TRANSFER
DAY – EXTREMADURA TO ANDALUICA
Trujillo to
Malaga with stops at Vegas Altas rice fields – Moheda Crane Reserve – Embalse
Lenge
Another
superb day weather wise, the thunder storms had passed and we had a clear sky
with no wind, the temperature remained cool first thing.
We left our
lovely guest house and our excellent hosts, Martin and Claudia, and set off
southward for our long journey to Malaga. It was just getting light as we left
the village and by the time we had reached Vegas Altas rice fields the light
was perfect. We stopped several times to search for Common Cranes and in doing
so we found: White Storks, hundreds of Cattle Egrets, Grey Herons and 3 Great
Bustards. A couple of Common Buzzards and a Marsh Harrier were all the raptors
we saw. As we drove away from the area 3 Common Cranes flew over the road,
quite high up and it was too late to stop and scope them.
La Moheda
is a nature reserve designed specifically to cater for the winter visit of
thousands of Cranes and that is where we headed next. As we arrived we could
hear many cranes calling in the near distance but our view was obscured by a
high embankment which was built to hold a large amount of water to supply the
rice fields.
So we
walked up onto the embankment and scoped from there. In the water we saw
hundreds of Mallard, Shoveler and Gadwall, Grey Herons, Great Cormorants, a
couple of Green Sandpipers and a White Wagtail. The Common Cranes we now in
scoping distance but to get photographs we drove along some of the tracks
around the rice fields. The rice had recently been harvested so the birds were
feeding in the stubble; many Whites Storks, Northern Lapwing, Little and Cattle
Egrets and Grey Herons joined over 1000 Common Cranes. We could see flocks of
them everywhere and at one stage there were at least 1000 in the air, what a
sight and what a noise.
From La
Moheda we drove some 120 kilometers south to visit a large reservoir in the
hope of finding Bonelli’s Eagle. Just south of Merida we turned off the autovia
and headed eastward to Lenge, at the large dam we parked up and began watching
a huge flock of Alpine Swifts, 3-5 hundred is a conservation estimate! A
Glorious sight.
At the dam
a large outcrop of rock climbs some 100 meters high and on it we found Blue Rock
Thrush and Black Redstart, several Crag Martins were milling about too. On the
water we found 10+ Great Crested Grebes and a couple of dozen Black-headed
Gulls. Lots of Eurasian Jackdaws were flying about the dam wall and we also
found our first Grey Wagtail and Rock Bunting of the trip. The Bonelli’s Eagles
did not show so we gave up and continued our journey south.
After a
lunch stop we drove to Sevilla noting many Red Kites, Griffon Vultures, Common
Buzzards and huge flocks of sparrows, finches and starlings along the way.
Other birds of note were: Eurasian Hoopoe (3), Iberian Grey Shrike (10+) and a
single Sparrowhawk.
We dropped
off Mike and Lorna near Antequera, they were meeting up with family and were
staying an extra few days. The tour was over for them, but they had seen over
165 species and had really enjoyed the trip.
Bob and
myself continued to Malaga where we checked into our hotel near the airport, we
ate out in a large plaza nearby and planned one last birding outing in the
morning before Bob was due to fly out.
The trip
tally now stands at: 172 species with 2
heard but not seen (Tawny Owl and Water Rail).
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