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The Home of Doñana Bird Tours |
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Villamanrique de la Condesa. The gateway to Doñana. |
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Our
home town of Villamanrique de la Condesa is a small Spanish village
situated in the province of Sevilla and within the boundaries of the
Doñana Natural Park. It is surrounded by forests, agricultural land,
streams, lagoons, dehesas (meadows) and open plains, where birding is
of a very high quality.
The municipalty of Villamanrique covers
an area of 57.4 sq/kms, with a population of 3,760 inhabitants,
collectively known as "Manriqueños", and although two thirds of the
people live in the village, the overall density is only 65 people per
sq/km. At the current time, there are four other British families
living in Villamanrique, apart from us. The main source of income
derives from agriculture and small businesses, although some light
industry also contributes to the economy. | |
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The
centrepiece of the village is the church, where every year during the
annual pilgrimage to the world famous El Rocío religious festival,
almost 200,000 pilgrims visit on their way to El Rocío.
The
Pilgrims pass through during four days and create a spectacle of colour
with their ornately decorated horse-drawn carts and buggies. The women
are dressed in brightly coloured flamenco dresses and the men, riding
on horses, are clad in traditional Andalusian riding dress. | |
The
village is ideally situated as a birding base due to its' close
proximity to all of the best birding sites in the Doñana region (see
the chart below). Here you can find fully equipped modern 3/4-person
apartments that are ideal for self-catering holidays, comfortable
2-person rooms and a very good B&B facility, all at very reasonable
prices. There are several restaurants and numerous cafe/bars where you
can find some wonderfully delicious typical "Manriqueño" food.
Also
within the village, next to the church, is the Palacio de
Villamanrique, one of the homes of the Countess de Orleans. Within the
palace gardens there is a White Stork nesting colony, with up to 19
nests and four other nests can be seen on the church tower.
For
a more detailed look at Villamanrique de la Condesa, take a look at the
official townhall website (in Spanish) by clicking on to the following
link VILLAMANRIQUE. | |
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A
view of the thousands of pilgrims as they pass through Villamanrique on
their way to El Rocío during the relgious festival in spring. Each
group (hermandads or brotherhoods) have their own statue of the "Virgin
of the dew", transported on ox-drawn carts. Here, two such statues wait
outside the church where the oxen will be blessed by the priest for
delivering the virgin safely to El Rocío. | |
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A view of the Laguna San Lázaro, which is located in the area of the Dehesa Boyal, just a kilometre outside of the village.
Also
within the Dehesa Boyal are the municipal park, the Arroyo de Gato
(stream of the cat) and the Centro de Visitantes de Dehesa Boyal, each
of which offer very good birding opportunities. |
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Villamanrique, a great birding area. |
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Many
of the best birding sites in the region are within a very short
distance of Villamanrique. The picture on the right shows part of the
Laguna de San Lázaro, which is a part of the Dehesa Boyal, a 317
hectare area of semi-protected land just one kilometre from the
village. Set in a mixed forest of stone pines and cork-oak trees, it
holds many interesting bird species, such as Iberian Magpies, Hoopoes,
Short-toed Treecreepers, Crested Tits, Sardinian Warblers, Tree
Sparrows and Zitting Cisticolas. Seasonal visitors include Black
Storks, Red Kites, Southern Grey Shrikes, Black Redstarts and Woodlarks
in the winter and Golden Orioles, Booted Eagles, Black Kites, Common
and Great Spotted Cuckoos and Woodchat Shrikes in the summer.
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The
Arroyo de Gato, a seasonal stream that runs just to the west and south
of the village. This is a favourite feeding spot for Little and Cattle
Egrets, White Storks, Grey Herons and Black-winged Stilts. | |
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The gateway to birding in Doñana. |
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In
the past, many visitors to this region have stayed in the hotel,
hostales or campsite at El Rocío, believing that it offers the best
birding in the area. Whilst El Rocío can be very good when there is
water in the marshes, for much of the year the marshes are dry and no
birds are present. This has resulted in people having to drive quite
long distances from El Rocío to find good birding sites.
Below are the driving times from Villamanrique to all of the best birding sites in the Region.
5 minutes. Laguna de San Lázaro, Dehesa Boyal, the Corredor Verde de Guadiamar, Laguna de Mancho Zurillo.
10 minutes. Arroyo de las Cigüeñas, the "turf farm", Dehesa de Banco, Dehesa de Pilas, the Entremuros, Vado de Quema.
15 minutes. Brazo de la Torre, Isla Mayor, Dehesa de Abajo, Cañada de Rianzuela, the "reedbeds", the "heron ponds".
20 minutes. El Rocío, Arroyo de Santa Maria, Arroyo de las Cañadas, La Rocina, the Moguer road, the Casa de Bombas, Cañada de las Pájaros.
25 minutes. Palacio del Acebrón, El Acebuche, Los Guayules, Matalascañas, Huerta Tejada, Hato Raton, Niebla, Las Doblas.
30 minutes. La Cantarita.
35 minutes. Lucio del Lobo, José Antonio Valverde Centre, Caño de Guadiamar, Caño de Rosaliman, Marismas de Hinojos, Laguna de Balestrera.
40 minutes. Lagunas de Palos, Brazo del Este, Isla de los Olivillos.
45 minutes. Estero de Domingo Rubio, La Rábida.
50 minutes. Marismas de Odiel.
55 minutes. Laguna El Portil.
60 minutes. El Rompido, Marismas de Río Piedras.
65 minutes. La Ribera.
The
Portuguese border is only 120 kms away and can be easily reached in
about an hour. Excellent birding can be had at the Castro Marim
Visitors Centre, which is right beside the Río Guadiana, on the
Portuguese side. | |
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