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First ever trip to Doñana National Park

After years and years of longing to visit Doñana National Park, today the moment had finally arrived. Although the south of Spain is in desperate need of rain, today was not the ideal time for the sky to open, carrying some expensive gear along in an attempt to photograph this excellent birding place and its thousands of inhabitants. Fortunately there was only some drizzle at the beginning of the trip. However the sky was overcast most of the time, which resulted in some mediocre and rather dull lighting, but overall the trip was certainly worthwhile.



A colony of White Storks on an island at Dehesa de Abajo
A colony of White Storks on an island at Dehesa de Abajo

Doñana is so big that it would probably take more than a week to explore every corner of it. Today's visit was rather a first taste of what to expect. The place I spent most time at was Dehesa de Abajo, a big marshland area offering a lot of waders.



Tens of Marbled Duck resting at a lagoon
Tens of Marbled Duck (Near Threatened species)

A Marsh Harrier scaring away some ducks
A Marsh Harrier scaring the hell out of some ducks


Dehesa de Abajo wetlands
Daunting sky over Dehesa de Abajo

A short visit earlier in the morning to Dehesa Tornero, a pine tree forest, had resulted in another lifer: the magnificent Iberian Magpie, a bird in the crow family. A small group of these medium-sized birds, eight individuals strong, were flying in between the trees and clearly visible, but unfortunately difficult to photograph without any preparation.



Iberian Magpie between the bushes
An unclear photo, but who cares? Another lifer, the Iberian Magpie.


Forest with big trees
Some really beautiful trees in this area!

A ride between the surrounding canals resulted in a lot of unforgettable encounters, including Merlin, Bonelli's Eagle and a huge flock of Black-crowned Night Herons.



Black-crowned Night Heron territory


Black-crowned Night Heron
Not one of these charismatic birds …

Flock of Black-crowned Night Herons near a canal
… but forty-seven individuals!



Caspian Tern
Caspian Tern

Everywhere we drove there were birds around. Sometimes single birds or at times really large groups.





A pair of Cranes in a field
A pair of Cranes



Bonelli's Eagle sitting on an electricity pylon
Bonelli's Eagle

To take really decent photos of the birds it will take some more profound planning, but it seems like putting a hide pretty much anywhere could result in tons of awesome images.



Black Redstart
Black Redstart


Stork nests in a tree
A piece of brilliant Stork-made architecture.



Due to the large distance at which most of today's birds were observed, I went back home with a lot of motivation to take out my ghillie suit and prepare for some discreet close-up photography shoot. Soon that will be!




Small boat at the Guadalquivir River
A shortcut over the water using one of the ferries crossing the Guadalquivir River

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