COTO DONANA TO EXTREMADURA
VEGAS ALTAS - EMBALSE SIERRA BRAVA - CAMPO LUGAR - ZORITA PLAINS - SANTA CLEMENTE TRACKS
Despite traveling for 300km today we amassed a surprising list of species. We left El Rocio at 7:30am it was pitch black and very misty, in fact the mist didn't lift until we were well north of Sevilla. The going was tough at first with heavy traffic through Sevilla but as it got light the mist lifted and the traffic eased right off.
We stopped half-way for breakfast and coffee, it was warm enough to sit outside and as we did so we saw Red Kites and Crag Martins. For the rest of the journey we sat back and enjoyed the scenery and added many Common Buzzards to our day list as well as Cattle Egret, White Stork, Griffon Vulture, Marsh Harrier and Azure-winged Magpie.
 |
| The gang of three - next to a cork oak tree that has just be de-barked |
We passed the famous town of Merida before turning towards Cuidad Real and after stopping to buy picnic lunches we turned towards Trujillo. Our first birding stop was at Vegas Altas right in the middle of the rice growing area. We sat in warm sunshine to eat our picnic and at the same time we watched: Eurasian Hoopoe, White Stork, hundreds of Spanish Sparrow, Common Kingfisher, Common Waxbill and a Cetti's Warbler called constantly.
In the rice fields adjacent to the village of Madragalejo (I bet you can't say that correctly) we spent a nice hour or so watching a lot of exotic escapes: namely Red Avadavat, Common Waxbill and African Silverbill. There were lots of small flocks of these colourful little finches, especially the beautiful Avadavat.We also found Northern Lapwing, White Stork, Zitting Cisticola, Cetti's Warbler and Spanish Sparrows.
 |
| White Stork in the stubble fields near Vegas Altas |
A second stop in the rice field area we stood on a bridge over a small river where we found lots more Common Waxbills and Avadavats as well as Common Kingfisher, Blackcap, Long-tailed Tit and another Cetti's Warbler.
 |
| Red Avadavat - male |
Next we visited the dam at Sierra Brava and as we stood on top of the dam we had great views of a RED Kite, the dam wall also held Black Redstart and Rock Sparrow. The water was quite empty of birdlife except for the farthest bank!! In the far distance we could see hundreds of Mallard, Northern Shoveler and small numbers of Great Crested Grebes.
For the last hour or so we search the open filed around Campo Lugar for bustards and sandgrouse. We
were in luck as first, we found a group of 5 Little Bustards, then later we stopped along side a ploughed field and found sandgrouse. In fact, it was Mike, who had just woken up from a slumber, who found them. As he adjusted his eyes to the light he looked out of the van window and shouted "stop, I just seen some partridge type things". These things turned out to be a flock of 18 Pin-tailed Sandgrouse, they flew off as we got too close. Then a few minutes later a group of 12 Black-bellied Sandgrouse landed in the same field a few hundred meters away.
 |
| Azure-winged magpie |
After watching the grouse we pulled away and headed towards Zorita we only traveled a couple hundred meters when we stopped to look at 3 Great Bustards, what a great find, we had now seen all four main target species of the plains before we even got to our destination!
An hour later we had driven the rest of the way to our guest house, settled in and we were out for a walk along a local track. The bird life was quiet but we did find a Firecrest (it was Mike again), also Blackap, Sardinian Warbler and quite a few Azure-winged Magpies.
After alovely dinner we ventured out in search of owls, at least 3 Little Owls called but there was no sign of the Long-eared Owls that we had hoped for.
No comments:
Post a Comment