Sevilla 08/10/2011

Saw loads of Cattle Egrets before the plane had landed, milling about on farmland on the approach and also actually on the air strip and then en route from the airport to Sevilla. And then no more once I was out and about with a camera. Today I just had a look around the area where the hotel is (on the southern outskirts of Sevilla), and then walked to Sevilla and had a look around there. I've walked bloody miles in the baking hot sun. Mainly I have found myself looking at scantily clad females and mentally saying 'hola' in a sleezy Leslie Phillips manner.

Not too much avian interest in the town - no Lesser Kestrels on the cathedral, and nothing exciting found in the big Maria Luisa park on the way in, apart from loads of screaming Ring-necked Parakeets (again, saw some in Holland a few weeks ago as well). Nevertheless, I found a few interesting things to point the camera at - though whilst I am lucky to have internet access here in the hotel I am using my crappy laptop/monitor and don't have my proper software.

First of all, within a shortish slog of the hotel I found some Red-veined Darters, mainly female types. In the same area, I also found some Lang's Short-tailed Blue butterflies.

Red-veined Darter - female

Lang's Short-tailed Blue

Just after watching these for a while, I happened to look up and - FECK!

Got to be a Griffon, hasn't it? Massive. Bloody rare Ruppell's Vulture! (thanks Stewart)

In the aforementioned park, some superb bright dropwings posing ridiculously well.

Orange-winged Dropwing (left) and Violet Dropwing (right)

Also loads of these in the water:

Iberian Green Frog

I've sussed out the bus timetable and bus station, so all being well some light birding around El Rocio tomorrow, on the edge of Coto Donana. Meanwhile, this shot was taken at 20:00 local time tonight whilst sipping una cerveza by the pool.