Wednesday 30 April
With the special
Bird Fair to commemorate the sixtieth anniversary of the saving of the Donana and foundation of the Spanish Bird Society SEO (Sociedad Espanaol de Ornitologia) due to start tomorrow and run for up to four days at the Dehesa de abajo Visitors centre to the north of the Donana National park, I managed to book i at a very reasonable price in the
Hotel Lince in the small town of Aznalcazar. A question really of how to sped the first day travelling to the far west and where to stop on the way?
In the event I was driving up to the car park at
Fuente de Piedra just before 9am and enjoying the sight of so many
Curlew Sandpipers still in residence along with a good number of
Little Stints. The flooded filed is rapidly drying up but there were still both
Avocet and
Black-winged Stilts along with
Dunlins,
Little Ringed and
Ringed Plovers. Even a good number of
Coot had joined the party to see what food was still on offer. Over the water numerous feeding
Barn Swallows so I parked up and made my way across the boardwalk to try and get some closer pictures with the sun behind me. A few more
Dunlin,
Curlew Sandpipers and both small
Plovers but the best sighting was the fleeting double appearance of a
Water Rail.
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| Purple Swamphen Calamon Porphyrio porphyrio |
Returning to the laguneta behind the Visitors Centre via the lower path I could not help but notice the thousands of
Flamingos. A
White Wagtail put in an appearance as did
Spotless Starling,
House Sparrow and
Jackdaw. On the back pool, apart from a couple of
Little Grebe, most of the ducks were
Common Pochard but also a good number of
Red-crested Pochard, a few
Mallard and
Shovler plus a single male
White-headed Duck. Returning to the mirador overlooking the main water I had a
Corn Bunting singing from the top of a bush immediately below me along with a
Nightingale to the side. The nearly dry scrape produced a couple of
Turnstone whilst
Moorhens wandered about and
Gull-billed Terns started to appear. In addition to the
Hoopoe at the rear of the sight I also found a small group of
House Martins and a couple of
Cattle Egrets.
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| Some of the fifty plus Sand Martins Avion Zapador Riparia riparia were quite restless |
Time to set off for the eastern bank of the mighty Guadalquivir and a visit to the that wonderful birding area know as the
Brazo del Este. The journey was not without pleasure as it produced first a
Common Kestrel the
White Stork followed by
Black Kite,
Buzzard, a single
Raven and a couple of good-sized flocks of
Common Swifts. Perhaps not the best time of the year to visit this site as all the fields as far as you could see in every direction were brown and bare having been ploughed and, mostly, also harrowed ready for the planting of the next rice crop. No shortage of
Crested Larks on the track and the occasional
Grey Heron drifting over but the birds came as I reached the respective water holes and streams. There is certainly no doubt as to where many of our local
Black-winged Stilts and
Purple Swamphens are residing.
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| Glossy Ibis Morito Comun Plegadis falcinellus |
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| Spoonbill Espatula Comun Platalea leucorodia |
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| Purple Heron Garza Imperial Ardea purpurea |
These pools held not only the above but a good number of
Glossy Ibis, a
Spoonbill, many
Mallard and
Black-headed Gulls plus feeding
Whiskered Terns overhead. Again, no shortage of either
Cattle or
Little Egrets and the a couple of
Purple Herons. having been amazed to come a cross a hundred or more
Sand Martins gathered on the wires, I was rather taken by surprise when a lone
Squacco Heron dashed out from the bank below me. Stopping a the same trees as last year I was rewarded by a beautiful male
Black-headed Weaver, but just the one as far as I could see and well hidden in the branches most of the time. Below the tree a
Reed Warbler was busy singing for his supper and a lonely
Lesser Black-backed Gull rested in the dried-up canal. The opposite side produced a
Yellow Wagtail of the Iberian race along with a couple of
Linnets and then it was off towards Sevilla leaving all the
White Storks bust feeding in the neighbouring fields. The last birds to be recorded before leaving these dry fields was a group of about thirty
Collared Pratincoles.
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| The very active Whiskered Tern Fumarel Cariblanco Childonias hybrida |
Taking the usual journey towards
El Rocio via Isla Mejor, I was able to stop at the
Cattle Egret heronry and also find a number of
Night Herons sharing the estate. Just a hundred metres later I had first a
Red Kite followed by a
Black Kite in the sky to my immediate right but, at that particular moment, the camera battery gave up the ghost which necessitated a stop at the next opportunity to make the necessary change. A
Woodchat Shrike was followed by a couple of
Buzzards and then a small feeding flock of
Bee-eaters. Approching
El Rocio I had first a couple of
Common Magpies then regular appearances of individual
Azure-winged Magpies. Time to head out of "Sand City" with a
Blackbird and
Marsh Harrier for company but driving towards
Aznalcazar through the trees an added bonus when a
Great Spotted Cuckoo decided it was tome to fly across the road giving me an excellent sighting.
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| Nigh Heron Martinete Comun Nycticorax nycticorax keeping watch at the heronry |
So, to the Hotel Lince with a final tally of
63 species for the day.
Birds seen:
Mallard, Shoveler, Red-crested Pochard, Pochard, White-headed Duck, Little Grebe, Cattle Egret, Little Egret, Glossy Ibis, Grey Heron, Purple Heron, Squacco Heron, Night Heron, White Stork, Spoonbill, Flamingo, Red Kite, Black Kite, Marsh Harrier, Buzzard, Kestrel, Water Rail, Moorhen, Purple Swamphen, Coot, Collared Pratincole, Black-winged Stilt, Avocet, Little Ringed Plover, Ringed Plover, Little Stint, Dunlin, Redshank, Turnstone, Black-headed Gull, Lesser Black-backed Gull, Gull-billed tern, Whiskered Tern, Rock Dove, Collared Dove, Great Spotted Cuckoo, Bee-eater, Hoopoe, Common Swift, Crested Lark, Sand Martin, Barn Swallow, House Martin, Yellow Wagtail (Iberiae), Nightingale, Blackbird, Reed Warbler, Woodchat Shrike, Azure-winged Magpie, Magpie, Jackdaw, Raven, Spotless Starling, House Sparrow, Goldfinch, Linnet, Corn Bunting, Black-headed Weaver.
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