TRANSFER TO MADRID ARPORT WITH STOPS AT TORREJON EL RUBIO RESERVOIR – THE 3 BRIDGES OVER THE RIO ALMONTE AT JARAICEJO AND THE HEATHLAND ABOVE JARAICEJO
WEATHER: wall to wall sunshine, a light breeze but a very chilly start. Temp 8 -20C
Our last day was going out like a damp firework until our birding Guru, Guy pulled an excellent sighting out of the bag.
We set off after breakfast at 9am and drove a couple kilometers to Torrejon el Rubio and the reservoir on the edge of town. We were hoping for a Cuckoo or a Cirl Bunting there but only Sparrows were visible on arrival. We heard Common Nightingale and had brief glimpses of Sardinian Warbler but not much else. It was a lovely setting, flat calm water and a beautiful ‘dehesa’ landscape all around us and we did see a lot of vultures, they were sailing up on the wind, holding position like toy kites, we counted over 50 Griffon Vultures and a few Black Vultures.
Next we drove to Jaraicejo and down to the Rio Almonte it was another beautiful setting we stood on the Puente del Cardenal 15th Century Bridge and viewed the river and the two modern bridges. Many species were calling and flitting about in the scrub and huge Spanish Sparrow Colony thrived in a single eucalyptus tree on the hillside.
picture taken from the 15th Century Bridge at Jaraicejo
Crag Martins dashed about with the hundreds of sparrows, we saw Stonechat, Woodchat Shrike, European Bee-eaters, White Wagtail and I had a brief glimpse of a Kingfisher. Nightingales sand from the woodland nearby but we never saw a Rock Sparrow which was our target species. Many raptors drifted over and it was as we were walking back to the bus that Birding Guru Guy spotted a large dark raptor approaching from the east. It flew right over us and it was obviously a huge bird, Golden Eagle was shouted out by Guy and myself at the same time. Our fifth eagle species of the trip and most of them spotted first by Guy!
on the heath at Jaraicejo
Our last port of call was the heathland above the village of Jaraicejo, this was our second visit there, we were hoping to see Spectacled Warbler and this time we had good weather for it. Bright sunshine and no wind, perfect for looking for scrub warblers. We found several Dartford Warblers, we saw Iberian Shrike, crested Larks, Linnets and Goldfinches but we never saw a single Spectacled Warbler. We had to leave for the airport after half-an-hour, so our morning would have been a disaster if it hadn’t been for the Golden Eagle sighting!
Jaraicejo Heathland
We arrived in Madrid after stopping for lunch, we spotted a few more species along the way, the most notable were: Red Kite, Marsh Harrier, Iberian Magpie, Monk Parakeets, Common Buzzard and White Storks.
The trip was over as we arrived at the airport at 3pm. I dropped off the group at 3pm and headed to Barajas were I was to stay for the night.