Rufous Bushchat, near Los Palacios, Andalucia, Spain, June 2007

RUFOUS BUSHCHAT ON A SHORT CITY BREAK TO SEVILLE, SPAIN

A weekend trip to Seville in June 2007 afforded me the opportunity to try for that elusive birder’s favourite - Rufous Bushchat (Cercotrichas galactotes) at the small lagoon near Los Palacios Y Villafranca. This lagoon is also a good place to see Western Olivaceous Warbler and is about 30 km south of Seville so is less than an hour’s drive from there.


Tapas Bar, Seville, Andalucia, Spain, June 2007

The great thing about Seville, apart from the great birding nearby, is that it is a handy flight from Dublin (2.5 hours) and it is also a lovely city to visit with great tapas bars and wonderful architecture. Also in the city itself at this time of year the sky is covered with swifts, and Lesser Kestrels can be seen around the cathedral.


Rufous Bushchat, near Los Palacios, Andalucia, Spain, June 2007

Myself and my wife planned to stay in Seville for 3 nights so we pre-hired a car with Budget on the internet and collected it at Seville Airport. Pre-booking avoids having to spend time looking for a car hire firm in the city itself – I didn’t see any in the city on an earlier visit there this year. It also saves on the taxi fares to and from the airport although you will probably have to pay for parking at a hotel if you stay in the city centre as we did. The car hire cost €107 for three days. Although I booked a Renault Clio I was offered a choice between a Renault Megane or Opel Meriva when I arrived at the airport and I chose the latter.


Purple Heron, near Seville, Andalucia, Spain, June 2007

The lagoon and the tracks around it are visible in Google Earth (KMZ file - you need Google Earth installed to see this). Luckily I brought a sat nav unit with me so getting there from Seville was a doddle. The other good thing about the sat nav is that it can hold MP3s and the playback is actually quite loud. I could only find a small bit of Rufous Bushchat song on the web so I uploaded it to the unit before I left for Spain.


Plaza de Espana, Seville, Andalucia, Spain

On Monday 25th June, I made the trip to Los Palacios and left Seville at 11.15 am. I got there just in time for the midday sun. While it was hot at the site (31 degrees) I expected it to be worse. It didn’t help that I forgot my sun cream and cap so I had to make do with a t-shirt wrapped around my head.

I parked at the northern tip of the lake and I decided to try for Western Olivaceuos Warbler first. I didn’t have to wait long as a few were clambering around under the shade of the tamarisks on the western side. Also seen and heard were Melodious Warblers and Great Reed Warblers.

I was never going to get photos of the warblers with my digiscoping setup, so with time pressing on I decided to try for the Bushchat. I walked up and down the western side and played the song a few times but not a sign or sound of any RBC. So I drove around to the southern side and parked there. I played the MP3 a few more times but still no sign. I was getting a little impatient so drove around a little further afield. Nothing doing there either.


Rufous Bushchat, near Los Palacios, Andalucia, Spain, June 2007

On the way back to the southern side I saw a bird hopping on the ground with tail raised - this looked good, so I stopped the car and stuck my head out the window to get a proper view. I was facing into the sun and the bird flew up to a post. I couldn't make much out but I was sure this was one. It then flew into the nearby vineyard. I drove up past the vineyard to get better light. To my great relief the bird appeared again almost immediately on the small posts alongside the vineyard and started singing again. It gave great views for about 10 minutes.


Greater Flamingoes, El Rocio, Andalucia, Spain, June 2007

Another essential visit is down to Donana and El Rocio - about 80 km south of Seville. On the Sunday (not a great day to travel as the road is busy with Spanish tourists) we paid a quick visit to El Rocio. I had been on a birding trip here before so this was more of a sightseeing visit but I did manage to sneak off and do a bit of birding around the area.

All in all - a nice three days of sightseeing and birding.


Bee-eater, El Rocio, Andalucia, Spain, June 2007