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| A Report from birdtours.co.uk |
Doñana, October 6 and 7, 2003,
Did a two day Birdwatching Trip on October 6 and 7,
2003 as part of a generalized trip through Spain. The Bird Watching Tour was
led by John Butler of Doñana
Bird Tours. Trip was primarily in and around the national park as well as
some more outlying areas of the Northern Marshes.
Resources used included "Where
to Watch Birds Southern and Western Spain" by Ernest Garcia and Andrew
Patterson; and "Birds of Europe" published by Princeton University
Press.
On the first day, I was picked up by John from Seville as was arranged at shortly
after 9:00am. The destination that day was El Rocio located on the northern
perimeter of the park. Throughout the day, saw a good variety of birds including
many on my list including White and Black Storks, European Spoonbill and Great
Crested Grebe. Several Raptors were seen as well including both Red and Black-shouldered
Kite, Marsh Harrier and Common Buzzard. Much of the area was still dry as a
result of the drought that affected much of Europe during the month of August.
There were areas with water though and in these places, wader were abundant.
Numerous species of herons and Egrets were seen as well as smaller waders including
Northern Lapwing, Ringed Plover, Snipe and many Black-winged Stilts. Overnighted
in the Toruna Hotel on the periphery of the El Rocio Marsh.
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. There were also huge numbers of Lesser Black-backed Gulls, countless
Stilts and many herons and egrets as well. One of the most unusual birds seen
was a male Golden Bishop Weaver Bird. He was chasing after a pair of females.
The day ended with John returning me to Seville after 2 invigorating days of
birdwatching. My birdwatching wasn't completely over though. For that night,
I observed numerous Lesser Kestrel flying about the cathedral and Ghirlando.
The following night after spending a day exploring the city of Cordoba, searched
the area around the Puento Romano Bridge. Saw Gray Heron, a pair of Moorhens,
Grey Wagtail and Common Kingfisher.
Species List:
Unless otherwise specified, everything is in the Doñana Region.
Great Crested Grebe
Little Grebe
Great Egret
Cattle Egret
Little Egret
Black Crowned Night Heron
Grey Heron
Purple Heron
Squacco Heron
European Spoonbill
Glossy Ibis
White Stork
Black Stork
Greater Flamingo
Greylag Goose
Mallard
Northern Shoveler
Northern Pintail
Red Crested Pochard
Yellow Legged Gull
Black Headed Gull
Lesser Black Backed Gull
Osprey
Red Kite
Black Shouldered Kite
Short-toed Eagle
Marsh Harrier
Common Buzzard
Booted Eagle
Kestrel
Lesser Kestrel-In Cordoba
Purple Swamp-hen
Common Coot
Moorhen-In Cordoba
Black Winged Stilt
Ringed Plover
Northern Lapwing
Ruff
Snipe
Black-tailed Godwit
Spotted Redshank
Redshank
Greenshank
Wood Sandpiper
Green Sandpiper
Common Sandpiper
Little Owl
Barn Owl
Hoopoe
Crested Lark
House Martin
Barn Swallow
Yellow Wagtail
Grey Wagtail-In Cordoba
Bluethroat
Stone Chat
Whinchat
Northern Wheatear
Zitting Cistacola
Pied Flycatcher
Southern Grey Shrike
Blacck Billed Magpie
Azure-winged Magpie
Jackdaw
Raven
Spotless Starling
European Tree Sparrow
European Goldfinch
Corn Bunting
Cetti's Warbler,
Common Kingfisher-In Cordoba
Golden Bishop
Stephen Janko
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