Great Bustard - east of Seville

[john c]

Garcia et al are a bit vague about where to look, but dies anyone have any tips for finding Great Bustard to the east of Seville. I know Exremadura would be better, but I'll be based in Cadiz province & don't fancy a long drive. Info about Little Bustard & both sandgrouse in the same area would be welcome!

John

[Hirundo]

Hi John, friends have seen Great Bustards in the area between Olivares and Jerena and Aznalcollar. Apparently, sandgrouse can be in this area too. Please let us know how you do.

[john c]

Thanks, Hirundo. I see the area you mention is to the north west of Seville. I'll be landing at Seville airport (which as I'm sure you know is to the east of the city) so was hoping to have as short a time to the target area as possible. Any further info or details would be most welcome, but if I can find out more about the area to the east I'll try there,

John

[john c]

Just for the record I had an afternoon looking for bustards in the Osuna/Lantejuela - no sign of either. I suspecxt recent local knowledge is the key. However, I did have 6 Roller in the area which was a surprise as the species isn't noted in Garcia & Patterson (3rd edition of which now covers Lantejuela area seperately),

John

[Colin Key]

John, You no doubt are aware of the "Rare Birds Spain" website ( http://www.rarebirdspain.net/home.htm ) which is run by Ricard Gutiérrez. You might like to try emailing him for information at GUTARB@nospam.hotmail.com (just remove the "nospam" from the address). This address is actually given on his website.

Assuming that he is not away somewhere, I am sure he will be able to help you.

At this time of year (post breeding) my own experience in Portugal (the Alentejo) is that Great Bustards are difficult to find even when you know there are flocks of 70+, not least because the vegetation is too high.

Colin

[john c]

Yes, indeed the "Rare Birds Spain" website is one I check regularly. That said I hadn't considered contacting the site for such info - thanks for the suggestion,

John

[Colin Key]

John, another source might be Andy Paterson ( http://birding-the-costa.blogspot.com/ ); although he is based in the south (Torremolinos) he is a great source of information on birding in Spain. I do not have his email to hand, but can probably get hold of it.

Andy contributes to the Yahoo "Western Palearctic Birds" group - if you are not a member you should sign up! I will attempt to find the link.

Colin

[Colin Key]

This might work: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/WestPalBirds/

Colin :smile: