Trip Reports

Coto Donana & Extremadura October 2009

A good week of late summer weather with clear blue skies on most days and temperatures in the lower 20’s, we 
had one afternoon of wind and rain, followed by high stormy-winds overnight and as we drove north into
Extremadura we encountered another afternoon of rain. Despite the weather we had a great time birding, the 
highlights being, Bluethroat and Caspian Terns from the banks of the Rio Piedras on day one and Red-knobbed 
Coot, Osprey, Spoonbills and Audouin’s Gull in Huelva later the same day. Donana was bone dry having had no 
rain since May, however we managed to find many species including Black-winged Kite, Short-toed Eagle,
Yellow-crowned Bishop, Common Waxbill, Great Egret, Black Stork, Purple Swamphen, Lesser Kestrel and 
many more. In Extremadura birding was more difficult with a large area to search, we saw several flocks of 
Great Bustard and only three Little Bustards! Red Kites were everywhere, we found a group of vultures on a 
roadside carcass, we found two perched Spanish Imperial Eagles, two White-rumped Swifts and hundreds of 
Common Cranes.