COTO DONANA TO EXTREMADURA
MATALASCANAS CLIFFS – VEGAS ALTAS RICE FIELDS –
MADRIGALEJO RICE FIELDS – PRESA SIERRA BRAVA
Our Transfer day began as we left the hotel in
Matalaascanas at 8:30am and headed for the cliffs at the edge of town. It was
chilly and very misty as we drove through the town but as we neared the cliffs
the mist lifted and we could see a wide expanse of the Atlantic Ocean.
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| The view from the cliffs at Matalascanas at dawn |
We spent half an hour looking out to sea without
seeing much at all, a few Northern Gannets; a couple of Caspian Terns, about 5
Sandwich Terns and two Cory’s Shearwaters flew by. On the shore we saw
Sanderling, Lesser Black-backed and Yellow-legged Gulls.
Our drive to Extremadura took about 3 hours during
which time we logged Red Kite, Northern Lapwing, Azure-winged and Eurasian
Magpies, Common Buzzard and few common species.
The first place we stopped was on a small bridge near
Vegas Altas in Extremadura; we sat and ate our picnic lunch in warm sunshine.
The noise from the local flocks of sparrows was very loud; we estimated that a
thousand birds were in the area. We also saw many White Storks and from the
bridge we found Water Rail, Cetti’s Warbler, Common Chiffchaff and identified
Spanish as well as House Sparrows.
Next we made two stops in the rice fields near Madrigalejo
where was watched small parties of Red Avadavat, Common Waxbill and Indian
Silverbill, all three are ‘exotic’ escape species that are doing rather well in
the area! Other species seen were Tree Sparrow, Southern Grey Shrike, Grey
Wagtail and White Stork.
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| Three pictures of an, as yet, unidentified species. We think it is a juvenile Indian Silverbill if you know different please let me know |
Further along the road we stopped to admire a couple
of Great Bustards and a Little Owl. Near the dam (presa) at sierra Brava we
found Hoopoe, Thekla Lark, Great-crested grebe, Common Coot and a couple of
thousand ducks, most of which were Mallards.
The last leg of the journey was up through Zorita
where we found a flock of some 20 Ravens, a Marsh Harrier and lots of Azure-winged
magpies. We did stop near Trujillo for walk along a quit lane where we found
Blackcap, Sardinian Warbler, Blue Tit and European Robin.
We finally arrived at our guest house at 5pm where we
concluded the birding for day.
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