Friday 2 May
No sooner do I gt my posting u to date that John's report reached me. Too late for the day as I had been working on the above and it was well past my bed time so here I ma at just after 6 on the morning after getting all completed before setting out on my next venture via, once more, the SEO Bird Fair at the Dehesa de Abajo. Now to John's report:
Doñana Day Two 2nd April 2014
A much cooler day today due to a very nice breeze.
We started off quite early for the Valverde centre and that was the
first mistake, the sun was in our eyes up to the point of gaining one of
the access roads leading to the centre.
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| Bee-eater (PHOTO: John Wainwright) |
Our first sightings were of huge number of Bee-eaters, they were on
the power lines, the fence posts and any small twig that could bear
their weight. Then Black Kites appeared then followed two Red Kites, and
a pair of Mallard took off as we drew up to take photos of the Spanish
Sparrows that were littered over the track and in the tamarisk bushes.
Naturally the pylon tops had its ubiquitous owner in the shape of a
White Stork -most of these nests had youngsters in too. A few House
Sparrows and lots of Corn Buntings were about, as well as Cattle Egrets
and Spotless Starlings. Down the track we found Ravens and Buzzards
interspersed with the odd Montagu´s Harrier (male and female were seen),
Short-toed Eagle, a Booted Eagle and a huge number of Griffon Vultures
were noted in the distance. Melodious and Cetti´s Warblers called from
the bushes and two Woodchat Shrikes were heard then seen.
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| Spanish Sparrow (PHOTO: John Wainwright) |
Over and above the fields four Collared Pratincoles were harassing a
Black Kite, which had probably ventured into their nesting areas, and
two Stone Curlew poked their heads out to see what the noise was about –
otherwise we would not have seen them.
Having a dust bath were a few more Spanish Sparrows in company with
two Short-toed Larks and a Calandra Lark, whilst two Zitting Cisticolas,
“zitted” overhead. Also above we saw Barn and Red-rumped Swallows,
House and Sand Martins and five Pin-tailed Sandgrouse flashed past.
Passing another rather dilapidated field of sunflowers, another two Stone Curlews flew away on our arrival.
The irrigation canals were either very full or had little or no
water in, but we did find Blue-headed Yellow (iberiae) and Grey Wagtails,
Black-winged Stilts, Grey Herons, as well as a female Marsh Harrier.
We stopped at one of the bridges to try to get pictures of the Great
Reed Warblers and was told of a breeding pair of Marbled Teal in that
area, which we subsequently picked up. Also around here we saw an
Osprey, another Booted Eagle, a Common Kestrel and a Whinchat.
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| Whinchat (PHOTO: John Wainwright) |
As we passed a quite long length of water meadow we disturbed at
least seventeen Purple Herons, Spoonbills and a Squacco Heron, while
further across the meadows we found Little Egrets, Glossy Ibis, more
Spoonbills and two Purple Swamphens. As we approached the Valverde
centre a Quail called from the meadow to our left.
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| Purple Heron (PHOTO: John Wainwright) |
At the centre the trees were alive with nesting Glossy Ibis, Cattle
Egrets, Grey Herons and a pair of Night Herons. More Purple Swamphens
were seen here, as well as Common Coots, Moorhens, Greater Flamingos,
Little Grebes, a Pochard, Mallard, more Purple Herons, Spotless
Starlings, Collared Doves, Wood Pigeons and Cetti´s Warblers.
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| Night Heron (PHOTO: John Wainwright) |
On the return leg of the trip only six Lesser Kestrels were seen -
which is a very low count - also three Greenshanks were spotted on a
small flooded area as well as a good number of Blue-headed Yellow
Wagtails (iberiae) and a pair of Gadwalls.
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| Greenshank (PHOTO: John Wainwright) |
After a rest we ventured down to the marismas in El Rocio, here Bob
Wright found us and while we talked he pointed out a Pintail, also about
were Greylag Geese, Spoonbills, Common Magpies, Black-winged Stilts,
House Martins, Barn Swallows and the Great Reed Warbler was heard from a
reed bed. Apparently the Spanish Imperial Eagle has changed nest site
and therefore we had no info of where he / they roosted overnight.
I shan´t be sorry to get my boots off tonight after a very long day (but very enjoyable) birding session.
Looking forward to seeing John and jenny later this morning so that we can track down the Black-headed weavers at the far end of the Deheas de Abajo lake and the, for me, it looks my turn to follow the above journey.
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