Huelva district Bird watching familiarization tour

Transcription

1 El Rocio and Mother Lagoon Cota Donana Huelva district Bird watching familiarization tour Huelva district sits in the very SW corner of Spain alongside the Portuguese border. Two internationally important sites the famous Coto Donana(UNESCO World Heritage site and Biosphere reserve with Special Protected Area status) the lesser known Odiel Marshes (also UNESCO Biosphere reserve with SPA status) make this an exciting place for visiting birders. Coupled with a number of other good birding locations add to the interest and diversity. During the winter cheap flights (budget airlines) and a range of competitively priced hotels, coupled with some of the cheapest hire car rates in Europe from Faro Airport make this an easily accessible and extremely reasonably priced birding destination. Our tour was funded by the Huelva tourist board and arranged by Donana guides (commercial tour operators with concessions to visit the restricted areas of Donana). The purpose of the trip is to promote and encourage birders to the region. I spent a day around Faro prior to meeting up with my fellow travellers and then again half a day near the beach before catching the flight back. Very nice day birding with great views of bluethroats, black redstarts, a mix of waders, gulls, terns distant flamingos, osprey and marsh harriers. Six of us were met, at Faro airport, on 23 rd Jan 2017, by our guide Sergio Martin. We first headed the 32 miles along the E1 to the Spanish border and on toward Huelva. We left the E1 just to the north east of Huelva city, heading north onto dirt tracks through the extensive wheat fields which were alive with large numbers of wintering larks, wagtails and buntings, impressing on us the importance of this region for sheer numbers of wintering birds. A single tractor ploughing was followed by an impressive 400 White Wagtails Motacilla alba, we encountered groups of 50 plus Corn Buntings Emberiza calandra amongst the ubiquitous Crested Larks Galerida cristata and Calandra Larks Melanocorypha calandra, while Red Kites Milvus milvus, Buzzard Buteo buteo and Kestrels Falco tinnunculus patrolling the skies. We eventually came to an area of Dehesa, (cork oaks Quercus suber over grassland grazed by the famous fighting bulls) a habitat of great importance for breeding raptors. Here we had numerous wintering Chiffchaffs Phyloscopus collybita and Balckcaps Sylvia atricapilla among resident Stonechats Saxicola rubicola, Sparrows Passer sp. and Sardinian warblers Sylvia melanocephala. From here we detoured across country heading east towards the town of Niebla stopping along the Rio Tinto valley, with White Stork Ciconia ciconia nests on almost every available pylon, and Crag Martins Pyonoprgne rupestris nests below the bridges. In summer 15 prs of Lesser Kestrel Falco naumanni inhabit the town walls and colonies of Bee-eaters Merops apiaster are found in the river banks.

