Spain IV - Doñana National Park

Raptors in Doñana

Some colonies of Lesser Kestrels (Hime-chogenboヒメチョウゲンボウ) have been established in Doñana.

Each nest box has a number.  females (above, below)

males

A male Lesser Kestrel has gray upperwing coverts - hmm.. hard to see them though!

We saw Common Kestrels at the same spot too. Both Common and Lesser Kestrels are resident birds in Doñana.

Black Kite (tobiトビ)

Black Kites - summer birds in Doñana

Red Kites (Akatobiアカトビ) are resident. (no pic)

This Black-shouldered Kite (Kataguro-tobiカタグロトビ) didn't like something in the bush below, which we weren't able to see, and kept diving at it, making sharp calls at each dive.

Black-shouldered (or Black-winged) Kites - resident in Doñana

a pair of Little Owls (Kokimme-fukuroコキンメフクロウ)

Little Owls - resident in Doñana

Peregrine Falcon (Hayabusaハヤブサ)

 just coughing up a pellet!

Peregrine Falcon - resident in Doñana

Raptors we saw in Doñana - Black-shouldered Kite, Eurasian Griffon Vulture, Eurasian Sparrowhawk, Western Marsh Harrier, Hen Harrier, Montagu's Harrier, Black Kite, Red Kite, Common Buzzard

Click here for Vicent's Doñana Wings

Spain III - Doñana National Park

a view of a lake in Doñana

At this big lake we had a very good opportunity to observe a Red-knobbed Coot (Afurika(Africa)-oobanアフリカオオバン), one of the Andalucían birds, very closely.

The red knobs at the top of their white shield are only visible in the breeding season so it would be much harder to separate them from the Eurasian Coot especially at a distance.

Red-knobbed Coot - resident in Andalucía

Great Crested Grebes (kammuri-kaitsuburiカンムリカイツブリ) & Greater Flamingoes (Oh-furamingoオオフラミンゴ)

Greater Flamingoes

a Greater Flamingo & a pair of Mallards (Magamoマガモ)

a pair of colourful Red-crested Pochards (Akahashihajiroアカハシハジロ)!!

 Red-crested Pochards & a Great Crested Grebe (& a coot)

all these waterfowl are resident in Doñana

Greylag Geese (Haiiro-ganハイイロガン) - wintering

According to Vicent, our guide, most geese wintering in the area had already left and these geese would follow them in no time.

There doesn't seem to be much happening in the photo but...

Vicent heard Common Cranes (Kurozuruクロヅル) ready for migration to their breeding grounds in the distance.

Yes!

Common Crane - wintering in Andalucía

click here for Vicent's Doñana Wings

Spain II - Doñana National Park

Doñana National Park is located on the southeastern coast of Spain between Gibraltar and the border with Portugal and has one of the largest wetlands in Europe in it, a very important site for wildlife. Vicent, our guide, is knowledgeable and explained a lot about the park.



the birds we saw in Doñana National Park and around

White Storks (Shubashikohシュバシコウ) 

White Storks - resident in Andalucía

Glossy Ibis (Buronzu(bronze)-tokiブロンズトキ)

Glossy Ibis - resident in Andalucía

Spotless Starlings (muji-hoshimukudoriムジホシムクドリ)

These were taken at the same place as the 3rd pic for the white stork.
Red-rumped Swallows seemed to be mending their nests inside the brick building, flying in and out. (no pic...)

They look quite similar to the summer plumage of the Common Starling.
Spotless Starlings - resident in Andalucía

Squacco Herons (Kammuri-sagiカンムリサギ)

Squacco Herons always look surprised:)
wish I could have taken a photo of his/her? back as well.

Squacco Herons - resident in Andalucía


Black-crowned Night Herons (Goi-sagiゴイサギ)

Certainly they are one of the most numerous of the heron family in the world!

Black-crowned Night Heron - resident in Andalucía

click here for Vicent's Doñana Wings

Spain I

During our holiday in Seville, we had 2 whole-day bird-watching trips, one day to Doñana National Park and the next day to the Straits of Gibraltar, organised by our guide, Vicent of Doñana Wings.

a pond in Doñana

Thanks to Vicent's excellent expertise, we saw many bird species including Andalucian/Iberian special birds, such as the Spanish Imperial Eagle, the Marbled Duck and the Iberian Magpie. 

the mighty Spanish Imperial Eagle (Iberia-katashiro-washiイベリアカタシロワシ)

 by Vicent

by Vicent

being mobbed by a gang of Western Jackdaws (Nishi-kokumarugarasuニシコクマルガラス)

The Spanish Imperial Eagle is endemic to the Iberian Peninsula and classified as an Endangered species.

a pair of very shy Marbled Ducks (Usuyukigamoウスユキガモ)

They were feeding in the thick vegetation at the far end of the pond.

You can see their marbled back just about...

The Marbled Duck is resident in Doñana.

the Iberian Magpie (no Japanese name)

The Iberian Magpie (cyanopica cooki) and the Azure-winged Magpie (cyanopica cyanus) in Far East were considered as one species but recent studies revealed their significant genetic and morphological differences, which resulted in them both having a full monotypic status.

It is very interesting that the birds which look/behave/call almost identically live only on the edges of the great continent, and very mysterious too!

As a record, this is a photo of the Azure-winged Magpie taken in Chiba, Japan

The Iberian Magpie seem much more shy than the Azure-winged observed in eastern Japan.


click here for Vicent's Doñana Wings