APRIL 3rd
Spring is passing very quickly through Doñana, as fast as Swifts can fly. Some Swallows are finishing their nests while many other are still arriving; hundreds of Sand Martins are also still passing. The marshes are drying out sooner than expected due to the low rainfall of last Winter and Spring but the marshes at El Rocío, La Rocina Stream, Caño Guadiamar - Jose A. Valverde Visitor Centre, Lucio El Lobo, Entremuros and Dehesa de Abajo still offer good conditions. The Hinojos Marshes have turned into a good place for Larks, Pratincoles and Sandgrouses better than Herons but still offer good birding opportunities. Deer is getting its antlers back, Ibis expecting descendants any day and female Lynx taking care of them. The Park is aware of that and the access along the Raya Real is being appropriately controlled. Temperatures keep conveniently down with a maximum of around 20ºC.
Collared Pratincoles ara an usual sight at the Mother of the Marshes as well as Spanish Imperial Eagle sat on the eucalyptus at the far end of it. Whiskered Tern are common all over the marshes and some White-winged and Black ones with them occasionally. Black Kites are here, there and every where, flying over forests and marshes since early in the morning and a good number of Booted Eagles with them, mostly pale morphs; a few Red Kites and Short-toed Eagles stay around to breed . Griffon Vulture is also an usual sight from midday over the marshes while occasionally we see the Spanish Imperial Eagle hunting over it as well. The peak of the passing Montagu's Harrier has gone through; Black-shouldered Kites are feeding chicks at Veta Zorrera near the edge of the northern marshes. Also there is still possible to see the last few Short-eared Owl around sunset while flying low over the low bush land looking for dinner. By that time Great-spotted Cuckoo is back in its favourite bush for the night, they are still easy to see around there.
Pintail Sandgrouse are there in small flocks to be found by the expert eyes and ears and so are elusive species like Orphean Warbler which is passing through the marshes these days, we luckily found one yesterday. To find a pair of Stone Curlew is compulsory to try late in the day, before sunset, or early in the day with good light before they sat back and hide covered by the short grass or bushes. Sedge Warbler is also still passing and can be heard easily at Caño Guadiamar bridge along with Savi's, Reed and Great Reed Warblers. Large flocks of Yellow Wagtails are also moving through, it is a good fun to try and identify the different races among them. Crested, Calandra, Short-toed and Lesser Short-toed Larks are also there filling the marshes with their melodies.
The numbers of Squacco Herons are lower than normal this year in and around the J.A. Valverde colony but large numbers of Cattle and Little Egrets, Night and Purple Herons and a few thousand Glossy Ibis are working really hard to fulfil their reproductive tasks. Woodchat Shrikes are still passing in high numbers and a good number of them can be seen around the colony; Spanish Sparrow is also a common sight these days around there. If your eyes are not swollen by then you can try to find a Crake in the reeds among the Ibis nests, difficult but possible with some luck. No sign of Marbled or White-headed Duck this spring yet but Garganey is still passing. The reeds have grown very tall by now so Purple Gallinule has turned more difficult to spot along the Caño Guadiamar but you will hear them easily. A small group of Lesser Kestrels seem to be thinking about breed at an old small pumping station half way up the Caño, where Red-rumped Swallow nest every year; it will be good to have them so close if they stay. Crested Coot has also become hard to find during the last week; they are much easier at Dehesa de Abajo. No signs either of Olivaceous Warbler yet, I will keep on checking around their usual breeding spots north of the park in the next days. Spectacled Warbler is increasing numbers in the marshes and Cuckoo singing restless in the forests accompanied by Green and Great-spotted Woodpecker and Wryneck occasionally.
Good birding. Good luck
