Trip Reports

Coto Donana & Extremadura October 2012

We spent 9 superb days in some of the best habitat that Spain has to offer, the weather was glorious throughout except for one day of rain and some cloud near the end of the trip. Birding highlights included: a Lesser Spotted Woodpecker, Ferruginous Ducks, Spanish Imperial Eagle and Ring Ouzel. Our star bird of the trip was a juvenile White-winged Tern seen at Bonanza Salt Pans where we also saw 5 Black Storks, 22 Great White Egrets and a whole host of waders, gulls and terns. In Extremadura we had great fun tracking down several large flocks of Little Bustards (149 counted in one field), plus Great Bustards, thousands of Lapwings, larks, Hoopoes and pipits. The highlights of our visit to Monfrague were masses of vultures and the appearance of two White-rumped swifts. Common Crane sightings were limited to just one flock of 42 birds, they were late this year! Overall we logged 172 species a very good effort from the group and a testament of how good Spain is as a birding location.