Our last day of the tour with a few new species.
Donana and Extremadura tour Day Eight.
At Pena-falcon. |
We were up and out fairly quickly after breakfast and made our way south on a cross country route to a site where we were going to be looking for more Bustards and Sandgrouse, on the way we passed the Embalse de Zújar and in an area of broom scrub we made a stop after I had a male Black-eared Wheatear (Collalba Rubia / Oenanthe hispanica) flew across in front of us. We parked and eventually found another bird perched and added Common Stonechat (Tarabilla Común / Saxicola torquata) and a little further along the road our first Stone Curlew (Alcaraván Común / Burhinus oedicnemus) of the trip with a Little Owl (Mochuelo Europeo / Athene noctua), Hoopoe (Abubilla / Upupa epops), Great Spotted Cuckoo (Crialo Europeo / Clamator gladarius), Common Magpie (Urraca / Pica pica), Western Cattle Egret (Garcilla Bueyera / Bubulcus ibis), Calandra Lark (Calandria / Melanocorypha calandra), Lesser Kestrel (Cernicola Primilla / Falco naumanni) and White Stork (Ciguena Blanca / Ciconia ciconia).
Just before we arrived at the spot we were heading for we stopped on the road side and watched fine male and female Montagu's Harriers (Aguilucho Cenizo / Circus pygargus), Roller (Carraca / Coracias garrulus) and a couple of Little Bustard (Sisón Común / Tetrax tetrax) which flushed up just for a moment and dived back in to a crop field.
In the North of the Doñana. |
We found the track we were looking for and drove to a nice high point and scanned the fields and by the time we had finished we had found 14 Great Bustards, two more Little Owls, male and female Little Bustards chasing each other and Ravens.
Time had moved on very quickly which meant our next stop was to be the Airport at Sevilla where Mike Langley and I said goodbye to Mike H, Pam and John, Judy and Linda and saw them off in to the Airport. Mike and I then hit the road again and called in at Fuente de Piedra on our way down to Malaga Airport but it was much quieter than on the way out but we did see Common (Andarrios Chico / Actitis hypoleucos) and Curlew Sandpipers (Correlimos Zarapitin / Calidris ferruginea), Dunlin (Correlimos Común / Calidris alpina), Little Stint (Correlimos Menudo / Calidris minuta), Black-winged Stilt (Ciguenuela Común / Himantopus himantopus), Avocet (Avoceta Común / Recurvirostra avosetta), Eurasian Coot (Focha Común / Fulica atra), Common Moorhen (Gallineta Común / Gallinulas chloropus), Mallard (Anade Azulón / Anas platyrhynchos), Gadwall (Anade Friso / Anas strepera), Gull-billed Tern (Pagaza Piconegra / Gelochelidon nilotica), Greater Flamingo (Flamenco Común / Phoenicopterus roseus), House Martin (Avión Común / Delichon urbica) and Barn Swallow (Golondrina Común / Hirundo rustica).
Lunch stop in Monfague. |
From here we went just down the road to some pine woodlands and had a walk adding Dartford Warbler (Curruca Rabilarga / Sylvia undata), Serin (Verdecillo / Serinus serinus), Woodchat Shrike (Alcaudón Común / Lanius senator), Common Crossbill (Piquituerto Común / Loxia curvirostra), Common Chaffinch (Pinzón Vulgar / Fringilla coelebs), Iberian Green Woodpecker (Pito Real / Picus sharpei), Spotted Flycatcher (Papamoscas Gris / Muscicapa striata), Greenfinch (Verderón Común / Carduelis chloris) and Blackbird (Mirlo Común / Turdus merula).
We dropped down the motorways to Malaga and made our last call at the western seawatch point at Guadalhorce and soon started to find interesting species including Sanderling (Correlimos Tridáctilo / Calidris alba), Ruddy Turnstone (Vuelvepiedras Común / Arenaria interpres), Kentish (Chorlitejo Patinegro / Charadrius alexandrinus) and Little Ringed Plovers (Chorlitejo Chico / Charadrius dubius), Black-winged Stilt, Yellow-legged Gull (Gaviota Patiamarilla / Larus Michahellis), Little Egret (Garceta Común / Egreeta garzetta), 2x Little Terns (Charrancito Común / Sternula albifrons) and Monk Parakeet (Cotorra Argentina / Myiopsitta monachus).
At the central Visitors center. |
Once Mike repacked his back we made our way to the Airport and said goodbye before I headed off and dropped the Van off before Jayne picked me up and we went home.
The species total ended up at 175 which included some cracking species which we had great views of. Thanks to the group for making this a memorable trip with their hard work and great company.
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