded which is not the way to present the wildlife of the Clot to the interested visitor. Although Spanish conservation efforts have come on in leaps and bounds over the past few years, the authorities still don't seem to have grasped the fact that you can't just leave areas like this to become choked, you need to actively manage them with clear areas as well as denser growth to support a wider variety of wildlife. It's a pity because I know there are interesting birds in that area which you just can't see!

You'll find more about the flamingos in next month's GA Advertiser.....

[sunseekers]

Thanks for the reply mark, I don't know what they are individually called, it's the one nearest to the office building and picnic park that I went to. I went in the very narrow pedestrian entrance with the poles and turned right, I had a friend out for the first time, so we just popped in quickly, my husband and I when we are out normally use this hide and have enjoyed the wildlife we have seen there and normally go in the big gates by the park and tour the clot paths in a circle before getting to it, but will definitely go to the other one next time if it's bigger and clear, it's such a shame as it wouldn't take much to keep the hide viewpoint clear and I have seen someone going around the clot in a little electric car. To help me identify them can you tell me which hide it was that we went to, as I thought it was the big one, we have looked down on it from the viewpoint up the hill on the other side of it if that helps identify it.
Thanks Hazel

[Mark Etheridge]

Here's a map which I have adapted for you showing the side entrance and the two hides, hope it makes things clearer.

[sunseekers]

Much appreciated Mark, looking at that, now I know the pool hide is the one my husband and I use when we go, very pretty and nicely shaped, we normally go in the big gates for access reasons, my husband is a wheelchair user, and walk all the way around the back, passing the viewpoint which looks down on it on the way. This time I was out with a friend so used the pedestrian entrance and I thought I had gone to the hide my husband and I normally use, but I could be wrong because of going in a different way, and being completely unable to see anything because of the amount of reeds and grasses completely obscuring any view at all, I can't verify what we normally see from there.  Looking forward to next times advertiser to see what you say about the flamingoes, and many thanks to Barry and Sandra too for that.

Hazel