Play
blue blade between the olive trees. It hides, it appears, gets to hide. It faces two olive trees, slips away. Play with our eyes like a mirage. And not just today. Lake La Ratosa comes and goes with the seasons. Deep blue in spring and winter. Brown patch in summer and autumn. It is an area changing, mutable, subtle and delicate, fragile. Bulle life now. Clucks, chirps, hisses, rumors, whispers, fluttering, steps, splash, diving ... All of them compose the soundtrack, a natural symphony that human beings in time with the distant murmur 
of tractors, flowing fast and unusual AVE. The red soil, dark, in sharp contrast to the blue lagoon, with the pale green of the olive trees, the fluttering pink and white flamingos. We already have the soundtrack and the color palette. Now you just have to let go. Narural Park of Laguna de la Ratosa
Ratosa The Lagoon Nature Reserve was declared in 1999, his
features make it special. It is fragile, is in a highly cultivated man, was subjected to the whims of the seasons, emptied almost entirely in summer, regenerating his life in the winter and spring. It is also relatively small, with 24 hectares and its origin is in the drain causing natural groundwater aquifer. Its location between the cities of Alameda Humilladero and, within the Malaga province, bordering the Seville, makes its ecosystem suffer the rigors of summer heat 
to evaporate its contents until it almost disappears. This led to the Laguna de la Ratosa only has a small strip of rushes and reeds and, thus, no birds to nest in the vicinity, being a transit and food. Because of these singularities, access into the lagoon is strictly prohibited except for research purposes, and we need a permit for the Environment access. But this circumstance is only for experts, laymen will enjoy walking along the border much 
outside of the lagoon surface. We testify. Even with all the Ratosa Lagoon is part of a larger ecosystem which include, besides her, the lagoon of Fuente de Piedra, the Campillos and Archidona, which must be added, such as door entrance to the peninsula from Africa, the mouth of the Guadalhorce. The walk, the silence and life
We parked the car next to the label of the lagoon of the Castanets. There we get a cloud of butterflies white, blue dragonfly, flitting along the banks of the lagoon. The soil is a deep red. After leaving the car we heard some squawking. Training of ten flamingos flying in vee us flies. Beat their wings with a soft cadence slow, rhythmic. They are very close, just be scared by our presence. Rotate in the air and cave in the shade of the trees. Observe carefully and distinguish water swimming on it to the first inhabitants of the Ratosa. In the lagoon one can distinguish up to fifteen different birds, among which are the great crested grebe, 
black-necked grebe, little grebe, heron, cattle egret, flamingo, eagle harrier, moorhen, coot, stilt, avocet, such as laughing gulls and the dark, or whiskered terns piconera. Walk. Silence is a tool and an ally. Lagoon bordered with olive trees, we welcome two or three sprayers working on domesticated olive trees, walked in silence. Is this the only way to catch all the subtle sounds that surround us at every step a splash in the water, a dive, a hiss.
glimpse of green rings of a snake fled from the main road, a yellow lizard almost half a meter long cross just five steps, a rabbit standing, motionless, static, in the foliage around the lagoon. From time to time we stand and serve, we look in more detail and what appeared before us still moves with subtlety, in a unique dance and secret. Swaying reeds and cane, suggesting the blue surface of the lagoon.
walked down a path of earthen used by tractors, road almost forms a natural perimeter around the lagoon. A corner and behind it, hidden in the tall grass bordering a group of white flamingos, large peak, the flaring pink. We got our binoculars and observe carefully. We took the camera and threw a couple of photos. Fear scare. We walked slowly, slowly, quietly. As we approach them, move on water, without fanfare, without an explosion of flapping wings, swimming smoothly. Slowly away, fine. A heron 
pecks the bottom of the water with them. We walked and the lagoon behind a vast field of daisies, lilies and poppies framed by the usual olives. We see in the distance, the AVE, as a smooth appearance, quiet and shooting across the skyline. The aromas are subtle, sweet, fresh. Deep breath. We approached the shore everything that allows the reddish mud that surrounds the lake. We see more aquatic coots, black, white peak, swimming in vee followed by their chicks. Liban
lilac butterflies and daisies and poppies and flying here and there
in an apparently erratic. Blue dragonflies buzz over cereal plantations. But there is more, we do not see that we did not observe, but we know it is there, submerged, and that is as pointed Visitor's Window: The lagoon is Ratosa floristic interest due to the richness of species submerged vegetation and the presence of rare and endangered Althenia orientalis, aquatic plant living in shallow bottoms.
In parts of the lagoon cleared
a, along the shore and given the brackish waters, are remains of white salt flakes, as a warning the proximity of the summer heat, the short life of the times, its existence whimsical and fragile, subtle. Walk. Farewell silent. Still. We try to blend into the environment. Nothing happens at first. Then, little by little, life is back
their routines outside the human presence and begin to hear a new clucking, a rhythmic flutter, the buzz of dragonflies, a trill hidden among the trees and the subtle hiss of a snake , the cracking of branches, the rustle of the reeds, the sound of crickets, our breath ... to be part of the fauna of the Ratosa. Links and tips
Links: We take as reference the website of the Tourist Board the Costa del Sol and the website of the Government of Andalusia, Visitor window. To learn more about the municipality in which lies the lagoon of the times, you can visit the link in the blue sky for Alameda .
Time: The best time to visit the lagoon is Ratosa between the months of February and June, below the gap changes due to evaporation and it is a broad sheet of water in spring is transformed into almost a summer salt and autumn.
Photo: shown in this section is a complete collection of photographs to post.
Location: This Google map can reference the exact location of this natural area, located between Alameda , Humilladero and Seville town of Roda de Andalucía.
View Blue Sky Color "Natural de Málaga" in a larger map
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