Our first day proper of our 7 day tour of Coto Donana & Extremadura! We set off from Gaucin at 9am and headed north west through the Libar valley towards Ronda and Sevilla. We stopped several times to look for montane species and soon we were rewarded. Blue Rock Thrush, Griffon Vultures, Black Redstart, Crag Martin, Red-billed Chough & Spanish Ibex, were all seen in the valley just above Benaojan. There was also a steady stream of Meadow Pipits passing overhead.
Thekla Larks - near Montejaque
We stopped next along a track just passed Montejaque, this is one of my favourite walks having the most beautiful scenery. We watched several Black Wheatears, lots of Griffon Vultures, Thekla Larks, Willow Warblers, many Chiffchaff, brief views of Cirl Bunting and another Sparrowhawk. We stopped to talk to a hunter as he returned from his morning's killing spree, he had 3 dead Quail hanging from his belt and was very proud to tell us where he shot them!!
We still had a long journey ahead of us so we set off in earnest for Sevilla only stopping for a picnic just before entering the city boundary. Some 30 minutes later we were passed sevilla and back into countryside on the outskirts of Donana. we turned off the autovia and stopped at a pine forest near Hinojos. Birding was hard but we managed to see Crested Tit, Short-toed Treecreeper, Blackcap, Azure-winged Magpie, Raven and a Chiffchaff.
El rocio was our next stop, with the sun behind us the light was terrific to scan the Laguna Madra de la Marismas. Despite the birds being quite far off, due to the water level being a little on the side, we still managed a good list. A few hundred Greylag Geese were joined by hundreds of Shoveler, dozens of Greater Flamingos, little & Cattle Egrets, Pintail, Wigeon, mallard, Coot, Lapwing, Ruff, Ringed & Little Ringed Plover, Common Sandpiper & Black-winged Stilt. We walked south along the fence and looked from the old bridge where we added Meadow Pipit, White Wagtail, Common Snipe, Avocet, Zitting Cisticola & Kingfisher. As we returned to the car park we saw 37 Griffon Vultures climbing the late-afternoon thermals, a Pied Flycatcher and several Stonechats.
The drive to our final destination, Matalascanas, was along a fast straight road but we saw more Azure-winged Magpies, Common Buzzard, Black-billed magpie, Corn Bunting and a possible Southern Grey Shrike.
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