EXTREMADURA - 7 DAY TOUR - DAY 3 - MAY 17TH 2012

A VERY DIRTY WOODCHAT

FINCA SANTA MARTA 'LANES'  - PRESA SIERRA BRAVA - MADRIGALJO RICE FIELDS - VEGAS ALTAS RICE FIELDS  - BELEN PLAIN

We enjoyed another hot day with a nice breeze but it did begin chilly as we set off at 7am for a walk around the grounds of the finca.

We found many birds along the hedges and fields and added Linnet and Greenfinch to our tour list but we failed to find Hawfinch which is usually quite common in the area. Many Azure-winged Magpies, Woodchat Shrikes, Sardinian Warblers, Serins, Golden Orioles and Hoopoes were enjoyed by the group.

After breakfast we set off southward to the rice fields but first we stopped at the dam of the Reservoir Sierra Brava. Along the way to the dam we found Roller, Common Buzzard, Little Bustard, Calandra Lark and lots of Corn Buntings, a party of some 20+ Lesser Kestrels were seen along the telegraph poles.

At the dam we added Common Pochard, Great Crested Grebe, Little Grebe, Great Reed Warbler, Jackdaw, Marsh Harrier, 6 Hoopoes, Thekla Lark, hundreds of Mallards and a huge roost of Cattle Egrets.

A couple of hours were spent in the area of Madrigalejo, we drove along the tracks adjacent to the rice fileds. The rice had just been planted so the fields were in the process of being flooded. At a bridge we had a nice time watching Common Waxbills, Melodious, Cetti's, Reed and Great reed Warblers. A few Golden Orioles flitted in the trees, a Tree Sparrow sat obligingly on a dead branch and a lovely Little Bittern flew out of the reeds just below us. At another stop we watched a flock of Red Avadavats, some Collared Pratincoles and lots of White Storks. But the bird life was not as good as usual due to the fact that all the hedgerows had been burnt away.

A COLOURFUL FISH SEEN IN ONE OF THE RIVERS

We ate our picnic lunch on another bridge near Vegas Altas where we watched a superb male Penduline Tit feed on reed mace, we also saw Common Nightingale, many Reed and Great Reed Warblers, and some more Red Avadavats.



For the next hour or so we drove through the area south of Vegas Altas and at last found some flooded fields with some bird life. A Squacco Heron caught our attention and this led us to a little haven. We found Ringed Plovers, Dunlin, Little Ringed Plovers, Greenshank, Little Egret and lots of Black-winged stilts.

It was now 4pm so we drove back to the finca and dropped half of the group off and the rest of us went out to Belen Plain to try to see Great-spotted Cuckoos. We failed again but had a lovely time watching many of the birds we saw last time including Little Bustards!