This was a short, weekend break to Coto Donana in South West Spain. Myself and a couple of mates flew from Liverpool to Seville with Ryanair on Friday 16th November 2007 and returned on Monday 19th November. Due to the timing of the flights we had two full days in Spain, with very little birding time on either Friday or Monday. However, daylight lasted until about 6:30pm, so it wasn’t as grim as two days in the UK would have been at this time of year.
We stayed at the Hotel Toruno in the village of el Rocio. This was our third stay at this hotel, and as usual the service was excellent, the location outstanding, and all for a very reasonable price. We hired a medium sized family car, and this coped easily with all the tracks we took it down. Before we went I bought a copy of “Where to Watch Birds in Donana” by Jorge Garzón and Francisco Chiclana and published by Lynx, and this proved excellent and very reliable.
The weather during our stay was gloriously sunny and in the mid seventies. There hadn’t been any serious rain in the area for months, leaving large areas of land dry and dusty. However, there was still quite a lot of water around, notably at el Rocio, La Rocina, Canada de Rianzuela and the rice paddies around Isla Mayor and Veta Hornito, and vast numbers of birds were concentrated in these areas. On Saturday we went out to the northern marismas, whilst on Sunday we stayed in the el Rocio area.
The holiday started well. We arrived at the hotel at 10:30pm on Friday night, and after an excessive 30 seconds unpacking and freshening ourselves up, we made our way to the bar. Two hours later we took a “stroll” along the promenade at el Rocio, and by moonlight watched a small flock of 12 Greater Flamingos and a few hundred Shoveler feeding on the marsh, little more than 100m in front of us. It was looking promising!
Saturday 17th November 2007
The following morning we awoke to staggering scenes from our hotel balcony. Several hundred Flamingos were in view, along with thousands of Shoveler, (up to 4000 we estimated) and hundreds each of Egrets, Little Grebes, Black-tailed Godwits, Greylags and Coots. Red Kites and Marsh Harriers were dotted about the marsh. Thirty minutes later we were outside, and back on the promenade, and adding new birds to the list by the minute, including Purple Gallinules, Booted Eagles, Black-shouldered Kite, White Storks, Glossy Ibis, Avocet and several species of duck.
However, we were conscious that we had a long day in front of us on the northern marshes, and so reluctantly we left el Rocio, but resolved to spend more time there on Sunday.
Directions to the sites on the northern marshes are not complicated, but in an attempt to try to make this report more readable, I will only go into detail at the end. Our first major stop was at Canada de Rianzuela, a large shallow lake more or less between Vilamanrique and Isla Mayor. As we approached the lake, we passed the first rice paddies. Due to the nature of rice growing, these fields are irrigated and were very flooded despite the drought, and provided an oasis for bird life. In this area we came upon a flock of 10 Black Storks flying over the road. Soon we arrived at the lake, and the sight was almost breathtaking! A quick scan across the water revealed hundreds of flamingos and thousands of ducks (mainly Shoveler), whilst on the far side of the lake we counted at least 1000 Avocets and 2000 Black-winged Stilts. Most of the stilts fed in one, tightly knit group. On one island we counted 20 Great White Egrets, 100 Spoonbills and a solitary Purple Heron, whilst 500 Cormorants sat on the far shore. This is also apparently a good site for Red-knobbed Coot, but we didn’t spend too much time looking for them, because the spectacle was just so incredible as to make the search for one slightly different looking Coot seem ridiculous. We spent about an hour and a half here.
Having now experienced the first of the rice paddies, we were eager to press on to Isla Mayor, which is a village surrounded by a sea of rice. We weren’t disappointed. Mile after mile of flooded fields in different states of harvest, held thousands of White Storks, including about 700 in one field alone, and flocks of Glossy Ibis flew around, numbering around 1000. In the same area there were hundreds of Cattle Egrets, a few Little Egrets, the occasional Great White Egret and about 30 Spoonbills. Raptors were constantly in the air, predominantly Marsh Harriers, but also Red Kites.
We left Isla Mayor and headed west towards the pumping station at Casa de Bombas. On the way we added Hen Harriers and a late Montagu’s Harrier to our day list, and we had our first tantalising glimpses of Common Cranes flying over. Only 12, but enough to spur us onwards. On arriving at the pumping station, we turned right, following the canal and a line of pylons. The land was now very dry, and the number of birds diminished, but after a few kilometres we turned right and soon arrived at Veta Hornito. This is another area of rice paddies, which again were flooded, and the number of birds seen increased accordingly.
In the distance we could see another car parked at the side of the road. We could see that two birders had walked down a track and were observing a flooded field on the right through telescopes. I looked through my binoculars at them, and one beckoned us to come over. Excitedly we made our way quickly to them, with all kind of thoughts going through our minds. What mega rarity might this be? As it transpired, a juvenile American Golden Plover was a slight anti-climax, but still a nice bird, and it was with hundreds of Dunlin and Ruff, as well as a few Spotted Redshank, Greenshank, Little Stint and Golden Plover. A few hundred Cattle Egrets were feeding in the rice paddies, and lots of White Storks.
Up until this point we had seen many hundreds of Greylag Geese in many places across Donana, but suddenly a couple of fields away in the distance a huge flock went up. I’m familiar with counting large flocks of Pink-feet close to home in Lancashire, and it was immediately obvious to me that this was something out of the ordinary. It was like a huge black wave approaching, and I estimated at least 10,000 birds. The noise was deafening, the spectacle staggering.
We got back to the car and continued on our way. Suddenly I became aware of a flock of large birds in the distance. A quick scan through the binoculars revealed the exciting truth – we had located the Common Crane flock. They were a good distance off, so we decided to leave the main track, and take a minor track across a field which headed straight for them. It seemed a good idea at the time, but soon the vegetation in the middle of the track was causing a problem to the underside of the car, being a bit taller than anticipated, and worse followed as the track began to disappear, and we were left with a couple of tyre tracks going across a ploughed field. At this point turning around no longer seemed an option, but just when all seemed lost, out of nowhere, we arrived at another, much better track, which ran parallel to the track we had left. Better still, we were now much closer to the cranes. They were like giant geese, at least 2,000 birds feeding in a field and hanging around in family groups. Possibly the highlight of the holiday for me.
The day was now drawing on, and we needed to make our way to our final destination, near to the Corridor Verde. We arrived at dusk, just in time to see the egret roost starting to build. Flock after flock of birds arrived, two thirds Cattle Egrets, the rest Little with a single Great White. In total around 4,000 egrets, sitting like lanterns in the fading light on a few tamarisk bushes, just 50m from the road. Night Herons flew over, but they had just left their roost, and were on their way to feed. A magnificent way to end the first day. We spent a good night celebrating and planning our second day in the bars of el Rocio.