LLANOS DE SANTA MARTA – JARAICEJO (THREE BRIDGES AND HEATH) – PORTILLA DE TIETAR AND DEJESA IN MONFRAGUE
The final birding day had arrived and oh so quickly too! The weather was the same as all week, clear sky all day, but today it got even warmer. We decided to make a pre-breakfast trip back to the grassy plains of Santa Marta to try to see Sandgrouse as we had only seen Pintail Sandgrouse from a distance and Black-bellied not at all. Well the situation did not improve as far as Sandgrouse sightings were concerned, we only saw two Pintails and they were even further than before. However it was a lovely morning with the most beautiful sunrise and we saw plenty of other species which included; both of the Bustards, we had close views of the Great Spotted Cuckoo, Black Vultures sitting on the ground, Montagu’s Harrier and lots of Larks including Short-toed Larks.
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| Great-spotted Cuckoo with Thekla Lark in attendance |
After a leisurely breakfast we went out for the day with intention of getting back early because we were going into Trujillo for dinner. We intended to visit Arrocampo nature reserve near Almaraz. Before we got there we made several stops, we took the old road to Madrid which was deserted we, hardly saw a car so we could stop wherever we wanted to.
A group pf vultures circled over the hillside, they were all Griffon Vultures but as we watched them we found Woodchat Shrike and Cirl Bunting, a Jay flew in front of the leading bus a little later.
Our stop at the picturesque valley near to Jaraicejo was superb, the scenery is so nice there and despite the modern bridge carrying motorway traffic it still has a tranquil ambiance. We found Bee-eaters, White Wagtails, Little Ringed Plovers, Green Sandpiper and lots of common finches.
After climbing up through Jaraicejo we turned onto the heath to look for warblers, with some success. Several Dartford Warblers were singing from the top of bushes and eventually we found our main target bird the Spectacled Warbler, this little gem showed very well and even performed its flight display several times.
After stopping for a quick coffee and to collect supplies for lunch we arrived at the pools of Arrocampo nature reserve, the main lake is bisected by a road and it was from there that we viewed the eastern section of the water. An extensive reed-bed provides habitat for acrocephalus warblers, including Savi’s Warblers. It took us some time to locate one, we could hear them but it was hard to see them, finally one sat up long enough for all of us to see it in the ‘scope.
Other species on show were Purple Heron (a nest with two chicks), Purple Swamphen also with chicks, Reed Warbler, Cetti’s Warbler and we heard Great Reed Warbler but never found one and a Kingfisher sat out in the reeds for all of us to see well. Whilst eating lunch at the visitor’s centre we saw our first Sand Martins of the trip as they perched above us on telephone wires.
The afternoon was spent travelling through the lanes to the north/western entrance to Monfrague national park, we stopped at the entrance for a quick ice-cream and/or a cold drink. Then we took our second walk through the open woodland adjacent to the river Tieter, this unique habitat supports a huge range of species and even in the heat of mid-afternoon birds were singing. We listed many of the birds seen previously but had better views of Lesser-spotted Woodpecker, Orphean Warbler, Common Cuckoo, Golden Oriole, Woodlark and a Mistle Thrush was the first of the tour.
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| Reed Warbler |
At the Portillo del Tieter we found an Eagle Owl sitting deep in the shadows of a cave, it was an adult bird and everyone got to see it, the chick of the Spanish Imperial Eagle was fine still sitting on the nest and also we saw Blackcap, Subalpine Warbler, Black Redstart and Blue Rock Thrush.
Our evening was spent in Trujillo, after driving into town we walked up to the Plaza Mayor which looked as if a bomb had hit because a Cheese Fair had been on with hundreds of Trade Stand squeezed into the square, most stands were in the process of being taken down, it was a mess and ruined our enjoyment of this beautiful town plaza. We ate dinner in the lower part of town before driving back to the finca for a night cap.
The trip was virtually over, we have some time tomorrow to walk the grounds but I do not anticipate any new sightings for the trip list which stands at 169 seen, plus 5 more heard, plus two ( Sparrowhawk and Mistle Thrush) seen by the leader only.
It was a superb list of species with some excellent memorable sightings, we talked at dinner about our best birds and favourite and although many were mentioned we could not agree on a single species as being the best , and rightly so because they were all wonderful!
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