Always a popular destination in the spring, last autumn we ran our first autumn tour to what is undoubtedly one of the finest wetlands in Europe. Tour leader Roy Taylor reports:
We were presently surprised to discover that many summer migrants are now wintering in this part of Spain, evidenced by stunning views of Short-toed Eagles being mobbed by Black-shouldered Kites and Squacco Herons viewed down to a range of a few metres!
However, the real advantage of visiting Donana at this time of year is the spectacular numbers and diversity of waterfowl on show. The network of flooded marshes, lagoons, fish ponds and rice fields played host to tens of thousands of birds. Huge flocks of Greater Flamingos, White Storks, Spoonbills, Avocets, Black-tailed Godwits and Shoveler would have daunted even the most experienced wildfowl counter! In amongst the vast flocks were smaller numbers of Glossy Ibis, Black Storks, Great White Egrets, Ferruginous Duck, White – headed Duck and Red-crested Pochard. In one large flamingo flock we even found a Lesser Flamingo, a bird only recorded on a handful of occasions in Europe. Donana in autumn is surely one of the European bird spectacles and as one client said, “it was a privilege to experience it first hand!”
Of course, in addition to the breath taking flocks, we also encountered some of the other Donana “specialities”. Superb views of Spanish Imperial Eagle soaring overhead, photographable Crested Coots and noisy flocks of Azure-winged Magpies in the Stone Pines. This is also the realm of the rarest cat in the world – the Iberian Lynx. On this trip we missed a female with cubs by just a few minutes but this just added to the excitement of searching for these elusive animals at dusk and 2 Wild Boar emerging from the bushes in the last light of the day seemed a fitting end to our trip!
This year will we be running three short departures to Donana; 11th - 15th April, 5th - 9th December and a new date timed to coincide with the October half term: 26th - 30th October. For more information visit The Best of Coto Donana tour page.
Greater Flamingos in Coto Donana