A full today! We made a pre-breakfast visit to Belen Plain then we went out all day followed by a post dinner walk for nightjars and owls!
The weather was superb again, all day sunshine with a light breeze - a high temperature of 30C in the afternoon.
The trip to Belen Plain began at 7am, we arrived just as bright orange sun-light lit up the sky line and sent out rays of all shades, ranging from orange to pink! The dawn chorus was delightful as hundreds of larks, hoopoes, buntings and sparrows sang together in utter chaos. Our first stop produced: Crested lark, Thekla Larks, Calandra Lark, Corn Bunting, several Hoopoes, a perched Booted Eagle, a dozen or so Black Kites and many White Storks. Then we located a couple of Little Bustards, they were quite distant but they were males and they stood proud of the grass as they delivered their 'raspberry' calls.
Our second stop, deeper into the plains area, produced more Little Bustards and about 10 Great Bustards, these huge creatures strolled majestically over their grassy kingdom ocassionally looking up as if posing for our cameras. We drove along a bumpy track in search of cuckoos but failed to see one and whilst searching we found Southern Grey Shrike, Little Owl, Stonechat, Azure-wnged and Eurasian Magpies and a pond held Mallard and Black-winged Stilts.
After breakfast we drove into Trujillo to buy our picnic supplies before setting off in the direction of Casares. A short stop on an old bridge just west of Trujillo produced: Kingfisher, Cetti's Warbler, Common Nightingale, Cirl Bunting, Lesser Kestrel, Spanish Sparrow and a Hoopoe calling from a pylon.
We turned off the main road towards Santa marta and made a couple stops on the open grassland to look for sandgrouse. The morning had really warmed up and heat haze became a problem, we didn't see or hear a Sandgrouse. We did enjoy close views of Tawny Pipit and fleeting views of Short-toed Lark. More Great Bustards were found before we decided to stop for lunch. We sat in the shade of an oak tree to eat our picnic and during lunch we saw Woodchat Shirke, Mistle Thrush, Azure-winged Magpie, Hoopoe and Black Kites.
Over the next couple of hours we stopped at bridges over the Rio Magasca and we paid a visit to the Embalse Talavan. The embalse (reservoir) held both Great-crested and Little Grebes, Coot, Moorhen, Mallard, Gadwall, Common Pochard, Black-winged Stilt, Little Egret and 4 Collared Pratincole.
The last brdige we stopped at was near Casares and spanned a valley over the Rio Almonte, it was alive with hirundines and Swifts. The main attraction for us was a samll colony of Alpine Swifts, they showed very well, but the shear numbers of House Martins, Swallows, Red-rumped Swallows and Crag Martins was amazing. On the rocky shoreline we found Little-ringed Plover and on an old birdge we found a single, male, Black Wheatear. Afternoon raptors seen included Short-toed Eagle, Red KIte, Black and Grffon Vultures.
Before we returned to our finca we made a diversion onto the Casares-Santa Marta road where a nest box scheme was proving very successful and many pairs of Rollers were now breeding there. These superbly colourful birds were sat on wires near their nest boxes which were mounted on every telegraph pole in sight. We had great views of up to 25 birds!
After dinner we took a stroll into the orchards behind the finca to look for nightjars. The air was perfectly still, it was warm and balmy, the setting sun reddened the sky, a perfecting setting for nightjar viewing. However, despite hearing 2 or 3 Red-necked Nightjars we only got a fleeting glimpse of one of them, furthermore, we never heard a single Scops Owl calling, a bit disappointing really, but nevertheless, a lovely evening stroll to finsh off a great day.
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