December 3, 2008
Donana and Seville
I just got back from a wonderful 3 days in Seville, staying with some good friends who work for the Donana research station. On Saturday we explored the west side of the Donana national park as accessed from El Rocio.
The lagoon bordering the town was teeming with ducks, waders, hordes of Coot and Greater Flamingos...
... with a few Glossy Ibis in the mix.
We had special permission to enter the private area of the reserve, where Red-legged Partridge, Stonechat and Southern Grey Shrike were common roadside birds. Stopping off at another lagoon yielded a flock of wintering Greylag Geese.
One of many Red Kites that showed brilliantly throughout the day.
We visited the Palacio de Donana, now used as a field station for researchers. Clearly they are used to having birders visit!
An adjacent building offers panoramic views across the extensive marshland. A large number of Chiffchaffs were feeding in a loose flock in the low vegetation, behaving rather like wintering Yellow-rumped Warblers in the US.
Mammals were represented by a family party of Wild Boar (with a Marsh Harrier just visible flying over them)...
... and a group of Fallow Deer.
Young Juan was fascinated by scope views of the deer...
... and was happy to act as my scope caddy for the rest of the visit!
After a very late (but delicious) lunch we arrived at the Donana visitor centre. Azure-winged Magpies abounded in the car park, but were surprisingly tricky to photograph in the fading daylight.
A stork's nest on the visitor centre is currently frequented by Spotless Starlings and House Sparrows.
A quick peek out of one of the hides yielded a couple of Purple Gallinules.
The next day we explored the north-eastern section of the park. Much of the habitat was rice fields in various stages of flooding, and proved attractive to the three white egrets, Spoonbills, shorebirds (including a flock of Stone Curlews) and both Black and White Storks.
The highlight for me was finding a huge flock of wintering Cranes, containing many orange-headed youngsters.
An Osprey was busy devouring a fish on a roadside telegraph pole.
As it flushed we were able to watch it carrying the fish head first, with one leg behind the other, to minimise drag.
Passerines were represented by large wintering flocks of Meadow PIpits, Corn Buntings and Calandra Larks, along with a single flock of Spanish Sparrows (easy to overlook in their drab non-breeding plumage).
In spite of scanning through oodles of Coot during the day, we were unable to find any of their rarer Crested, or Red-Knobbed, cousins. We did, however, get to see some at a captive breeding centre. In addition to the red knobs, the grey-toned bill contrasting with the white shield, and the shape of the shield were distinctive. However, a great many Crested Coots are identified in the field by their white neck-collars!
On Monday I was left to explore the beautiful city of Seville. The cathedral tower apparently holds a Lesser Kestrel colony in the summer.
Even small areas of rough ground close to the city centre harboured Spotless Starlings, Hoopoe, and Crested Larks. The more manicured city parks held large numbers of Collared Doves and the introduced Ring-necked Parakeet.
Flocks of Chiffchaffs were working the city's famous orange trees.
A White Wagtail struts his stuff, toreador-style.
