- We stayed at Casa Rural El Recuerdo, with birders Martin and Claudia Kelsey. They run a country guesthouse for birders, in the heart of Extremadura.
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| Our Guesthouse We slept in room at top left ..... Library picture |
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| ........and it had a swimming pool Library picture.
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Enough of that kind of stuff let's cut to the chase and talk birds!
Friday 27th March 2015
En route to our guest house, from the airport at Madrid, we stopped off at Embalso de Arrocampo, near Saucedilla.
In our short stay at this site we saw over 30 different species with the highlights being:
- Black-shouldered Kite 1
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| Black-shouldered Kite Library picture |
- Purple Gallinule (Swamp Hen) 2
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| Purple Gallinule or Swam Hen Library picture |
- Fantail Warbler 3
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| Fantail Warbler Library picture |
- Black Vulture 4
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| Black Vulture Library picture |
- Red-rumped Swallow 5
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| Red-rumped Swallows Library pictures |
- Black Kite 6
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| Black Kite Library picture |
- Griffon Vulture 7
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| Griffon Vulture Library picture |
- Purple Heron 8
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| Purple Heron Library picture |
- Spanish Sparrow 9
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| Spanish Sparrow Library picture |
We missed out on the Bluethroat which showed in the vegetation in front of hide 2 but not long enough for us to get good views. We also heard the Savi's Warbler but did not see it. With this in mind we vowed to return on another day and try a second time.
We then headed to our guesthouse with just in time to unpack before dinner.
A long day, mainly spent travelling but with a smashing final third when we were able to do some birding!
Saturday 28th March 2015
Time to go looking for Bustards! We travelled north for some 5-10 miles this time in and around the town of Trujillo.
In the town itself we saw several new birds to me, namely:
- Spotless Starlings 10
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| Spotless Starling Library picture |
- Lesser Kestrels 11
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| Lesser Kestrel Library picture |
- Pallid Swifts 12
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| Pallid Swift Library picture |
- Black Storks 13
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| Black Stork Library picture |
- In the surrounding countryside Paul soon located the Great Bustards. By the end of the day we had seen 10 with some of the most amazing courtship scenes you could wish for.
Great Bustards 14
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| Great Bustards Library picture |
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| Great Bustard Library picture |
- Booted Eagle 15
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| Booted Eagle Library pictures |
- Crag Martin 16
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| Crag Martin Library picture |
- Calandra Lark 17
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| Calandra Lark Library picture |
- Azure-winged Magpie 18
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| Azure-winged Magpie Library picture |
- Southern Grey Shrike 19
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| Southern Grey Shrike Library picture |
In the afternoon on the road between Trujillo and Santa Marta de Magasca we came across a Golden Eagle in amongst a kettle of Griffon Vultures. Paul saw it first and made the classic comment "look for the smallest bird in the sky and that's the Golden Eagle".
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| Golden Eagle Library picture |
- Short-toed Eagle 21
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| Short-toed Eagle Library picture |
After lunch we took a leisurely anticlockwise drive from Trujillo to Santa Marta de Magasca and back, stopping whenever we saw something of interest. Especially memorable were our only Montagu’s harriers of the trip, first a distant male that caused some initial ID confusion, and then a much closer pair, the male obligingly sat on a fence post.
- Montagu's Harrier 22
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| Montagu's Harrier m Library picture |
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| Montagu's Harrier f Library picture |
By late afternoon it was cooling down so, on the return leg, we took a rough but readily driveable track that runs north from the Santa Marta to Trujillo road. This is always a good place to see black-bellied sandgrouse and it was not long before we were watching a foraging group of 7 and also 7 golden plover.
- Black-bellied Sandgrouse 23
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| Black-bellied Sandgrouse Library picture |
A truly amazing second day with lots of birds around, most of which were new to me. The pick of the day had to be the displaying Little Bustards but the Montagu's Harrier ran it a close second.
Sunday 29th March 2015
- Little Bustard 24
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| Little Bustard m Library picture |
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| Little Bustard f Library picture |
- Pin-tailed Sandgrouse 25
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| Pin-tailed Sandgrouse Librart picture |
Other interesting sightings included:
- Sardinian Warbler 26
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| Sardinian Warbler Library picture |
- We must have seen at least 4 Hoopoes today 27
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| Hoopoe Library pictures # # |
- and 3 Little Owls 28
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| Little Owl Library picture |
- a surprising Woodchat Shrike 29
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| Woodchat Shrike Library picture |
Another rich day of birding but bird of the day had to be the Little Bustard, closely followed by the Pin-tailed Sandgrouse. Another classic quote from when we were seated in the café at the end of our tour - " and the bird coming towards us is the Golden Eagle" our second of the day and our third overall.
Monday 30th March 2015
At Pena Falcon we sighted the following beauties:
- Blue Rock Thrush 30
Blue Rock Thrush
Library picture
- Egyptian Vulture 31
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| Egyptian Vulture Library picture |
- Rock Bunting 32
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| Rock Bunting Library picture |
and at Portilia del Tietar we sighted what was probably the rarest bird of the trip - a Spanish Imperial Eagle sitting on the nest at the top of one of the bushes to the right of the steep outcrop. We had just missed the changeover of parents by less than 30 minutes and despite waiting for some time there was not another - never mind, what we had was more than enough.
- Spanish Imperial Eagle 33
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| Spanish Imperial Eagle Library picture |
A little later in the day we were to spot the Bonelli's Eagle to complete the full set of 5 for this area - Booted, Golden, Short-toed, Spanish Imperial and Bonelli's - a remarkable achievement!
- Bonelli's Eagle 34
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| Bonelli's Eagle Library picture |
other birds of interest included:
- Thekla Lark 35
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| Thekla Lark Library picture |
- Subalpine Warbler 36
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| Subalpine Warbler Library picture |
- Alpine Swift 37
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| Alpine Swift Library picture |
Another extraordinary day!
Tuesday 31st March 2015
After 4 days of full-on birding in hot weather we decided to ease off a bit today and return to Embalso de Arrocampo, near Saucedilla to get better views of the Blue Throat and to look for other rarities. Here are the results:
- Squacco Heron 38
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| Squacco Heron Library picture |
- Bluethroat 39
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| Bluethroat Library picture |
- Savi's Warbler 40
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| Savi's Warbler Library picture |
- We even got best ever views of a Cetti's Warbler 41
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| Cetti's Warbler Library picture |
The prize species today was always going to be the Bee-eater as they flew past us on their way north. Some 30+ were as they whizzed over.
- Bee-eater 42
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| Bee-eater Library picture |
Still finding some quality birds even on day 5!
Wednesday 1st April 2015
- We said our goodbyes to Martin and Claudia at the guesthouse but not before Martin pointed out our final new species for this trip - a Short-toed Treecreeper in the trees nearby.
Short-toed Treecreeper 43
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| Short-toed Treecreeper Library picture |
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With several hours driving ahead of us there was only time to make one stop and the consensus was that we would like to see the Bustards and the Sandgrouse again. Thankfully they were still there and we were able to enjoy one last look before driving to Madrid airport.
What a wonderful trip this was with so many new birds to see and in such a rich environment. It was a privilege to be part of this venture and in such esteemed company
The only birds we missed were the Scops Owl and the Little Bittern:-
- We came tantalisingly close to seeing the owl each night after monitoring it's calls and following them. We even managed to pinpoint the calls to a single tree on the last two nights but were still unable to make the sighting.
- I was one of the few to miss the Little Bittern on days 1 and 5 - I got a fleeting glimpse of the bird flying, but not enough to make a positive ID.
Below are listed the other birds we saw b not mentioned so far:
Great-crested Grebe
Little Grebe
Cormorant
Cattle Egret
Little Egret
Great-white Egret
Grey Heron
White Stork
Spoonbill
Mallard (10)
Red Kite
Marsh Harrier
Common Buzzard
Common Kestrel
Peregrine Falcon
Red-legged Partridge
Coot
Black-winged Stilt
Ringed Plover
Greenshank (20)
Green Sandpiper
Common Sandpiper
Black-headed Gull
Lesser Black-backed Gull
Rock Dove
Collared Dove
Cuckoo
Scops Owl heard
Little Owl
Golden Plover (30)
Barn Swallow
House Martin
Woodlark
Crested Lark
Grey Wagtail
White Wagtail
Meadow Pipit
Robin
Black Redstart
Stonechat (40)
Northern Wheatear
Blackbird
Songthrush
Dartford Warbler
Blackcap
Chiffchaff
Blue Tit
Great Tit
Magpie
Jackdaw (50)
Raven
House Sparrow
Chaffinch
Serin
Greenfinch
Goldfinch
Hawfinch
Corn Bunting
Nightingale
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