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| A pale-phase Booted Eagle of Madre de las Marismas |
After the intense and non-stop birding of the day before, I
decided on a later start on the Thursday. Given that I only had 2 targets (none
of them major), and a thick fog obscured visibility for the first few hours of
daylight, I began a relaxed scan of Madre de las Marismas around 09:30. The
first bird of the day was a Sedge Warbler, singing from reeds next to the
hotel, and hundreds of Hirundines were overhead. The usual fare was present in
big numbers as I made my way down the west side, with Black-winged Stilts,
Spoonbills, Greater Flamingos, Cattle Egrets and Glossy Ibis joined by a singular
Common Sandpiper and Squacco Heron.
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| A showy Purple Heron at La Rocina |
The destination was La Rocina reserve, less than a mile from
El Rocio, and by the time I arrived the sun was burning off the fog, allowing
me to take in the plentiful Azure-winged, Serins, Tree Sparrows and Short-toed
Treecreepers near the visitor centre. The restricted visibility was not a
problem here, though, as a wondrous cacophony of birds relented from seemingly
every bush and tree in the reserve. At least 15 Nightingales and 20 Cetti’s
Warblers belted out their songs, with smaller numbers of Reed, Great Reed and
Sedge Warblers in the wetter areas.
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| My best effort, out of about 200, of a Purple Swaphen |
It was here I got my first lifer, a long
overdue Savi’s Warbler one of 2 noted throughout the day. A similar sounding
Grasshopper Warbler was nearby, and another lifer, an Iberian Chiffchaff, was
picked up in the more lush vegetation, along with Melodious Warblers Willow
Warblers, Blackcaps, Spotted Flycatchers and Garden Warblers. A calling Lesser
Spotted Woodpecker came as a surprise.
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| Another showy bird, this time a Woodchat Shrike at La Rocina |
The hides overlooked lagoons which held similar birds to
Madre de las Marismas, bar a few more Purple Herons, Night Herons, Purple Swamphens
and Red-crested Pochard, and Marsh Harriers and Booted Eagles joined the
numerous Black Kites in the sky. The trail opened out into a heathy area akin to
Thursley, and here at least 15 Woodchat Shrikes were going about their
business, with Dartford and Sardinian Warblers, Bee-eaters, Hoopoes and an
Iberian Grey Shrike also around. La Rocina was lovely, but I decided my best
option for more interesting birds would be back to Madre de las Marismas, so I headed
back.
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| A Greater Flamingo on Madre de las Marismas |
I chose to scan from the west side, and immediately found
several Yellow Wagtails and a couple of Wood Sandpipers feeding among the
regular assortment. A flock of about 60 Collared Pratincoles were also around, nosily
making their presence known, some resting on the scrape. After a lunch in La
Choza looking over the marshes I decided to check out the observatory in the
north-east co
rner, where I got nice views of a pale-phase Booted Eagle.
I then
decided to spend the last couple of hours in this magical place trying
(unsuccessfully) to take some decent pictures of the Purple Swamphens that were
seemingly resident in the reedbed right next to my hotel. Certainly not the
rarest species I saw here, Purple Swamphens were quite possibly the most
enigmatic.
I got pretty much all of my Donana targets in my time here,
with only Marbled Duck and Pin-tailed Sandgrouse not seen. The tour was truly
memorable, and the hours I spent at Madre de las Marismas equally fantastic.
However, without doubt, I must come back to this birding heaven with a car one
day, and explore further more.
The video shows Madre de las Marismas in a nutshell, as Flamingoes, Glossy Ibis, Collared Pratincoles and Wood Sandpipers share the same frame.
The video shows Madre de las Marismas in a nutshell, as Flamingoes, Glossy Ibis, Collared Pratincoles and Wood Sandpipers share the same frame.