2 We finally arrived at our base for the next three nights, El Rocio on the edge of the Donana National Park overlooking one of its large lagoons (Mother lagoon) where several hundred Flamingos Phoenicopterus roseus rubbed shoulders with surprising numbers of Pintail Anas acuta, Shoveler Anas clypeata, Snipe Gallinago gallinago, Black-tailed Godwits Limosa limosato to name but a few. A brief stroll along the lagoon edge produced Bluethroat Luscinia svecica and Black Redstarts Phoenicurus oshruros, with 50 or so Swallows Hirundo rustica coming in to roost with a few House Martins Delichon urbicum and many hundred Egrets Egretta sp. and Glossy Ibises Plegadis falcinellus. My hotel balcony overlooked this enchanting lagoon as the temperature fell with the setting sun, the morning dawned with a light frost. El Rocio is a quirky town with more horses than residents, it has a unique character and is well worth a visit. Apparently it fills up at weekends so mid week would be recommended and some festivals attract over a million pilgrims, so check the dates. Day 2 We headed a short way south of El Rocio to the Acebuche visitor centre where we met Donanavisitas (another guiding company with concessions to visit the southern part of the reserve), we boarded a high ground clearance 4x4 bus for a 17km drive along the shoreline to the mouth of the Guadalquivir River, the heart of Cota Donana. This is a restricted area of the Park only accessible by guided tours. We cut back inland through the extensive Stone Pine Pinus pinea plantations and finally came to the lower flooded lagoon. What a spectacle!! Wall to wall wildfowl, as far as you could see. We were told that the reserve supports 700,000 waterfowl during the winter, one of the most important wetland in Europe. Impressive numbers of Shoveler, mixed with Black-necked Grebes Podiceps nigricollis, Red-crested Pochards Netta rufina, Pochard Aythya ferina, Pintail, Common Teal Anas crecca, Wigeon Anas penelope, Gadwall Anas strepera, I even managed to dig out 2 Tufted Ducks Aythya fuligula (apparently a rarity). A distant osprey was being harassed by a couple of avocets and of to our left a magnificent adult Spanish Imperial Eagle Aquila adalberti sat above the tree canopy on a specially provided perch to enable researchers to read the leg rings. The ducks were breathtaking, I could have easily spent all day poking around these flooded marshes, but it was back on the bus for a second Imperial Eagle, with Griffon Vulture Gyps fulvus over head soaring with the first Black Stork Ciconia nigra of the trip. We even passed a pair of Peregrines Falco peregrines sat on an old tower, these were the brookei race and were exceptionally small. I had one at dawn near the hotel and swithered as to Peregrine or Merlin simply because of the small size. This was a standard tourist route which is completed in 4 hours, we took over 4.5 hours and still felt a bit rushed. For birders these trips need to be modified and that is exactly what the tour companies are looking to do, to adapt by taking smaller specialist birding groups to where the birds are at any given moment. It is a privileged tour driving trough the largest shifting sand dune complex certainly in Spain if not Europe, where the dunes are engulfing stands of Stone Pines, and on to the heart of Donana with its spectacular wildfowl numbers, one of the Key wetland Sites in Europe. Picnic lunch was back at the visitor centre and most of the lunch seem to have been fed to the gangs of Iberian Magpies Cyanopica cyana (formerly Azure-winged) which entertained us. A quick look at another lagoon and coastal scrub produced brilliant views of Dartford Warblers Sylvia undata, Little Grebes Tachybaptus ruficollis, Sardinian Warblers Sylvia melanocephala, more larks and lots more Chiffchaffs, Stonechats and Southern Grey Shrikes Lanius meridionalis. After the lunch stop we headed back towards El Rocio but turned off west towards La Rocina visitor centre and on to the Acebron Palace where there was a short walk through primary riverine woodland, cork oak with mixed broadleaves. A little quiet at this time of year but great for migrants at other periods. We heard and glimpsed Short-toed Treecreepers Certhia brachydactyla and Crested Tits Lophophanes cristatus, this is also a stunning location for dragonflies during the summer. Returning to La Rocina centre we explored the river lagoons where Spotless Starlings Sturnus unicolor were tumbling into roost with Egrets, Little Grebes Tachybaptus ruficollis and Pochard Aythya farina on the lagoon but we missed the Gallinules Porphyrio porphyrio, but found a lone Ruddy Shelduck Tandorna ferruginea on the lagoon by the hotel.

3 Cork oak riverine woodland Cota Donana Day 3: Out before dawn to venture in to the restricted northern part of the park, the area with the highest density of Iberian Lynx Lynx pardinus. The landscape was lightly frost, -5C, unknown apparently in this part of the world. Jan is the best time to see Iberian Lynx as the males patrol for receptive females. Within 20 mins we stopped to inspect fresh tracks on the road and Sergio spotted a Lynx crossing the scrub pasture some 100m away, a male diligently marking his territory. What a start to the day. As the sun rose we came to the edge of the woodland bordering on to temporary flooded grazed plains, a herd of Red Deer Cervus elaphus (considerably smaller that their Scottish cousins) were still rutting and Harry our guided picked out a distant raptor on a tree which proved to be an immature Imperial Eagle. We ended up with a tally of 5 that morning, in all age range plumages. Small temporal flooded pools on the extensive plains held numbers of waders, Little Stints Calidris minuta, Dunlin C.alpina, Ruff Philomachus pugnax, Greenshank Tringa nebularia, Spotted Reds T.erythrops, Redshank T.totanus, Kentish plovers Charadrius alexandrinus, Ringed Plovers C.Hiaticula, trips of Golden Plovers Pluvialis apricaria. A few miles further on we came to the flooded edges of the river with some tamarisk Tamarix sp. and reeds, several thousand distant Flamingos (7,000 winter on the reserve), hundreds of Pintail, Shoveler, Egrets including Great Whites Ardea alba, Purple Swamphens Porphyrio porphyrio. We called into the Jose Valverde visitor center for a coffee, more Flamingos, Avocets Recurvirostra avosetta, Sandpipers Tringa sp., Swallows. These lagoons are full of breeding Egrets and Spoonbills in the summer. Cranes Grus grus could be heard calling, of a few hundred were encountered on the fields nearby. We traced our steps to El Rocio and the afternoon was spent exploring fields to the north and east of El Rocio in area accessible to the public, these include extensive rice fields, one we came across which was flooded supported yet more Flamingos, White Storks Ciconia ciconia, another Black Stork and a nearby lagoon was again spilling over with waterfowl, including a single Black Swan Cygnus atratus while Cetti s warblers Cettia cetti and Zitting cisticolas Cisticolus juncidis performed well. Day 4, dawned grey with the forecast of rain, the plan was to head inland to look at a small area of steppe surrounded by orange groves, approximately 22 miles NW of Huelva city. On arrival we quickly had a couple of recently arrived Great Spotted Cuckoos Clamator glandarius. At distance we failed to locate any Bustards Otis tarda, so we moved down onto the steppe, locating 2 male Great Bustard and a selection of local birds. The rain started and the plan to head up to the Sierra Pelada to look for raptors including Griffon and Monk Vulture Aegypius monachus was curtailed as we thought the wind conditions mixed with rain would prove to be pretty fruitless. We stopped at a isolated hill top lookout where a couple of blue rock thrushes Monitcola solitaries were battling with the wind, a small group of 8 rock buntings Emberiza cia flew past, one of which came back and dropped out of sight in the car park, a quick walk round to find it produced 2 Alpine accentors Prunella collaris and 5 Woodlarks Lullula arborea as well as Eurasian Jay. Garrulus glandarius

