Hi,
Mrs Ruby and I were fortunate enough to spend 2 days last week being guided around the Donana area by John Butler (www.donanabirdtours.com) and had a great time - this was my first birding trip outside of the UK (except a 1-day trip to Calais area...) and it certainly didn't disappoint.
The area is large with many excellent birding spots with different types of habitat, which is where John's local knowledge comes to the fore - he knows all the best spots to maximise chances of seeing the target birds and is able to make best use of time to see as much as possible.
We also stayed B&B with John and Rebecca and I would like to thank them for their excellent hospitality and lunches! It was also good that John and Rebecca recognised the importance of replacing fluids after a hot day out in the field!
Birding highlights are really too many to mention, but a few sample memories (in no particular order...)
Black Kites - One of these turned up locally in Kent a few days before I left for Spain and put many of us locals in a bit of a lather. I did contemplate twitching it myself, but couldn't make it. In Donana, they are by far the most populous raptor and dozens can be seen at close range every day.
Spanish Sparrows - The field guide doesn't do these little fellows justice...a very handsome bird indeed and we saw a flock of probably several hundred.
Bee-eaters and a Roller - What can you say....
Red-rumped Swallow - I needed these for a life tick and had spent quite a while last Summer and this studying Swallow flocks in the UK, but really wondering if I'd be able to spot one if there was one present.... Glad to report that (in good light and at close range!!) they're not too tricky at all... Lucky enough to see quite a few both in Donana and when we went across the border to the Algarve.
Eagles! - Quite close views of Booted and Short-toed Eagles.
All in all a fantastic trip, with 96 different species seen (not bad at all, considering that most waders and ducks had departed the area....) 28 of which were life ticks for me.
In addition to the above highlights, the following notable (for me!) species were seen.
Black-necked Grebe (rare for me in Summer plumage)
Little Bittern
Squacco Heron
Purple Heron
Night Heron
Cattle Egret
GW Egret
Glossy Ibis
White Stork
Greater Flamingo
Marbled Duck
White-headed Duck
Black-shouldered Kite
Montague's Harrier
Lesser Kestrel
Purple Swamp-hen
Red-knobbed Coot
Whiskered Tern
Pallid Swift
Hoopoe
Crested Lark
Greater and Lesser Short-toed Larks
Savi's Warbler
Great Reed Warbler
Zitting Cisticola
Sardinian Warbler
Southern Grey Shrike
Woodchat Shrike
Penduline Tit
Azure-winged Magpie
Spotless Starling
Serin
Anyone more interested in the particular sites that we visited might do well to have a look at the trip reports on John's web-site.... The area is a bit of a maze and some local knowledge (or a good guide!!) is definitely a requirement!!
All the best.... Ruby
Judith Chalmers (remember her ?) would be hard pressed to come up with a better trip report,than that..!