TRUJILLO - TRUJILLO TO SANTA MARTA TO CASARES PLAINS - RIO ALMONTE - TALAVAN RESERVOIR
WEATHER: hooray!!! No wind today, scattered cloud, plenty of sunshine. Top temp 25C
It was a beautiful sunrise at the hotel but as we drove towards Trujillo we hit low cloud! It was misty and foggy with very poor visibility as I tried to show my group the Lesser kestrel colony at the Graneries. It did clear a bit but the we had to move on, we had a full day ahead of us.
a beautiful sunrise this morning
Spotless Starling displaying in Trujillo
Lesser Kestrel, this is how misty it was in Trujillo, I couldn't believe it!!
We stopped just outside of Trujillo at the Rio Magasca where we finally found a pair of Iberian Shrikes, Xanthe was over moon with the find, a lifer and her most wanted species. As the sky began to clear we watched White Storks, a few Vultures and a Common Buzzard. Both Cetti's Warbler and Nightingale were heard in the scrub by the river. A brief stop, just up the road at a pool, was made to watch Black-winged Stilts, Gadwall, Little Grebes and a few Mallard.
Along the Santa Magasca Road we parked on an embankment to scan the fields around us, huge areas were covered in broom-scrub and grass. We found another pair of Iberian Shrikes, Stonechats, lots of larks and the dreaded Corn Bunting seemed to be on every bush.
Great Bustards - male dispalying in the background
On the brow of a hill a couple of hundred meters further along the road we struck gold. After parking we walked to another raised embankment just as several Pin-tailed Sandgrouse flew over us, then some more did the same and then more!! Almost immediately afterwards three female Great Bustards and a single male flew towards us, they came fairly close as they flew over the road. Wowza! That was good.
a male Great Bustard - taken by Xanthe Walker
We then located a female Great Bustard on the ground with a male in display-mode strutting his stuff not far behind her. Whilst watching this pair a Little Bustard appeared in the grass, a male but he wasn't displaying just then.
just two of over 30 Pin-tailed Sandgrouse that flew over us, another picture taken by Xanthe Walker
Calandra Larks were everywhere, they sang from all directions and more Pin-tailed Sandgrouse flew over us, Crested and Thekla's Larks joined in too, it really was quite exciting.
We moved on.
From a wide track that bisects the grassland we had more Sandgrouse and bustard sightings, both Great and Little Bustards. Thekla's and Crested larks were abundant and Corn Buntings were outrageously common.
We clocked a Little Owl on a small building we had bee-eaters fly over us and all the time the sky had some raptors circling above us. Both Red & Black Kites, Short-toed Eagles, Griffon and Black Vultures, Lesser Kestrels, a Marsh Harrier and Ravens.
Thekla's Lark
A long wait for a Spanish Imperial Eagle to appear was rewarded with a good sighting, found by Xanthe of course, she really is a good spotter. We drove further to look for Black-bellied Sandgrouse but found none, so we retreated and headed into Santa Marta for a coffee and lunch break.
Rio Almonte
After lunch we drove to the Rio Almonte and settled on a bridge, we spent some time watching very close-up Crag Martins, with House Martins and Barn Swallows. A Common Cuckoo flew in and sat on the telephone wires giving great views whilst a Subalpine Warbler mobbed it. We heard Common Nightingale singing, also Chaffinch, Blackbird and Serin.
our group - L to R Vivien, Tarja, Xanthe, me, Lynda and Lauren is taking the selfie
For the next hour or so we drove through the plains towards Casares, looking carefully for Rollers along a series of poles with nest boxes attached to them. We saw Little Owl, Jackdaws, Spotless Starlings, but not a single Roller. We then drove a 30km bumpy track looking for more species and came up with very few, migrants were almost none exisitent, no Wheateras, Whinchats, Warblers, Rollers.
the plains
We did find Kingfisher, Zitting Cisticola, Hoopoe (calling), Bee-eaters, Montagu's Harrier, lots of butterflies and a few interesting insects.
Another bridge over the rio Almonte produced a pair of Black Wheatears, they gave us the run around for a while. We also saw a pair of Rock Buntings, Serins, Greenfinches, Common Nightingale (seen), Grey Wagtails. After the river we drove to the Embalse (reservoir) at Talavan where we added Great Crested Grebe to the list and nothing else. We did search for Great Spotted Cuckoo and found only Storks, Purple Heron, Cormorant, Little Egret and our first Northern Wheatear of the trip.
Talavan Reservoir
a new nest appearing on the gantry above the dam
We got back to the hotel at 6pm and after a rest up and shower we boarded the bus again, this time we went for a pre-dinner excursion to the local embalse at Torrejon el Rubio. In the past there have been reports of Red-necked Nightjars seen in this area and we thought that we would give it a try even though it is very early in the season.
We saw none of course, but we enjoyed a lovely evening out with a spectacular sunset. We did see lots of Iberian Magpies, Woodchat Shrike, Zitting Cisticola and a hoopoe on the track in front of the bus.
We ate dinner really late, finishing at 10:45!! Good night!