Cerca del estanque también vimos otra mariposa y dos palomas.

Because de + el normally contracts to del in Spanish.

• de el estanque → del estanque
• This is a standard contraction, not optional.

So cerca del estanque means near the pond.

A useful exception: the contraction does not happen if El is part of a proper name, such as de El Escorial.

In Spanish, cerca normally works with de to mean near.

• cerca de la casa = near the house
• cerca del estanque = near the pond

So you should think of cerca de as a fixed pattern.

By itself, cerca can mean nearby, but when you say what something is near, you usually need de.

• Está cerca. = It is nearby.
• Está cerca del estanque. = It is near the pond.

También means also or too.

In this sentence, it tells us that seeing another butterfly and two pigeons is an additional thing that happened.

• Cerca del estanque también vimos... = Near the pond, we also saw...

Its position is flexible in Spanish, but different placements can change what is being emphasized. Here, placing también before vimos sounds natural and clear.

For example:

• También vimos otra mariposa... = We also saw another butterfly...
• Cerca del estanque también vimos... = Near the pond, we also saw...

Both are fine, but the original sentence highlights the location first.

Vimos is the preterite form of ver (to see) for nosotros/nosotras:

• yo vi = I saw
• tú viste = you saw
• él/ella vio = he/she saw
• nosotros vimos = we saw

The preterite is used for a completed action in the past. So vimos means we saw.

Because vimos describes a completed event: we saw something.

• vimos = preterite, a finished action
• veíamos = imperfect, more like we used to see or we were seeing

In this sentence, the speaker is listing things they saw at a particular moment or during a finished outing, so vimos is the natural choice.

In Spanish, otro/otra usually does not take un/una before it.

So Spanish says:

• otra mariposa = another butterfly

Not:

• una otra mariposa ❌

This is different from English, where another already contains the idea of an + other. In Spanish, otra by itself does that job.

Because mariposa is feminine, so the adjective must agree with it.

• mariposa = feminine singular
• otra = feminine singular form of otro

Agreement is very important in Spanish:

• otro estanque = another pond
• otra mariposa = another butterfly
• otros pájaros = other birds
• otras palomas = other pigeons/doves

Because Spanish often uses numbers directly with nouns, without an article.

• dos palomas = two pigeons/doves
• tres perros = three dogs
• cuatro casas = four houses

Adding an article would usually change the meaning:

• dos palomas = two pigeons/doves
• las dos palomas = the two pigeons/doves

So here, dos palomas simply introduces them as part of what was seen.

Because Spanish, like English, can join items in a list with y (and) without repeating everything.

The sentence means:

• another butterfly and two pigeons

Only the first noun is modified by otra. The second part, dos palomas, is a separate item in the list.

So the structure is:

• otra mariposa
  • y
    • dos palomas

It can mean either, depending on context.

In everyday usage, paloma may be translated as pigeon or dove. The exact English choice depends on the kind of bird and the situation.

So dos palomas could be:

• two pigeons
• two doves

If your translation says pigeons, that is perfectly normal.

Spanish often moves location phrases to the beginning of the sentence to set the scene.

• Cerca del estanque también vimos otra mariposa y dos palomas.
• También vimos otra mariposa y dos palomas cerca del estanque.

Both are grammatical, but the original version emphasizes where this happened first: near the pond.

This is very common in Spanish narrative style.