Doñana/Costa Del Sol Trip Report Febuary 2007

[sfswhite]

I was lucky enough to visit the Doñana area last week. We contacted Doñana Bird Tours (www.donanabirdtours.com) which is led by John Butler. It was very well organised and all we had to to was contact John and he booked a Bungalow for us. We saw 63 birds and about half of those were firsts. I would recomend Doñana Bird Tours to any one!!!

Among the best birds were:
Azure Winged Magpies-Unique to the area,
Hoopoe- A bird I have longed to see,
Red Necked Grebes- Pairing off for breeding

John has written a book on Birding in the area (check out the section on John´s website) which was very useful when we went to Ronda helping us to identify Red Billed Choughs and Crag Martins.

Sfswhite

[John Cantelo]

[QUOTE=sfswhite]

Among the best birds were:
Azure Winged Magpies-Unique to the area,
Hoopoe- A bird I have longed to see,
Red Necked Grebes- Pairing off for breeding

Is this a typo for BLACK-necked Grebe? These certainly breed in the area, but Red-necked Grebe are rather rare birds in Spain.

John

[TWM]

That's an understatement!

[John Butler]

[QUOTE=sfswhite]

Is this a typo for BLACK-necked Grebe? These certainly breed in the area, but Red-necked Grebe are rather rare birds in Spain.

John

Absolutely right John. They were Black-necked Grebes. Lots of them in full breeding plumage and performing mating rituals.

I think the confusion may be because I had mentioned that I had seen a Red-throated Diver at the Rio Piedras just a few days earlier and that is even rarer here than a Red-necked Grebe.

Did you get the Mourning Done at Algaida, by the way?


SF.
It was a pleasure to meet you and your grandparents last Monday. I´m pleased to hear that the book came in useful.

[John Cantelo]

[QUOTE=John Butler]Absolutely right John. They were Black-necked Grebes. Lots of them in full breeding plumage and performing mating rituals.

I think the confusion may be because I had mentioned that I had seen a Red-throated Diver at the Rio Piedras just a few days earlier and that is even rarer here than a Red-necked Grebe.

Did you get the Mourning Done at Algaida, by the way?
SF.

Thanks for the clarification, John. I thought it had to be a slip. As for the Laughing (Palm) Dove I'm afraid I missed it - pity as it would have been a new bird. However, I did see what was almost a Lanner Falcon when we went to look!
TWM - I suppose 'rather rare' was a bit of an understatement particularly given that we're talking Andalucia - had it been off Cantabria it might have been excusable! John

[John Butler]

[QUOTE=John Butler] However, I did see what was almost a Lanner Falcon when we went to look! John

Hi John.

Thanks for the trip report you sent me. I am very interested in your sighting of a Lanner on the 16th, as two clients and I also spotted what we thought was a Lanner at the Caño de Guadiamar (Doñana) on the 18th.
The bird flew over the vehicle at about 5 metres height and sped across the marsh, being visible for about only 15 seconds before disappearing.
My first thought was "Peregrine", but it was soon obvious that it was not a Peregrine. Like you, the size, colour, shape and flight outline indicated "Lanner".
There were no signs to indicate that it may have been an escaped bird.

[John Cantelo]

Hi John.

Thanks for the trip report you sent me. I am very interested in your sighting of a Lanner on the 16th, as two clients and I also spotted what we thought was a Lanner at the Caño de Guadiamar (Doñana) on the 18th.
The bird flew over the vehicle at about 5 metres height and sped across the marsh, being visible for about only 15 seconds before disappearing.
My first thought was "Peregrine", but it was soon obvious that it was not a Peregrine. Like you, the size, colour, shape and flight outline indicated "Lanner".
There were no signs to indicate that it may have been an escaped bird.

Interesting! The bird we saw was clearly no Peregrine and fitted the criteria for Lanner to a 'T', but it wasn't in view for long andI can't absolutely discount the possibility that it could have been one of those awful falconers' hybrids - you know a Peregrine/Lanner/Merlin/Gyr/God-knows-what cross,

John

[sfswhite]

Sorry all bout the error. I was in a hurry! We were lucky enough to see BLACK-necked Grebes. Yet again sorry
Sfswhite

[Colin Key]

I was lucky enough to visit the Doñana area last week. We contacted Doñana Bird Tours (www.donanabirdtours.com) which is led by John Butler. It was very well organised and all we had to to was contact John and he booked a Bungalow for us. We saw 63 birds and about half of those were firsts. I would recomend Doñana Bird Tours to any one!!!

Among the best birds were:
Azure Winged Magpies-Unique to the area,
Hoopoe- A bird I have longed to see,
Red Necked Grebes- Pairing off for breeding

John has written a book on Birding in the area (check out the section on John´s website) which was very useful when we went to Ronda helping us to identify Red Billed Choughs and Crag Martins.

Sfswhite

Azure-winged Magpies are not unique to Doñana - they are very common in southern Portugal and also in parts of China.

Colin

[John Butler]

Azure-winged Magpies are not unique to Doñana - they are very common in southern Portugal and also in parts of China.Colin
I think that the young man meant that they were unique to Iberia. I admire the confidence of SF to speak up on the forum.

He certainly had lots of enthusiasm for all things birds and birding when he was on one of my tours last week and he was very eager to learn about our native birds. Keep it up SF!

The SE asia birds are now considered a separate species (Cyanopica cyanus) following the split several years ago. The Iberian birds are now Cyanopica cooki

[sfswhite]

Hi All,
I have made a mess of this one and am sorry. I hope this does not deter you all!
Sfswhite
:stuck:

[Vectis Birder]

Well, his spelling and grammar are head and shoulders above mine when I was that age, not to mention how articulate he comes across as.

SF, don't worry about the error, adults mess things up as well! :t:

[John Cantelo]

Hi All,
I have made a mess of this one and am sorry. I hope this does not deter you all!
Sfswhite
:stuck:

No, you've not made a mess of anything whatsoever. A simple slip is nothing at all - there's not a single BF member who couldn't have done exactly the same. The mistake would have been not to have report your excitement at seeing such fantastic birds. There's really nowt to apologise for at all. Keep reporting what you see and your enjoyment in seeing birds ..... it's a good part of what it's all about! John

[Colin Key]

Hi All,
I have made a mess of this one and am sorry. I hope this does not deter you all!
Sfswhite
:stuck:

I see no mess, and certainly no reason to apologise for anything.
:t:

Colin

[sfswhite]

Hi all,
Thanks for the support.
Good birding
Sfswhite
:eat:

[Colin Key]

Hi all,
Thanks for the support.
Good birding
Sfswhite
:eat:

Keep going, just expect to have to "duck" when you get shot at!!

Regards,

Colin

:cool: