el Rocio is utterly unique and provides an excellent base, the gateway to Doñana. Of course I've been here many times before, but for Elaine it was her first visit and even as a none birder she was completely blown away by the place.
The best way to approach the town is from the south, you drive through mile after mile of seemingly never ending stone pine woodland until at last you come to La Rocina bridge where suddenly the whole marsh opens up before you with hundreds of flamingoes, glossy ibis, spoonbills, egrets, ducks and waders, with the impressive church in the background surrounded by the white buildings of el Rocio, and apparently wild horses splash through the water. Closer inspection reveals many purple swamphens, spotless starlings, waxbills, Sardinian warblers, azure-winged magpies and depending on the time of year and how lucky you are, white-spotted bluethroats, penduline tits, red-knobbed coot, marsh terns and an array of raptors, plus many more species. All easily viewable from the promenade and if you've selected your hotel wisely, most easily viewable from your hotel balcony. This is top quality birding in an amazing setting requiring a minimum of effort. Of course from el Rocio you can explore deep in to Doñana and for details of how to do this please see a more complete trip report of mine to the area from December 2017 by clicking the following link Southern Iberia including Doñana, rice harvest spectacular.
However the current trip was a mainly walking holiday with birding a secondary activity, so I had to content myself more or less with what we saw in the vicinity of the town and on our walks. Our walk today started at the hotel, went along the promenade and through stone pine woodland.
White-spotted bluethroats breed in Iberia and winter in marshlands across the south. The race we see most often in the UK is red-spotted bluethroat. White-spotted is much scarcer in the UK, though a few years back there was a singing male at Martin Mere which I managed to see. At el Rocio you can see them in places along the promenade where they feed low down amongst the vegetation in the marsh, occasionally flying up onto the fence or reeds to offer great views. This bird was in exactly the same spot as one I saw in December 2017. Perhaps it's the same bird?
There are usually one or two penduline tits on the reedmace and one year I found a small flock of 10 birds right outside the hotel before breakfast! Always a great find, just look for the reedmace seed being flung in all directions as the birds feeds!
Hoopoe
Vast numbers of glossy ibis breed and winter in Doñana, in 2017 I came across a flock of 10,000 out on the rice fields.
Spotless starlings are all around the town.
By the bridge at La Rocina there is a information centre with a boardwalk and hides. Squacco herons are pretty reliable here. Also Savi's warbler in spring, but obviously not today.
White storks are everywhere in the area, breeding on anything suitable from pylons to chimneys to advertising signs to the tops of trees as in this case.
Displaying storks.
Mating storks.
Azure-winged magpie
Cirl bunting
There are usually at least 100 spoonbills viewable from the promenade.
Zitting cisticola or fan-tailed warbler.
Purple swamphen
Bird of the day but also worst photo of the day! I managed to pick out a red-knobbed coot from el Rocio promenade, the second of the holiday.
Around 100 cattle egrets were roosting in trees adjacent to the promenade.
el Rocio church.
"Wild" horses in the marsh.
I've stayed at this hotel many times over the years. Note the wooden posts outside the hotel for tying up horses.
La Rocina marsh.
The stone pine woodlands are full of colour in late winter / early spring.
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