Watch the moment a flamingo surprised beachgoers on the south coast of Spain

Jennie Rhodes

La Herradura

Friday, 25 August 2023, 09:32

A young flamingo appeared on La Herradura beach (in Andalucía's Granada province) on the morning of Wednesday 23 August, surprising beachgoers.

It was a swimmer who first noticed the bird near the shore. She picked it up and took it to the lifeguard post, where Granada's Centre for the Recovery of Endangered Species (CREAS) was notified.

The flamingo, which didn’t have a tracking device, was put in the first aid station facilities until CREAS professionals arrived, so that it wouldn’t be disturbed by curious onlookers.

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According to a representative from CREAS Granada, which is located on the antigua carretera de Sierra Nevada, km. 7 between Pinos Genil and Cenes de la Vega and who SUR in English spoke to on Thursday 24 August, the flamingo is recovering well and has no injuries, although it was dehydrated, weak and slightly underweight when it was brought in to the centre.

They added that the bird would stay at CREAS for some time until staff are happy that it has fully recovered from its ordeal, before being taken to a lagoon with other flamingos.

The representative went on to say that although they don't know where it had come from as it wasn't tagged, flamingos are struggling to find water sources due to the drought and they believe that this young bird had probably been separated from its mother after becoming tired during a journey to look for water.