A beautiful sunny day brought out the birds and the butterflies, the flowers were terrific and the scenery just fantastic.
We arrived at a track which runs above the river Guadiaro near Estacion Cortes and walked through some cork oak woodland. We found several new species for our list and many birds were in song. Cirl Bunting, Blackcap were the first and Chaffinch, Subalpine Warbler, Serin, Greenfinch quickly followed, lots of species were also heard but not seen. Common Cuckoo, Green Woodpecker, Wren, Robin and Nightingale were not seen but heard well.
At the river we found Little Ringed Plover, White Wagtail, Grey Wagtail and we had great views of Nightingale. Many Cetti's Warblers sang unseen and both Booted Eagle and Short-toed Eagles showed well above us. A small flock of Rock Sparrows cheered us up as did a pair of Red-rumped Swallows.
The drive to Montejaque took us through some beautiful scenery with terrific limestone mountains and a deep river valley. Along a track above the village we ate our picnic lunch in lovely sunshine but our target birds did not appear, however, we did find a Spanish Ibex high up on the mountain with a newly born kid.
At the 'dam' we spent a good hour watching Blue Rock Thrush, Alpine Swifts, Crag Martins, Red-billed Chough, Black Wheatear and Rock Doves. We also found good numbers of Yellow Orchids (Ophrys lutea) and several nice butterflies.
Our last walk was through a lovely cork oak woodland where despite the time of day plenty of birds were calling and feeding in the trees. Firecrest, Chaffinch, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Nuthatch, Serin and Great tit were listed. We also saw Green Hairstreak, Moroccan Orange Tip, Scarce Swallowtail, Small Heath, Copper brown and several other butterflies.
We drove home earlier than usual as the wanted to relax in the sunshine on our terraces before getting ready for dinner.
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