Day 1
Sadly, the weather in Málaga is far from what we wish, showers and overcast. After greetings at the airport, we drive for about 1 h to our hotel in Huétor Tájar, in the province of Granada.
By 13:00 we have devoured our lunch and set off with the 4x4 to Loja. As soon as we reach the forest an inquisitive Red squirrel shows up and remains on view for few minutes. We continue driving to our first stop near the quarry where we get Firecrest, Short-toed Treecreeper, Dartford Warbler and a superb Spanish Ibex well spotted by Jenny.
We keep ascending and noting down some excellent birds such as Black weather, 50+ Red-billed Chough, Little Owl, Thekla Lark and Iberian Grey Shrike among others. A bit farther up, the visibility becomes very poor and starts raining so we have to turn back to the hotel. On the way down the hills, we strike it lucky when we find in the mist a chirping flock of 50 Rock sparrows feeding in a meadow. Soon, we bump into a flock of 60 noisy Azure-winged Magpies! Finally, we reach the town and head off to the hotel to warm up with some fine local wine.
Day 2
Again, the weather is miserable, clouds and rain during all day. Pau knows that Jenny would love to see some Stone Curlew, so they take a stroll along a local path near Huétor finding Lapwings, Grey Wagtails and a group of 20 Stone Curlews. Jenny is amazed when she finds out that there are 200 more Stone Curlews in a feather field. It is wonderful to see here so many of this scarce bird in Britain!
Later we drive for few minutes to another field where Pau hoped to see another interesting bird he located 2 days before. Luckily, a flock of 43 Little Bustards mixed with some Golden Plovers are in the same spot! It is fantastic to see these birds which sadly are becoming rarer every year. After a proper lunch in Moraleda de Zafayona we continue driving along the farmland seeing Corn Buntings, Cetti’s Warbler and other common birds.
Day 3
After breakfast, we set off to Seville to pick Clare and Margaret up and drive to El Rocio. After check-in, we decide to go for a big meal and buy some time hoping the rain to stop. While we wait to be served, we make good use of the superb views of the dining room watching Spoonbills, Greater Flamingos and Black-winged Stilts. After finishing lunch, we walk along the promenade adding a stunning male Bluethroat which makes all us forget about the previous weather. Later, a sneaky Coot hidden in the reeds catches the eye of Pau and after following it, it turns to be a Red-Knobbed Coot!!! That is fantastic! The rest of the afternoon is spent in La Rocina, watching Red-Crested Pochard, Firecrest and Short-toed Treecreeper.
Day 4
What a day! Finally, the weather was on our side! We head off to the North part of the Park (surroundings of Valverde). As soon as we hit the road, we see a party of Azure-winged Magpies. Once we get into the farmland surrounding the marshes, we get our first Common Cranes flying. Later, we encounter the small population of resident Lesser Kestrel which seems quite happy spending all winter in Doñana.
We carry on driving to the lunch spot, finding on the way Griffon Vultures and an incredible Black Vulture on the ground that is stretching its massive wings. Superb!
Lunch is followed by a Hoopoe on the fence which keeps everyone busy with the camera. After facilities and coffee, we continue towards La Dehesa stopping every few minutes because of the abundance of bird life!!! Up to 6 Blacked-shoulder Kites, 5 Black Storks, Greenshanks, hundreds of Glossy Ibis…
Pau is told that there are around 20000 birds in La Dehesa and although we know it, we are impress by the numbers and variety of wildfowl! The paddy fields opposite to La Dehesa are plough, attracting large numbers of birds. We see Dunlin, Redshank and a pair of Marsh Sandpiper! Good finding. In addition, we can see some distant paddy fields with several 100’s of Greater Flamingos.
Day 5
We spend all morning in the Odiel Marshes. The mud plains are packed with waders. Around the visitor centre we get Black-tailed Godwits, Dunlin Little stints among other birds. On our next stop near the mouth of the river we add a Temmick’s Stint, Grey, Kentish and Ringed Plover, Whimbrel, Curlew and a few species more. An incredible variety!
We continue driving when we are surprised by a flock of 11 Stone Curlew. Before lunch, we find on the main channel a group of Audouin’s Gulls, a Sandwich Tern and one Osprey. Odiel Marshes have been the first and more successful reserve in Spain that has carried out a hacking project for Ospreys.
Today we arrive a bit earlier to the hotel after a very intense birding yesterday.
Day 6
After breakfast, we go again on quest of the male Bluethroat. Margaret and Jenny are very keen on this bird and would like to have a last look before leaving. After 1 h looking for it we get very nice views of this gorgeous bird. With no more time to spare, we set off to Seville for dropping off Clare and Margaret. Jenny and Pau head to Fuente de Piedra where they have nice views of Spanish sparrows, Cranes, Black-shoulder Kite and a female “Monti”. Nice birds to finish the trip!
My sincerely thanks to Jenny, Clare and Margaret for being such a good company during this winter trip around Andalucía!!!
We will run again this trip next year. Please visit our website www.birdwatchingspain.net for more information. Thanks.
Mammals
Red squirrel
Spanish Ibex
Red deer
Pipistrelle
Rabbit
Birds
Greylag Goose
Common Shelduck
Mallard
Gadwall
Common Teal
Pintail
Shoveler
Red-crested Pochard
Common Pochard
Tufted Duck
Little Grebe
Cormorant
Grey Heron
Great White Egret
Little Egret
Cattle Egret
Squacco Heron
White Stork
Black Stork
Greater Flamingo
Glossy Ibis
Spoonbill
Red Kite
Black-shoulder Kite
Common Kestrel
Lesser Kestrel
Griffon Vulture
Black Vulture
Marsh Harrier
Hen Harrier
Osprey
Common Buzzard
Little Owl
Tawny Owl (H)
Red-legged Partridge
Moorhen
Coot
Red-knobbed Coot
Purple Swamphen
Common Crane
Little Bustard
Oystercatcher
Black-winged Stilt
Avocet
Stone Curlew
Ringed Plover
Kentish Plover
Golden Plover
Grey Plover
Lapwing
Sanderling
Turnstone
Dunlin
Little Stint
Green Sandpiper
Common Sandpiper
Marsh Sandpiper
Common Redshank
Common Greenshank
Black-tailed Godwit
Bat-tailed Godwit
Curlew
Whimbrel
Common Snipe
Audouin’s Gull
Black-headed Gull
Lesser Black-backed Gull
Mediterranean Gull
Western Yellow-legged Gull
Sandwich Tern
Feral Pigeon
Woodpigeon
Collared Dove
Hoopoe
Kingfisher
Skylark
Crested Lark
Thekla Lark
Woodlark
Eurasian Crag Martin
White Wagtail
Grey Wagtail
Meadow Pipit
European Robin
Bluethroat
Blackredstart
Black Wheatear
Stonechat
Song Thrush
Mistle Thrush
Fieldfare
Eurasian Blackbird
Blackcap
Sardenian Warbler
Darford Warbler
Zitting Cisticola
Cetti’s Warbler
Chiffchaff
Firecrest
Long-tailed Tit
Short-toed Treecreeper
Penduline Tit
Iberian Grey Shrike
Azure-winged Magpie
Eurasian Magpie
Jackdaw
Red-billed Chough
Raven
Starlings
Spotless Starling
House Sparrow
Tree Sparrow
Rock Sparrow
Spanish Sparrow
Chaffinch
Eurasian Linnet
European Goldfinch
Greenfinch
Serin
Common Waxbill
Corn Bunting
Butterflies
Small White
Painted Lady
Dragonflies
Red-veined Darter
Blue emperor