More Rice Paddies and wetlands.
Day Five with Abby Turner from New York, USA.
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| Western Osprey (Águila Pescardora / Pandion haliaetus). |
We headed out from the very smart Cortijo Los Naranjos where we had comfortable night and a good breakfast. Our first stop was just down the road at what in a wetter year would have been one of the many Lagoons of Espera but the only one we reached was dry but not a total waste of time as we picked up a
Black-winged Kite (Elanio Común / Elanus caeruleus) which was sat in a Tamarisk tree on the far shore.
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| Spoonbill (Espátula Común / Platalea leucorodia). |
We also picked up the first
Reed Bunting (Escribano Palustre / Emberiza schoeniclus) of the trip along with
Corn Bunting (Triguero / Emberiza calandra),
Common Stonechat (Tarabilla Común / Saxicola torquata),
Spanish Sparrow (Gorrión Moruno / Passer hispaniolensis),
Red-legged Partridge (Perdiz Roja / Alectoris rufa),
Common Kestrel (Cernicalo Vulgar / Falco tinnunculus) and a fly over
Peregrine Falcon (Halcón Peregrino / Falco peregrinus).
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| Glossy Ibis (Morito Común / Plegadis falcinellus). |
From here we went up to Braza del Este where we worked the tracks around a large area of Rice Paddies some of which were being harvested and covered in hundreds of
White Storks (Ciguena Blanca / Ciconia ciconia), large numbers of
Grey Herons (Garza Real / Ardea cinerea),
Little (Garceta Común / Egreeta garzetta),
Great White (Garceta Grande / Egretta alba) and
Western Cattle Egrets (Garcilla Bueyera / Bubulcus ibis), singles of both
Squacco Heron (Garcilla Cangrejera / Ardeola ralloides) and
Greater Flamingo (Flamenco Común / Phoenicopterus roseus) and several
Spoonbills (Espátula Común / Platalea leucorodia).
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| White Stork (Ciguena Blanca / Ciconia ciconia). |
Smaller birds feeding amongst the watery fields included
Meadow (Bisbita Pratense / Anthus pratensis) and
Water Pipits (Bisbita Alpino / Anthus spinoletta),
Common Chiffchaff (Mosquitero Común / Phylloscopus collybita),
White Wagtail (Lavandera Blanca / Montacilla alba) and
Collared Doves (Tórtola Turca / Streptopelia decaocto). On the furthest fields before we went up on to the large bank we saw
Black-headed (Gaviota Riedora / Larus ridibundus) and
Lesser Black-backed Gulls (Gaviota Sombria / Larus fuscus), a couple of flocks of
Glossy Ibis (Morito Común / Plegadis falcinellus) and the first of quite a few
Marsh Harriers (Aguilucho Lagunero Occidental / Circus aeruginosus). Along the tracks we also saw large numbers of
Red-veined Darter (Sympetrum fonscolombii) and both
Lesser (Anax parthenope) and
Blue / Common Emperors (Anax imperator).
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| White Stork (Ciguena Blanca / Ciconia ciconia). |
Once we were on the bank we motored along until we reached the main track through the site near the large sluice gates and the started to check the fields and ditches again and the first birds seen were a couple of very nice
Black Storks (Ciguena Negra / Ciconia nigra). We continued on to the first area of water and parked on the track side and checked the two areas of water.
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| Narcissus serotinus. |
We soon had new species for Abby including 2 female
Eurasian Wigeon (Sibón Europeo / Anas penelope),
Eurasian Teal (Cerceta Común / Anas crecca), a pair of
Northern Pintail (Ánade Rabudo / Anas acuta),
Gadwall (Anade Friso / Anas strepera),
Mallard (Anade Azulón / Anas platyrhynchos),
Little (Zampullín Común / Tachybaptus ruficollis) and
Great Crested Grebes (Somormujo Lavanco / Podiceps cristatus), 2x
Western Ospreys (Águila Pescardora / Pandion haliaetus),
Purple Swamp-hen (Calamon Común / Porphyrio porphyrio),
Eurasian Coot (Focha Común / Fulica atra),
Common Moorhen (Gallineta Común / Gallinulas chloropus) and a couple of calling but unseen
Water Rails (Rascón Europeo / Rallus aquaticus).
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| Narcissus serotinus. |
We moved down to the second area of water where the commonest species were
Black-winged Stilt (Ciguenela Común / Himantopus himantopus) with at least 100 birds in a single flock on the margins along with a few
Ruff (Combatiente / Philomachus pugnax),
Green Sandpiper (Andarrios Grande / Tringa ochropus) and several
Snipe (Agachadiza Común / Gallinago gallinago) which were only seen as the flew in and jumped around in the thick marginal vegetation. On the water there were a few
Glossy Ibis,
Common Pochard (Porrón Común / Aythya ferina),
Great Cormorant (Cormorán Grande / Phalacrocroax carbo) and when a female
Marsh Harrier flew over the reeds it flushed out a cracking pair of
Marbled Ducks (
Cerceta Pardilla / Marmaronetta angustirostris) which dropped quickly in to the reeds but we eventually got good enough views of them for them to go on to the green list.
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| Red Kite (Milano Real / Milvus milvus). |
Unfortunately a pair of Ferruginous Ducks (Porrón Pardo / Aythya nyroca) did not get passed the amber list as the floated with there heads under their wings for the whole time we were there and could not be seen well enough for a tick to go on the list. In the same area we did however also see or hear
Black-headed Weavers (
Tejedor Cabecinegro / Ploceus melanocephalus) but only females,
Spanish Sparrows,
Penduline Tit (Pájaro Moscón / Remiz pendulinus),
Kingfisher (Martin Pescador / Alcedo atthis),
Great White Egrets and
Northern Shovelers (Pato Cuchara / Anas clypeata).
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| Fallow Deer (Dama dama). |
We moved on along the track but added nothing new so we put the Satnav on again and headed over to the other bank of the Guadalquivir into the Donana proper, we drove across country to the ferry across the river at Coria del Rio and I was surprised it was just €3:10 one way with a car and only took a couple of minutes. Once we were across we drove back down the far side of the river and had a mediocre lunch at the bar at Venta del Cruce before checking the
White Stork nest at an old quarry / working where e tried some digi-scoping with Abby's camera.
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| Fallow Deer (Dama dama). |
In the area we had good numbers of
Northern Lapwings,
Glossy Ibis,
Black Storks,
Lesser Black-backed Gulls and lots of
Egrets of 3 species.
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| Hoopoe (Abubilla / Upupa epops). |
We again moved along the road a short way to the large lake called Cañada de la Rianzuela where we scanned the water from a couple of points along the road seeing several hundred
Greater Flamingo's, hundreds of
Northern Shovelers,
Gadwalls,
Mallards,
Common Pochards,
Eurasian Coots,
Little and
Great Crested Grebes,
White-headed Duck (Malvasia Cabeciblanca / Oxyura leucocephala),
Red-crested Pochard (Pato Colorado / Netta rufina) and in the reeds several
Reed Warblers (Carricero Común / Acrocephalus scrpaceus),
Blackcap (Curruca Capirotada / Sylvia atricailla) and
Common Chiffchaffs.
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| Greylag Geese (Ansar Común / Anser anser). |
We moved on from here and drove the long track down towards the Centro José Antonio Valverde where we saw many of the same species we had already seen but got
Red Kite (Milano Real / Milvus milvus) from Abby's amber list up to green along with nice views of
Great White Egret, several clumps of the beautiful
Narcissus serotinus a new plant for my plant list and a family group of
Fallow Deer (Dama dama). Once we reached the Visitor's Centre we parked and had a look from the building and had views of
Gadwall, a male
Eurasian Wigeon,
Greylag Geese (Ansar Común / Anser anser),
Eurasian Teal,
Eurasian Coot,
Common Moorhen and a male
Ferruginous Duck which disappeared before Abby got on to it properly.
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| Short-toed Eagle (Culebrera Europeo / Circaetus gallicus). |
Next we went for a drive along the road a little further passed the centre out into the field which in wet years are pools but were dry. We did however see a good number of
Greylag Geese,
White Wagtail (Lavandera Blanca / Montacilla alba), a photogenic
Hoopoe (Abubilla / Upupa epops), masses of
Red-veined Darters,
Lesser (Anax parthenope),
Blue / Common (Anax imperator), at least 2 of the less common
Vagrant Emperors (Anax ephippiger) and some croaking
Perez's Frogs (Rana Común / Pelophylax perezi).
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| Peregrine Falcon (Halcón Peregrino / Falco peregrinus). |
We returned to the center hoping the
Ferruginous Duck was on show but it remained hidden so we decided to head for the hotel near Villamanrique as time was pushing on. Instead of retracing our way back along the track we had come on we took a different route which payed off nicely as just a short way into the drive we had two
Short-toed Eagles (Culebrera Europeo / Circaetus gallicus), more
Fallow Deer, an immature
Peregrine Falcon which sat nicely on the top of a pylon, a flock of
Common Cranes (Grulla Común / Grus grus),
Common Buzzard (Busardo Ratonero / Buteo buteo) and
Black Redstart (Colirrojo Tizón / Phoenicurus ochruros) which was sat on a post just a we approached the hotel along the sandy tracks on the edge of town. We settled in to our rooms and then later had a walk in to the Pines nearby.
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| Common Cranes (Grulla Común / Grus grus). |
We heard and saw
Iberian Magpie (Rabilargo / Cyanopica cooki),
Little (Mochuelo Europeo / Athene noctua) and
Tawny Owls (Cárabo Común / Strix aluco),
Robin (Petirrojo Europeo / Erithacus rubecula) and
Blackbird (Mirlo Común / Turdus merula) before heading back for some Tapas and another good nights sleep.
