Visitor Center José Antonio Valverde (Laguna de Fuente de Piedra) — Attraction in Fuente de Piedra

January with a full lagoon, and fewer insects!

The lagoon is fed by underground water. When the water table drops through drought and pumping for irrigating the surrounding crops, the lake level drops too.

But in January the lake was brim-full, and loads of wildfowl all around. The famous flamingos were just taking on their brightest pink tinge, ready for the breeding season. The reason that I know that is thanks to the excellent (although unheated!) Visitors' Centre which was very informative. It also has good lavatories - ASEOS is what you look for.

Binoculars would be useful. As the lake was so large, even walking some way the flocks of birds were some distance off.

When you drive into the site having driven through the little town of Fuente de Piedra, on the left is a sign saying Disabled Access - Acceso para discapacitados. We ignored that and drove to the right, thinking it meant wheelchair access to the centre, avoiding a step or two. It's more than that as the carpark on the right has a whole flight of steepish steps; you might prefer the other access with a stepless walk to the centre.

What surprised me about the whole site was the large number of "ordinary" birds, by which I mean not waterfowl. I guess that the water to drink, and above all the number of insects around encourages them.

Which brings me to my final point - I guess some insect repellent would be useful in the...

La Laguna de Fuente piedra es un lugar muy recomendable para visitar. Consta de un humedal formado por una serie de lagunas en la que podremos encontrar diversas especies de aves destacando por supuesto el flamenco con sus mil tonos de color rosado. La visita cobra mayor valor si se va equipado de unos prismáticos ya que las aves se encuentran a relativa distancia. El centro de visitantes cuenta con un edificio principal en el que hay una exposición audiovisual de gran interés. La entrada es gratuita. Ya en el exterior encontramos una serie de senderos que nos llevarán a diversos miradores para poder observar las aves en su propio habitat. Se trata de un paraje natural con múltiples senderos muy agradable de pasear. Existe un amplio aparcamiento en el centro de visitantes para poder dejar el coche totalmente gratuito. Citar solamente que el nombre del centro visitantes se debe al famoso naturalista español José Antonio Valverde que a modo de curiosidad os diré que es considerado como el padre de Doñana ya que impulso la creación de un espacio protegido para el citado parque natural. Os dejo unas fotos para que podáis apreciar la belleza del lugar sin...

This is just an amazing place to visit when the flamingos have arrived to nest and raise their young from about Februrary until August, when the young are ready to fly. The displays are very informative and interesting! The whole area with its trails and observation shelters makes for a great visit! Bring water, a snack, binoculars and a hat and...