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FOR THOSE OF YOU THAT PARTICIPATED IN A WINGSPAN TOUR DURING 2017, THANK YOU FOR YOUR CUSTOM & YOUR COMPANY AND WE WISH YOU HEALTH AND HAPPINESS FOR 2018.

THE PROGRAMME FOR SPRING 2018 IS NOW ON MY

WEBSITE BUT HERE IS A PREVIEW



Jan 2nd - 5th - Somerset Levels

Jan 7th - 20th. - Sri Lanka. £1850

Feb 16th - March 3rd Costa Rica - full

Mar 20th - 30th Morocco - 10 nights. - full

April 2nd - 9th - Andalucia migration tour. - full

April 10th - 18th - Coto Donana & Extremadura - £950 - 2 places

April 19th - 27th - Coto Donana & Extremadura - £950 - full

April 28th - 5th May. - Lesvos - full

May 6th - 13th - Portugal - £950 - 4 places

May 15th - 22nd - Northern Greece - full

May 23rd - 30th Bulgaria - £850 - 4 places

May 23rd - 30th - Andalucia birds and butterflies - £850

May 31st - June 7th. - Extremadura and Sierra de Gredos - £950

June 12th - 20th - Pyrenees and Picos de Europa - full


FLIGHTS NOT INCLUDED IN THESE PRICES



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Red-throated Bee-eater

Red-throated Bee-eater
join us for a fantastic tour of The Gambia this November

Saturday, April 13, 2013

APRIL 13TH - DAY 2 - EXTREMADURA AND DONANA 7-.DAY TOUR

BELEN PLAIN - RIO MAGASCAR - SANTA MARTA - MONROY - RIO ALMONTE - EMBALSE TALAVAN - LLNOS DE CASARES

Another smashing day with fantastic weather and some superb bird sightings. We went out at 7am in the dark and headed to Belen Plain. Unfortunately there were severe roadwork disruption with a diversion in the village and massive road repairs out on the plains. This only delayed us and did not prevent us having a tremendous time time as the sun began to rise.

Once the light had improved we began to find our target species, many Calandra Larks were singing alongside Thekla, Crested and Short-toed Larks. But it was the Great Bustard that caused a major reaction in the group, we saw at least four birds displaying, what a strange and unusual sight.

We then located a Little bustard, it was quite distant but showed well. The bird song all around was amazing all the larks were competing  with Hoopoes, Corn Buntings, Stonechats and Starlings. A tawny Pipit was a nice find and many Griffon Vultures, Black Vultures, Black kites, Red Kites, Ravens, Cattle Egrets, White Storks and Montagu's Harriers began to fill the sky.

We eventually got back to Finca Santa Marta for breakfast just before 10am and it wasn't until 11am that we were back out on the road. The rest of the day was spent driving along the country lanes across the dehesa and open grasslands between Trujillo and Casares where we found an abundance of wildlife and some beautiful scenery. Everywhere we looked we could see a blaze of colour with thousands of spring flowers in full bloom. We found a flock of some 22 Pin-tailed Sandgrouse, a couple of Great Spotted Cuckoos, and hundreds of raptors.



We ate lunch at the Embalse Talavan where nearby we found the nest of a Golden Eagle, two birds were present and we were lucky enough to witness a nest change-over as one adult left whilst seconds later the other one appeared and settled on the nest. In and around the water we found a couple of good species worth mentioning: two Black Terns were feeding over the water a very unusual sighting for central Spain and  a pair of Garganey fed close to the far shoreline.

Our search for Roller ended when we eventually found two of them sitting alongside one of the hundreds of nest boxes strapped to each powerline pole. We finally arrived back at the Finca at 6pm, it had been a long day but a very successful one, with 84 species on our day list we were all tired but well satisfied..

Common Cuckoo seen in the garden at Finca Santa Marta


 An evening walk after dinner produced only Scop's Owl and nightingale both heard not seen, no nightjars called at all despite perfect weather conditions.






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