Wednesday 13th - the Doñana tour

Black-winged Stilts were common, including nesting birds

As I was spending less than 48 hours in El Rocio, and this time exploring Donana, I decided to book a tour on my one full day there. Having scoured the web for the most recommended companies, I decided on Discovering Donana, and Jose’s knowledge, service and friendliness proved exceptional from email communication beforehand, through to the day of the trip. I'd given him a lengthy list of targets, with some higher priority, and he targeted them all, missing just a couple of the very hard species.

He collected me on a fairly foggy morning from my hotel at about 07:45 (a dawn scan of a low visibility Madre de las Marismas added Purple Heron and 2 Great White Egrets to the trip list), and we set off north-east, into Coto del Rey forests. Birdsong was everywhere, with numerous Nightingales, Cetti’s and Sardinian Warblers and Corn Buntings adding to the smaller numbers of Short-toed Treecreepers, Hoopoes and Azure-winged Magpies. In the more open areas Woodchat Shrikes were very common, and 2 Subalpine Warblers soon provided me with my first lifer of the day.

A distant shot of one of the Short-toed Eagles

The next came not long after, but wasn’t one I was expecting to get in Donana. I’d spent a good amount of time familiarising myself with the songs and calls of birds before I headed out, so was quick to call Western Bonelli’s Warbler when I heard one singing in a tree. We soon saw it, as it fly-caught from its oak station, en route to breeding grounds at higher altitude inland. Bee-eaters, Woodlarks and a couple of Crested Tits were seen as we moved away from the forest to the beginning of the marshes, and an Iberian Grey Shrike showing well on wires was tick number 3 of the day.

Southern Spain had experienced a very dry winter, and as a result Donana held exceptionally limited water. This turned what were normally marshes into vast plains, but the bird life was still very much abundant. Plenty of Zitting Cisticola, Crested Lark and Quail song filled the air as we drove down the Vetazorrera/Inojos track, with numerous Black Kites, White Storks and Griffon Vultures overhead. This track was Lark country, with no less than 5 species (4 of them lifers) holding territory on either side of this particular track.

A singing Thekla Lark

The first was a Thekla Lark, quietly singing from low vegetation, and further on Jose showed me a nest, barely a few centimetres into the earth, containing 4 chicks. 2 parents were close by, beaks stuffed with food. Next up was a pair of Short-toed Larks, their pale underparts distinctive, before 2 hefty Calandra Larks took to the air nearby. The main one I was after was Lesser Short-toed Lark, and Jose told me I’d know when I had one because the underparts would be so different to Greater Short-toed. Indeed, a few hundred metres further up, one stood next to the track, seemingly ignorant of our presence, and I was able to soak in wonderful views.

We searched without luck for Pin-tailed Sandgrouse here, but the presence of a big flock of Whimbrel, and also Little Ringed Plover, indicated water nearby, and it wasn’t long before we pulled into the José Antonio Valverde visitor centre for a coffee stop. Remarkably, another Western Bonelli’s Warbler was here, singing in the car park, but my attention was drawn to the hub of bird activity happening on the marshes beyond the centre.

Bathing Spanish Sparrows

A cafeteria offered views over the main water, and further over was a large marshy scrape, and there were 100’s of birds everywhere. Loads of Cattle Egrets and Glossy Ibis were breeding, with Night Herons and my first Squacco Heron also around. There was a good mix of duck species, notably 20+ Red-crested Pochards and a showy pair of Garganey, and waders were represented by loads of Black-winged Stilts, 20 Ruff, 50+ Redshanks, c.20 Spotted Redshanks and a single Wood Sandpiper. Good views of a singing Great Reed Warbler were obtained, and a huge number of Purple Swamphens were feeding in the open – at least 12.

Moving on, via Puente Dos (which brought 2 Short-toed Eagles, another Lesser Short-toed Lark and a similar collection of waders, with a few Greenshank present for good measure), we stopped at some dry rice fields as our attention was drawn to a huge flock of waders. 2 Gull-billed Terns flew overhead a group of about 150 Ringed Plovers, 100 Dunlin, 50 Little Stints, 70 Curlew Sandpipers, a few Kentish Plovers and a sole Temminck’s Stint. It was an incredible spectacle, furthered by a Black Kite swooping down and taking a Plover, and a flock of Collared Pratincoles noisily over.

A Spanish Sparrow photobombs a Bee-eater!

We then entered drier habitat, with some arable farmland, and a pair of Montagu’s Harriers, singing Quail, Yellow Wagtails and lots of Larks were seen. The next destination was Dehesa de Pilas, where a huge colony of Spanish Sparrows were knocking around. These gregarious birds were another life, and while here we were treated to superb close views of a flock of Bee-eaters, a male Whinchat and a Cuckoo.

It was a whirlwind of birds, either new of hardly seen by me before, and we were about to ambitiously try for Western Olivaceous Warbler. This species normally arrives closer to May, but Jose knew a site with plenty of tamarisks, which they love, and remarkable within a few second of pulling up we heard one singing, a subtle, shorter version of a Reed Warbler song. It soon became apparent that another was singing nearby, and after obtaining brief views we praised our luck and drove onto Dehesa de Abajo, stopping to watch an Osprey perched in a ploughed field.

The picturesque Dehesa de Abajo

Dehesa de Abajo holds an unusual tree-nesting colony of White Storks, as well as some stunning scenery, and we soon noted an Iberian Grey Shrike near the centre. Booted Eagles and Black Kites were everywhere as we walked to the big lake, Cañada de Rianzuela, which held Avocets, Black-tailed Godwits, Flamingoes, Spoonbills and a sole Whiskered Tern. We were here for White-headed Duck, one of my most desired target birds, but had no joy (we did have a collared Crested Coot), so decided to head back and try from the road.

Here it was more sheltered, and the vegetation was clearly attractive to more secretive species like Purple Herons, a Squacco Heron and some Purple Swamphens. Funnily enough, another Western Olivaceous Warbler was singing here, but after about 45 minutes we had no White-headed Duck. We decided to climb over the dam, and it paid off when, not long after, we found a drake on his own showing well. With White-headed Duck in the bag it was off to try for the last target, Black-shouldered Kite, near the Corredor Verde (which had Purple Herons, 2 Common Waxbills and 12 Purple Swamphens).

A Black Kite at Dehesa de Abajo

A scan over some suitable habitat produced a single bird, hovering briefly before making its way across us. A Melodious Warbler sang from an exposed perch nearby, and it concluded a whirlwind day, which had everything from great company and stunning scenery to remarkable birds and habitat. Despite this long post, there are plenty of moments I have left out, from this day which was akin to a real-life scan through the exotic bids you’ve always stopped to look at in Collins.