Anyone been to Extremadura,Spain and/or Donana National Park?

Hi,

I'm hoping to go to Southern and Central Spain shortly with bird photography being a main priority.
I'll probably start off at the Donana National Park and then head inland towards Extremadura,with a visit to Monfrague National Park planned.

If anyone has been to either of these regions I'd love to here any thoughts,tips or recommendations for any good spots in,or around, the above areas, or anything else in general which may be useful.

My longest lens will be a 400mm on a 1.6X crop body which I'm hoping will be long enough,is this likely to be adequate?? Not after anything specific although raptors,etc would be nice.


Any help would be really appreciated,

thanks,

Yip been there....what do you wanna know exactly?
Rene de Heer

Nope but just about to go further East and to the Costa Blanca/Alicante region this weekend, various Salinas and wetland areas and scrubby hills are on my itinery - one thing to watch out for is not to get too adventurous in planning your trip, the distances in Spain are relatively huge and away from the trunk routes the road infrastructure is middling to poor, you could spend more time travelling than photographing!

Have you tried this website link for background reading/info?

http://www.birdtours.co.uk/tripreports/Spain/extre-index.htm

The "where to watch birds" series are an excellent source of info on local reserves etc.

Mike

I'm not sure that 400mm is going to long enough. Try the bullring and city walls at Trujillo for Lesser Kestrel; nesting White Storks are fairly common; vultures may come within range in Monfrague.

Rene

I'd be interested to hear how you found the place,from a photographic point of view?

Was your trip specificlly for bird photography? What was your longest lens?

Did you get many pleasing images from the trip/area?




Mike

Thanks for your your help.
I shall have a good read of those trip reports.
I shall also bear your suggestion in mind regarding distances and travelling.It's so easy to get carried away and over enthusiastic sat at home with an atlas and travel guide,as I've been discovering this week.

Hope you have an enjoyable trip.







Phil

I appreciate your input,thanks.

I do intend spending a while around Trujillo so will certainly be checking out the spots you mention.










If anyone else has the time to share any experiences of the extremadura/Donana regions,it would be appreciated.

Justin, it depends when you are going. I have been there twice and found the light pretty harsh and the birds difficult to approach. My main time was spend in the Estremadura, there are many pools of water where sheep come to drink and many birds came to drink. Unfortunately the bird species were rather limitd to Thekla larks, occassional Sandgrouse and little egrets. It was pretty tough going!

We also spend time in hides for Bustards but i feel this can only be done if you have a guide or someone who has knowledge where the birds are.

My longest lens was a 400DO plus 1.4 and 2x converter, for me it worked. Would i go there again? Probably not, i didnt come back with many images, which was rather disappointing. I know a German chap who runs Photo tours there and i am happy to forward his details to you.

He runs specially designed photographic tours in the South and North of Spain.

Rene de Heer

Justin, send me a pm if you are interested in some input from me. I don't know a lot of places but I'll share them with you.
jmartin@nibsc.ac.uk

Javier

Rene

Thanks for the message (in case you didn't get my message via e-mail reply)





Javier

Thanks,I've sent you an e-mail.

Yes i did, no problem mate! Anytime!
Rene