EXTREMADURA        FULLY BOOKED
& COTO DONANA
7th - 14th April 2010

This is a weeklong tour combining the very best of Extremadura with the key sites in the Donana area. We'll spend four nights in the historical town of Trujillo, from where we can explore the best sites of Extremadura, home to some of Spain's finest and most contrasting habitats, including the wooded mountainsides of Monfrague National Park, which holds one of Europe's highest concentrations of raptors. It is also home to vast areas of sun-drenched steppes, rolling plains and dehesa. We'll then move to Andalucia, close to the world famous Coto Donana for three days birding in search of the regions most sought after birds, some of which have there entire European breeding distribution here in this southern corner of Spain.

DAY 1
Meet at the East Midlands airport to catch our flight to Faro, pick up our transport and start our drive north to Trujillo where we'll be based during our stay in Extremadura. The drive will give us our first taste of the birds to come with commoner species such as Black Kite, and White Stork regularly encountered. After a short break, we'll continue our journey to Trujillo, check in to the hotel and, time permitting, have an hour or so birding nearby, with Trujillo itself providing good views of White Stork, Lesser Kestrel, Pallid Swift, Spotless Starling and Serin.

DAYS 2 - 4
We'll spend the next three days visiting all the key sites of the area in search of our target birds. Monfrague National Park, described by many as the most important area in Europe for raptors will feature heavily as this offers many of the most sought after species. Here Egyptian, Griffon and Black Vulture will all be seen, the latter with c200 pairs is more numerous here than any where else in the world, while the even more numerous Griffon is widespread and breath-taking views are almost guaranteed, as are Black and Red Kites. No less than five species of eagle occur, Booted, Short-toed, Golden, Bonelli's and the rare Spanish Imperial. As well as the raptors the park is also home to a good selection of other species including Black Stork, Eagle Owl, Bee-eater, Thekla Lark, Crag Martin, Black Redstart, Black Wheatear, Blue Rock Thrush, Chough and Rock Bunting.

Away from Monfrague we'll visit some of the best areas of Steppe and Dehesa. Probably the most sought-after species here will be Great & Little Bustard, and Pin-tailed & Black-bellied Sandgrouse, all of which occur within easy reach of Trujillo. Other birds of the steppe should include Montagu's Harrier, Great Spotted Cuckoo, Roller, Hoopoe, Southern Grey & Woodchat Shrike, Calandra & Crested Lark, Black-eared Wheatear and Spanish Sparrow. In the Dehesa (open grassy or scrubby land with scattered trees, mostly Holm & Cork Oak) species include Black-shouldered Kite, Fan-tailed & Orphean Warblers, Azure-winged Magpie and Cirl Bunting. We'll also visit some of the many river valleys, where Rock Sparrow, Golden Oriole and Red-rumped Swallow breed along with Dartford, Sardinian and Sub-alpine warblers.

DAY 5
After checking out of the hotel we leave Trujillo behind us and make an early start on our return journey south to Andalucia. Although still mountainous in nature it is perhaps the regions wetlands that hold the most interest for us, with many new birds to add to our already long list. These include rarities such as White-headed Duck and Red-knobbed Coot, with the elusive Marbled Duck also a possibility. We should arrive at our hotel around lunchtime and after checking in, we'll head out for an evening birdwatching close to the hotel, where we'll start to get an impression of the regions birdlife.

Day 6 & 7
These two days will be spent visiting the key wetland sites of the region, where as well as the above mentioned rarities, highlights may include Black-necked Grebe, Red-crested Pochard, Purple Gallinule, Marsh Harrier, Osprey and both Black and Whiskered Terns. Passerines may include Melodious, Savi's & Great Reed Warblers, Short-toed Treecreeper and Penduline Tit, along with exotics such as Yellow-crowned Bishop and both Common and Black-rumped Waxbill both now established in the area. We'll visit heronries that should contain Night Heron, Squacco Heron, Cattle Egret, Little Egret, and Glossy Ibis as well as a colony of Spoonbill. Greater Flamingo is also widespread, and both Purple Heron and Little Bittern occur in the reedbeds.

An area of salt pans on the banks of the Rio Guadalquivir should provide a good selection of waders, with Black-winged Stilt, Avocet, Stone Curlew, Collared Pratincole and Kentish Plover all breeding, while a long list of others are possible on migration. It's also the best place locally for Slender-billed Gull, with several pairs breeding along with Mediterranean Gull and Gull-billed Tern. With luck we may pick out Audouins Gull or Caspian Tern.

Day 8
After a final morning birding we'll set off for Faro and our return flight to the UK.

Prrvious Extremadura

2008 Trip Report
2009 Trip Reort

2007 Photo Gallery
2009 Photo Gallery

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