OCTOBER 20TH 2012 - COTO DONANA & EXTREMADURA - 9...

BELEN PLAIN  -  SANTA MARTA DE MAGASCAR  - MONROY - EMBALSE DE TALAVAN

The day began with a beautiful sunrise and a clear blue sky, it was a little chilly but there was no wind at all. We left our guesthouse at 8:30am just as it was getting light, we drove the short distance to Belen Village and then out onto the plain. What a superb sight, miles of open grassland and untouched landscape the whole area was teaming with birdlife and the morning light was superb.

As we drove towards the height of the plains we stopped several times to look at Hoopoes, we must have seen a dozen in a couple of kilometers, we also saw many Thekla Larks, Spotless Starlings and Corn Buntings. Soon we found one of our target birds, the Little Bustard. There was a flock of at least 100 and then we found more, they were quite distant but unmistakable. Whilst watching the bustards we found a beautiful male hen harrier and a marlin. We also came across several Calandra larks, Red Kites, Griffon Vultures, Ravens and Jackdaws.149 bustards was our final count.

Further along the rack we got a liitle closer the bustards before they took to the air, a lovely sight. A couple of Mistle Thrushes were note-worthy, as was Southern Grey Shrike and huge flocks of Spanish Sparrows (we finally got great views of those).

After a short coffee break and a trip to the supermarket in Trujillo we drove out towards CASARES, we stopped on a bridge on the old road. We sat for half an hour to watch what species came by and we were pleasantly surprised. Many Spanish Sparrows were joined by Blackcap, Common Whitethroat, Dartford Warbler, Willow Warbler and Chiffchaff in the bushes. Near the pools below us we saw Little Grebe, Common Kingfisher, Cetti's Warbler (heard only), Greenfinch and Goldfinch.

Further along the old road to Casares we turned off to Santa Marta de Magascar and then stopped to look over some large, hedge-less fields where we found Calandra Lark, Skylark, Meadow Pipit, Water Pipit, our first Whinchat of the trip and Northern Wheatear. In the distance we saw Black and Griffon Vultures.

We ate our picnic lunch along a nearby track where the only new species was a Hare. We then spent a couple of hours scouring the fields for sandgrouse without success before driving to the Embalse (reservoir) near Talavan. Our the next hour or so we found a good variety of species despite the water level being very low. Bluethroat, Great White Egret, Eurasian Spoonbill, Water Rail, were joined by many common species. Our best sighting was of a pair of adult Bonelli's Eagle in text book plumage and fantastic light.

last of all we stopped at a bridge over the Rio Almonte on the road to Casares, in nice afternoon light we watched Crag martin