Today we explored the Northern Marshes just outside the Donana reserve. An early start was required as we headed to the Coredor Verde to look for Black-winged Kite. This 'green corridor' was created following contamination in 1998 when a wave of toxic sludge flooded the area after a dam burst at the Rio Tinto Los Frailes mine. It wasn't long before we spotted our target species perched on top of a pine tree; a great start to the day! Here we also saw Common and Lesser Kestrel and had good views of both Melodious Warbler and Zitting Cisticola; Common Quail was heard.
We spent the rest of the day driving around the extensive marshland, visiting the Embalse de Dehesa de Abajo and the Jose Antonio Valverde Centre. The list of species was impressive and included; Spanish Imperial Eagle (first year), Griffon Vulture, Black Kite, Short-toed Eagle, Booted Eagle, Common Buzzard, Marsh Harrier, Montagu's Harrier, Little Bittern, Black-crowned Night Heron, Squacco Heron, Glossy Ibis, Eurasian Spoonbill, Great White Egret, Greater Flamingo, Purple Swamphen, Red-knobbed Coot, Stone Curlew, Pin-tailed Sandgrouse, Wood Sandpiper, Green Sandpiper, Common Sandpiper, Greenshank, Redshank, Gull-billed Tern, Whiskered Tern, Hoopoe, European Bee-eater, Crested Lark, Thekla Lark, Short-toed Lark, Lesser Short-toed Lark, Calandra Lark, Red-rumped Swallow, Yellow Wagtail, Northern Wheatear, Whinchat, Grest Reed Warbler, Iberian Grey Shrike, Common Magpie, Azue-winged Magpie, Common Raven, Spanish Sparrow (including a large breeding colony with flocks of 50+) and Tree Sparrow; Golden Oriole and Common Cuckoo were heard.
Back in Gaucin, Janys was keeping up the good work by picking up the first Honey Buzzard of the year!
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment