This was our transfer day from the Tarifa area to Coto Donana, I was looking forward to getting away from the windy conditions. Alas the wind followed us most of the day and only died down once we reached El Rocio.
It took an hour to reach Laguna Medina and boy was it windy there! We found some shelter along the track and in the hide but it was still uncomfortable. We found all 3 grebe species, great-crested, little and black-necked, there was also Shoveler, gadwall, Pochard, red-crested Pochard and mallard. In the reeds and scrub many birds were singing but they were keeping very low because of the wind. We did see however, great reed warbler from the hide, Sardinian warbler and a few finches.
DUNLIN, CURLEW SANDPIPER AND LITTLE STINT
The strange looking MOLE CRICKET
Bonanza was fantastic some of the pans were completely covered in birds and as the tide was rising more came in from the river. The majority of the species were dunlin and curlew sandpiper both species looking great in their summer garb. They were joined by sanderling, little stint, ringed, little ringed and Kentish plover, all in good numbers. Smaller numbers of grey plover, redshank, greenshank and common sandpiper were also present whilst the bigger waders, avocets and black-winged stilts were everywhere. The highest number of slender-billed gulls that I have ever seen was also there, 300 was probably an underestimate! But greater flamingo numbers were very low with less than 50 seen.
We drove along the bumpy track through Algaida woods, nothing much was seen in the wood but above it there was many black kites, booted eagles and the occasional red kite, we did see a couple of nice things, a rufous common cuckoo, flashed across the track in front of the bus, we saw it land but couldn’t relocate it and a booted eagle was seen standing on top of a dead rabbit, the bird was reluctant to move and stayed quite a while whilst being mobbed by black kites that were after the booty!
The traditional place for marbled duck did not let us down as we found two of them very close to the road on Trebujena Marshes, they looked superb from close quarters. The laguna also held red-crested Pochard, common Pochard, gadwall and mallard. In the adjacent marsh we found Eurasian Spoonbill, grey heron, and lots more waders all of the same species as earlier. Huge numbers of hirundines were skimming the windy surface, barn swallows, house and sand martins were joined by the occasional common swift. On and above the fields of scrub we found many yellow wagtails, marsh harrier and more black kites.
The drive through Sevilla went by quickly as the roads were fairly quiet and within an hour we were approaching El Rocio. The ubiquitous Azure-winged Magpie dashed in front of us in small groups, we also saw common raven, common buzzard, jackdaw and many corn buntings.
EL ROCIO - TAKEN BY CONOR FINCH
The huge laguna at El Rocio was almost barren of birds, the quietest I have ever seen it. The odd greater flamingo, a single Eurasian spoonbill, a few mallards, gadwall, Shoveler and common pochard were dotted around and a good number of black-winged stilts and that was it. Flying over us we saw black and red kites, griffon vultures and booted eagles.
MARBLED DUCK - BY CONOR FINCH
We arrived at our hotel in Matalascanas at 5:30pm and were allocated 4th floor rooms with sea views, what a lovely place. The wind had finally died out and sea looked fairly calm. Half an hour of sea watching produced 3 Great Skua, Arctic Skua, Common Gannet, Balearic Shearwater, Sandwich Tern and lots of yellow-legged Gulls. Small parties of distant waders went unidentified.
Dinner was self service with a huge choice on offer and the bar provide a couple cold beers, that’s a fitting end to a long day’s birding!
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