COTO DONANA & EXTREMADURA 8-DAY TOUR - DAY 5 - APRIL 14TH 2014

 

TRANSFER DAY - DONANA TO EXTREMADURA

VEGAS ALTAS – RIO PIZZAROSA – MADRIGALEJO RICE FIELDS – ZORITA GRASSLAND – FINCA SANTA MARTA

Not a great deal of birding news for today as we spent 3 hours in the bus travelling from Coto Donana to Extremadura via Sevilla and Merida.

We set off after breakfast at 9am, the roads were very quiet and passing through Seville was accomplished with no delay, we drove for another hour towards Merida before stopping for a coffee break.

on the bridge at Vegas Altas at lunchtime

Our first birding stop was well into Extremadura about 50km south of our destination, Finca Santa Marta. We sat on a disused bridge near Vegas Alta and ate our picnic lunch in bright sunshine, in fact it was very warm, 27C.

 A number of Common NIGHTINGALES were singing as well as Cetti’s Warbler and a couple of Great Reed Warblers, all of which showed very well. A White Stork’s nest was attended by two adults and Grey Heron, Common Moorhen, Mallard and to our great delight two Little Bitterns were seen along the river in the reed-beds.

 

Red-rumpled Swallow in the courtyard next to my room at Finca Santa Marta

 

Black Kites, Booted Eagles, Griffon Vultures and lots of White Storks were seen in the sky above and more birds were seen in the bushes and reeds as we finished our picnic. A few Common Waxbills dashed about and we found two Pied Flycatchers, our first for the trip.

We set off again passing through a flat landscape with many rice fields which were just being flooded having a new crop recently planted. We found a Short-toed Eagle on a post as well as Common Buzzard and our first European Roller, this bird was one of main target species and it sat nicely for us but not in good light.

Next we stopped along another section of rice fields near the town of Madrigalejo, this time reptiles  were our major finds. First a Ladder Snake was discovered and then a small number of the tiny green European Tree Frogs were found in the grass along a ditch. Back to birding we found a couple of  Red Avadavats – these birds, as with the Waxbill, are cage-escapee’s and now have thriving populations in Spain.

We drove to our next stop at another ‘feeder’ river just a couple of clicks north, our search for the Penduline Tit continued and it continued to frustrate us as we ‘dipped’ again. Nevertheless we had a nice time watching more Waxbills, Cetti’s Warbler, Sardinian Warbler, another Pied Flycatcher (this species is a passing migrant on its way up to the mountains) and we found our first European Pond Terrapin (you can probably work out that we have a group member with a passion for amphibians and reptiles).

Our final stop was just south of Zorita, we pulled over at the side of the road to scan the open grassland for Bustards. We quickly located a number of species, a Common Cuckoo sat on a fence and two Calendar Larks showed well. We also found Common Raven, Spotless Starling, Crested Lark and Griffon Vultures sitting on the ground. Then just before we got back into the bus we saw a Little Bustard on the skyline sitting on the crest of a hill. It was a male and it could clearly be seen to be displaying, by extending its neck feathers and then throwing its head back as it issued its ‘raspberry-blowing’ call. We couldn’t hear the call as the bird was too far away but the bird showed its lovely colourful neck pattern in good light.

a record shot of the distant Little Bustard

We finally arrived at Finca Santa Marta at 5pm. This was to be our home for the next three days. The Finca and all its out buildings has been a regular host for WINGSPAN Tours over the last 10-12 years. The grounds are vast and consist of olive groves, fruit orchards, woodland and many tracks give access to most of it.

the main house at Finca Santa Marta

After settling into our rooms some of the group took a short walk. Along the approach track, we found Azure-winged Magpies, Eurasian Hoopoe, Woodchat Shrikes, Common Nightingales, Serin and several White Storks sat on their nest either on the buildings or in the dead trees. House Sparrows were everywhere as were Corn Bunting, Spotless Starlings, Greenfinches and Goldfinches.

Speckled Wood

Red Admiral

A few species of butterflies were on the wing in the afternoon sunshine, we saw Painted Lady and the two shown above..

We ate our dinner in the lovely converted ‘press room’ where the original olive presses are still in situ next to the dining tables, the whole Finca has a lovely tranquil ambiance with delightful scents of jasmine and orange blossom, how nice to relax in such splendid surroundings with a glass of wine produced at the Bodega next door!