4 Rocky outcrop produced Alpine Accentor, Ermita de Pueblo de Guzam After birding through the country side stopping at a small lake we added early Red-rumped Swallows Cecropis daurica some more Caspian Terns Sterna caspia, before heading down to our second hotel on the coast at Isantilla where we where hosted in comfort at the Islantilla Golf Resort. From here on day 5 we headed for the other major site the Odiel Marshes, a complex of saltpans, which support large high tide wader roosts. The area is a mix of tidal creeks and coastal marsh, scrub and woodland. A quiet minor road runs the length of the site along its eastern border where a good visitor centre and bird hides over-looking small pools, gives view of a sample of what can be found. We started by driving the length of the road, ca 11 miles, stopping numerous times for wintering Stone Curlew Burhinus oedicnemus, an early Purple Heron Ardea purpurea, numerous Ospreys Pandion haliaetus, Audouins Gulls Larus audouinii mixed waders. At the end of the road a stroll on to the beach met a rough Atlantic where I was surprised to see a number of distant Skuas Stercocarius sp., the closest one was a Pomerine S.pomarinus, but the more distant could have been Greats S. skua, a Gannet Morus bassanus followed a distant trawler, more time would no doubt have produced results. Then it was back to the saltpans at high tide. This area is restricted; the general public can walk out to a single viewing shelter, but no further. Special access permission can be gained and the services of a guide is invaluable to arrange this. We had the key and the guide. Hundreds of Bar-tailed Godwits Limosa lapponica formed a tight roost in the middle of one lagoon, edged by Knot Calidris canutus, Dunlin, a surprising number of Curlew Sands C.ferruginea, Whimbrel Numenius arquata and Redshank, we did manage to find a rare Marsh Sandpiper Tringa stagnatilis from the very spot a few years earlier I had a Broad-billed Sandpiper Limicola falcinellus. This site claims an amazing 5000 wintering Black-necked Grebes Podiceps nigricollis, we saw only a tiny fraction. Flamingos breed and winter, the site supports one of the largest breeding colonies of Spoonbills Platalea leucorodia in Spain. We drove through the saltpans to the pine forest on the west side where there are also a few hides (access restricted), we had more Crested Tits, Tree Pipit Anthus trivialis and Woodlarks. I could have spend days at this site, but our time was up on our final day. The team tally was a respectable 151 bird species plus a few butterflies, numerous Wild boar Sus scrofa, Iberian Hare Lepus europaeus hispanicus, Rabbit Oryctolagus cuniculus, Fallow Dama dama and Red Deer, plus the enigmatic Iberian Lynx. Fabulous way to spend a week in January.

5 Odiel Saltpans with falmingos just west of Huelva city. A fabulous area within 2hours 45mins flying time of Edinburgh, at flights costing 80 return or less (includes bags, check in fees etc), rooms from 35 Euro (doubles from 55 Euros) and cheap car hire in glorious sunshine, in Jan (15-16 degrees most days) what s not to like and more importantly visiting birders will help the Conservation cause as they contribute to the local economy. As spring moves forward a wealth of migrants arrive and the birding changes, our guides recommend at least 4 visits one in each season. Before going we had all heard of Cota Donana becoming dried out due to declining water levels caused by over development. Yes there are issues with water abstraction, primarily due to agriculture, the site we found in winter was flooded and held absolutely breath-taking numbers of wintering waterfowl and waders. You can explore around the edges of the reserve by yourself but using the local guiding facilities enables access to restricted areas and local knowledge of where the key bird concentrations are, greatly improving and enhancing often precious time spent in the field. Donana guiding services are looking to improve their services to touring birdwatchers and groups, I would strongly recommend talking to them at an early stage. They could recommend accommodation provide tailor made excursions with transport and English speaking guides at a reasonable cost. The key is to let them know what you want to d, and don t just sign up for the regular tourist bus trip. Our Guides were Sergio Martin Laury Grenon Manu Majarro Contact donanaguides@gmail.com By Paul N Collin Team members: Joyce Varley; Steve Cupit; Steve Barstow; Paul Hetherington; Richard Hanman

