Complejo Endorreico de Espera

This complex comprises three lakes, Hondilla, Salada de la Zorrilla and Dulce de la Zorrilla, fed by rainwater and the odd subterranean aquifer. It is part of a larger complex, the Complejo Endorreico de Lebrija-Las Cabezas Nature Reserve, home to Cigarrera, Pilón, Peña, Galiana, Taraje and Charrozo Lakes, as well as swamps and dried-up lakes.

The diversity of materials that comprise this area form varied, undulating relief, from open valleys to round-topped hills with gentle slopes, occasionally more rugged. This varied landscape comes from the fact that this is where sediments from the Guadalquivir River basin meet the hard, old rock of the Bética Mountains.

The water level in this wetland area varies greatly between seasons. The lakes are left all but dry in summer, even Salada de Zorrilla, which is by far the largest. The vegetation in and around the water make this an alternative habitat to the Guadalquivir and Doñana marshes for many bird species. This is why it has been designated a Special Birdlife Protection Area and European Place of Interest.

If you follow its signposted trail, you will see a band of vegetation around the lakes with reeds, bulrushes and Bunium incrassatum, completed by rushes and tamarisk on some of them. Moving away from the water you can see Mediterranean scrub with mastic, wild olive and palmettos, and, beyond these, pastureland and open crops, mainly wheat and sunflowers.

There are hides positioned on each lake, from which you can see two endangered species, the coot and the white-headed duck. This is a preferred mating ground for them. Other birds that come here to reproduce or nest are the pochard, mallard, gadwall, red-knobbed coot, swamphen and black-necked grebe. A large number of anatidae can be seen in winter and during migration, such as the common stork and the flamingo, which is staying on until summer more and more frequently.

This landscape provides shelter for other species such as foxes, hares, a range of snakes, Mauremys leprosa, ocellated lizard, etc.