Another river mouth, that of the River Piedras, is the site of the Piedras Estuary Sea Marshes and El Rompido “Arrow” (Sandy Spit) Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.
The sediment which the river washes downstream, the tides and the wind from the south west make this spot a unique place. It's located in
Cartaya and
Lepe and measures
2,500 hectares, within which two ecosystems can be differentiated: a spit of sand parallel to the coast, over 12 kilometres in length, which grows Eastwards over
thirty metres every year and on which there is a virgin beach; and the salt marshes. In this area grow plants such as small cordgrass, sea-heath, jonquil, sea rocket,
southern birdsfoot trefoil, sea daffodil, broom, scarlet pimpernel and Portuguese thyme.
It's a very good area for birdwatching. The white stork, Montagu's harrier, the stone-curlew, the little grebe, the hoopoe, the common spatula, the black-winged stilt,
the marsh harrier, the collared pratincole, the little tern, the pintail, the red-crested pochard, the oystercatcher, the Sandwich tern, the dunlin, the plover, and
the black-headed gull, are some of those that are found there. Also notable is the presence of the chameleon, and of marine animals such as fish (sargo fishes,
two-banded sea bream, sea bass, eels...), crustaceans, and molluscs such as the coquina clam and the fine almeja clam.
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