A single Northern Bald Ibis was a major surprise in Coto Donana during our recent Spain - The Best of Coto Donana tour in April 2008.
Tour leader Kevin Elsby writes "After breakfast, we had another go for the Sacred Ibis and Bald Ibis, which had turned up here a couple of days ago, and which had been frequenting an area just behind the hotel [at El Rocio]. We had tried for them last night, in rapidly fading light, but were unsuccessful. This time, we were immediately rewarded with close views of 7 Sacred Ibis and a single Bald Ibis. The Bald Ibis and one of the Sacred Ibises was ringed. Details of the ring combinations were noted and photographs were obtained. At this stage, it looks as if both species could be genuine vagrants, perhaps deflected north from Africa in the recent storms which hit this part of southern Europe and North Africa recently. Some research after returning to the UK should 'iron out' any uncertainties, but for now we were grateful for seeing them both."
After the tour Kevin followed up the sighting and was sent the following:
The bird you saw is with high probablity a bird of a project in Andalusia called ''Proyecto Eremita'. The "Proyecto Eremita" aims to evaluate the efficacy of different releasing techniques in La Janda area, Southern Spain. More information on the project can be found on the WAZA website.
Jose Manuel López, the person responsible for the project, writes:
This ibis, a female born in 2006 in our facilities in the Retín (near Barbate in the province of Cadiz), was located until a few days ago in the zone of Hato Blanco (NE of Doñana) from January 2007.
Northern Bald Ibis by Kevin Elsby