APRIL 12TH - DAY 1 - EXTREMADURA AND DONANA 7-DAY TOUR

MADRID AIRPORT TO TRUJILLO  WITH STOPS AT ARROCAMPO, JARAICEJO AND THE RIO ALMONTE

The group assembled in an hotel near Madrid airport in preparation for this 7 day tour of Extremadura and the Coto Donana. We left the hotel at 7:30am and negotiated the complex motorway system around Madrid before heading off Southwest towards Extremadura. There was a clear blue sky at first but it soon clouded over as we left the city.

Claire, Paul, Vern and Trish at Arrocampo

After an hour or so we were out of town and the bird sighting began to increase, we saw White Storks, Black Kites, Wood Pigeons and even Monk Parakeets. After  a breakfast stop we pulled off the motorway to view a couple of road side pools where we found: Gadwall, Mallard, Great Crested and Little Grebes, Common Sandpiper, Corn Bunting, Crested Larks and Goldfinches. Raptors where everywhere, Red Kites, Griffon Vultures, Common Buzzards and a single Montagu's Harrier were added to our sightings list.

 We spent a couple of hours at the new reserve of  Arrocampo where we visited a few hides and watched many new species. Herons and egrets where the birds of the moment especially Purple Herons and  Little Egrets. We also saw a single Great White Egret, a couple of Squacco Herons, Grey Herons, Black-crowned Night Herons, Gull-billed Terns, Little Bittern, Purple Swamphen, Moorhen, Common Coot and many Great Cormorants. Passerine sightings included: Zitting Cisticola, White Wagtail, Cetti's Warbler, Corn Bunting and Spanish Sparrow.

After driving a few kilometers further along the motorway we pulled of to a well spot on the heathland above Jaraicejo. This is suitable habitat for Dartford and Spectacled Warblers, both which were seen  but it was the Dartford that proved to be the most obliging. Other birds seen were: Southern Grey Shrike, Booted Eagle, Black Vulture and many Crested Larks.

Next we stopped at the Rio Alomonte where three generations of bridges can be seen in a steep sided valley. We spent an incredible hour watching some terrific birds, the best of which had to be a Lesser-spotted Woodpecker, this male bird appeared on a dead tree out in the open and was so obliging I couldn't believe our luck. The bird had excavated a couple of holes and kept flying back and forth from the nearby woods to the the nest sites, incredible.

as you might imagine a took quite few pictures of this hard to find little beauty

I have never, in 40 years of birding, seen such an obliging Lesser Spotted Woodpecker

At the river we watched from the old bridge where we saw; Crag Martin, Bee-eater, Hoopoe, Rock Bunting, Spanish Sparrow, Woodchat Shrike, Red-rumped Swallow, Stonechat and a Common Nightingale sang from the nearby trees.


We drove a little way upriver and whilst watching a Common Sandpiper we found 3 Otters playing in the river!1 How cool was that? A Cirl Bunting was singing from the nearest bushes and gave great views.

For the last part of the afternoon we drove to Finca Santa Marta which is just south of Trujillo. This superb converted olive mill has many hectares of land with superb track from which we saw a good variety of species. After settling into our rooms we took a short walk and found Azure-winged Magpies, Serin, Blackcaps, Hoopoes and many common species.

Azure-winged Magpie

Our evening concluding with drinks on one of the many terraces of this unique accommodation before we got ready for dinner. What a great day! Despite traveling some 300 kilometers we listed 82 species with some excellent sightings.