Doñana and the South West:

Doñana February 17th 2010

• Two adult Spanish Imperial Eagles appeared in courtship flight over eucalypts beside the marshes western edge. The exhibition lasted for about half an hour, during which Robert did not separate his eyes from his telescope and binoculars. He cheered every dive and every trill of the eagles. There really are few things more spectacular in Doñana than this scene...José A. Sánchez reports for Discovering Doñana.

Donana November 2007

• The following morning we awoke to staggering scenes from our hotel balcony. Several hundred Flamingos were in view, along with thousands of Shoveler, (up to 4000 we estimated) and hundreds each of Egrets, Little Grebes, Black-tailed Godwits, Greylags and Coots. Red Kites and Marsh Harriers were dotted about the marsh...Colin Davies reports

Doñana 17th – 24th February, 2007

• We begin on the banks of the Rio Guadalquivir, near Trebujena, where the sun is shining and there are flowers and birds everywhere, singing as if full of the joys of spring. Crested Larks are whistling all around, Corn Buntings are jangling from every perch...Chris Hall reports

Donana in a Citroen C2 December 8th to December 10th 2006

• Raptors were everywhere, but the stars were six Black-shouldered Kites, five of which were seen shortly after leaving the village of Villamanrique. Wonderful birds, we watched them hovering and floating in the air like paper airplanes, amongst the best views I have ever had of the species...Colin Davies reports.

South West Spain excluding Donana 19th to 29th August 2006

• I spent most of my time around the Guadiana estuary, with a few excursions to Laguna de el Portil and Marismas del Odiel. It was an excellent area to visit at the end of August, because being tidal, there was lots of water around and it was unaffected by any drought....Colin Davies reports.

Southern Spain - Cota Donana and Grazlema 20 - 29th April 2005

• The spectacle of thousands of birds at El Rocio marshes from our hotel room, amazing views of Red-necked Nightjar on the road in front of the car, and stunning views in the mountains with raptors circling overhead were some of the highlights of 10 days spent in Southern Spain in April 2005....Alan Miller reports

Iberian Birding Trip to Faro, Portugal and Coto Doñana Spain 12th December – 15th December 2004

• We had an excellent trip and saw just a couple of species shy of 150 birds in those short winter days. Most of us had not been to any of the sites before. On Monday we had booked John Butler to guide us....David Arch reports

Going through 600 in Andalucia April 2004

• Looking at my Western Palearctic list last November I could see a big chunk missing which could be nicely plugged by a trip to southern Spain in late April.  When you've travelled like I have in the region the ticks come few and far between and the prospect of getting at least six in one week was too good an opportunity to miss...Andy Hall reports.

Doñana October 6 and 7, 2003

• On the second day, the highlight of the 2 Day Tour was to be witnessed at the recently harvested rice fields a bit to the north. Here were seen hundreds of Glossy Ibis and 3 separate flocks of Greater Flamingo that numbered 3000-4000 birds combined...Stephen Janko reports.

Andalucia, Southern Spain 10^th to 16^th June 2001

• This was not an "eyeballs out" birding trip as we were visiting friends who live near Estapona, also it was a little late in the year for the best birding in Southern Spain.  We spent the first three nights at our friends' villa near Estapona, two nights in El Rocio on the edge of the Coto Donana National Park and the last night back at the villa... Bob Newman and Diane Major report

Andalucia/Doñana 4-24 August, 2000

• Mick Farmer, holidaying in Spain, toured his way through Sevilla, Mazagon, El Rocio and Ronda, birding along the way. This is an account of what he saw.

Cota Doñana, Spain 2^nd - 5^th April 2000

• We visited Spain for a few days by driving from Portugal. We stayed at the Hotel Turuno, in the wonderful village of El Rocio, south west of Seville. Our hotel overlooked the flooded marsh of La Rocina, and many of the species seen at La Rocina bridge were also seen only a little less well from our hotel balcony......A report by Colin Davies

The Coto de Doñana National Park May '99

• Doñana is Spain's principle wetland area. Access is much restricted but there are excellent areas on the periphery where a representative selection of all of the birds can be seen: (John Jennings with additional comment from John J. Collins)