6 Trip List Huelva Fam Trip Group List in green additional records from around Faro all figures should be seen as rough estimates and could be wildly inaccurate Team:- Steve Barstow, Steve Cupit, Paul Collin, Richard Hanman, Paul Hetherington, Joyce Varley. Jan 2017 date 22nd 23rd 24th 25th 26th 27th 28th Greylag Goose Common Shelduck Ruddy Shelduck 1 1 Eurasian Wigeon Gadwall Eurasian Teal Mallard Northern Pintail X 26 Northern Shoveler Red-crested Pochard Common Pochard Ferruginous Duck X Tufted Duck Common Scoter 26 Red-legged Partridge Little Grebe Great Crested Grebe Black-necked Grebe Northern Gannet 1 Great Cormorant Grey Heron Purple Heron 1 Great Egret Little Egret Cattle Egret Black-crowned Night Heron 2 Black Stork 1 1 White Stork Glossy Ibis Eurasian Spoonbill X 4 12 Greater Flamingo X Eurasian Griffon Vulture 1 Egyptian Vulture X Osprey Spanish Imperial Eagle 2 5 Booted Eagle Red Kite Western Marsh Harrier X 16 2 Common Buzzard

7 Eurasian Kestrel Peregrine Falcon 3 X Purple Swamphen 40 Common Moorhen X Eurasian Coot Common Crane 900 Great Bustard 2 Eurasian Oystercatcher Black-winged Stilt Pied Avocet Stone-Curlew 6 Common Ringed Plover Kentish Plover Northern Lapwing Eurasian Golden Plover Grey Plover Red Knot Sanderling Ruddy Turnstone Little Stint Curlew Sandpiper Dunlin X Green Sandpiper Wood Sandpiper 2 X Common Sandpiper Spotted Redshank Common Redshank Marsh Sandpiper 1 Common Greenshank Black-tailed Godwit Bar-tailed Godwit Whimbrel Eurasian Curlew Eurasian Woodcock 1 Common Snipe Ruff 80 Great Skua P(4) Pomarine Skua 1 Audouin's Gull 6 20 Lesser Black-backed Gull Yellow-legged Gull X Black-headed Gull Slender-billed Gull 1 Meditteranean Gull 12 Caspian Tern Sandwich Tern

8 Common Tern 1 1 Feral Dove Stock Dove 2 Common Wood Pigeon X Eurasian Collared Dove Great Spotted Cuckoo 5 X Barn Owl 2 Little Owl 4 Common Kingfisher Eurasian Hoopoe Great Spotted Woodpecker H(1) Iberian Green Woodpecker H(3) Calandra Lark s Crested Lark s Thekla Lark 60 Wood Lark 5 6 Sand Martin 1 Eurasian Crag Martin 6 8 Barn Swallow Red-rumped Swallow 2 House Martin 10 2 White Wagtail Grey Wagtail Tree Pipit 1 Meadow Pipit Water Pipit 3 Alpine Accentor 2 European Robin Bluethroat Black Redstart Common Stonechat Northern Wheatear 1 Blue Rock Thrush 3 Eurasian Blackbird Song Thrush 20 Mistle Thrush 1 2 X Blackcap 6 12 Sardinian Warbler Dartford Warbler 3 X Zitting Cisticola Cetti's Warbler 1 8 Willow Warbler X Common Chiffchaff Winter Wren H Long-tailed Tit X H Crested Tit 10 2

9 Great Tit 1 X H Blue Tit H 2 Short-toed Treecreeper H Iberian Grey Shrike Eurasian Jay 1 Iberian Magpie Common Magpie Western Jackdaw Common Raven Common Starling 2 Spotless Starling House Sparrow Spanish Sparrow Chaffinch European Greenfinch European Goldfinch Eurasian Linnet European Serin Corn Bunting Rock Bunting 8 Black Swan 1 Iberian Lynx 1 Iberian Hare 1 3 Wild Boar 20 X European Rabbit 2 X 20 Red Deer X Fallow Deer X X Bat sp (Geoffrey's?) 1 Bat sp (Pipistrelle?) 2 2 Leatherback Turtle (deceased) 1 Red Admiral 4 Peacock 1 European Mantis 1 Processionary Moth Caterpillar Wall Brown butterfly 2 Hummingbird Hawkmoth 1 Brown Rat 1

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