Lesser Kestrel, male, Saucedilla church
May 15th 2018
Today I'm off to Monfragüe again but from the opposite side. It's a beautiful day and the scenery is magnificent. I stopped at a wooded river near Toril, it was a good decision. Large numbers of birds in every bush. Golden Oriole, 6 Common Cuckoo's, Melodious Warblers, Hawfinch and Kingfisher to name a few. A large splash drew me to an Otter swimming in the river.
Melodious Warbler
My only Nightingale photo of the trip despite lots of trying.
Otter
I then carried on to Portilla del Tietar. A famous site for Spanish Eagle and Eagle Owl. Unfortunately the owls were not there for some reason but the Spanish Eagle put on an awesome show. The Eagle seems to have a dislike of Griffon Vultures and it was seen almost knocking 20 Griffons off their rocky perch in one go. Bowling, Eagle style.
Spanish Eagle enjoying itself harassing the local Griffons. It seemed quite pleased with the effort.
Other birds nearby were an adult Egyptian Vulture, Rock Bunting, Black Stork, Sardinian Warbler and Western Subalpine Warbler. There were also plenty of Large Psammodromus lizards and a Spanish Marbled White butterfly.
Large Psammodromus
Griffons in formation
Black Stork
Portilla del Tietar
Spanish Marbled White
Moving further into the Park I made a brief stop at a bridge over the reservoir, near Mirador De La Higuerilla. There is a huge colony of House Martins nesting under the bridge and they were all gathering mud for their nests. There was also Western Orphean Warbler which kept quite well hidden, a pair of Western Subalpine Warblers and a few Blue Tits.
As the road led up into some Pine woods I added Jay and Mistle Thrush to the list.
Eurasian Jay ssp. fasciatus
Embalse de Torrejón-Tiétar
Moving on, I crossed over the dam and headed upwards toward Villarreal De San Carlos and the Monfragüe visitor centre. I had a few Blue Rock Thrush and Black Redstarts along the way but the best bird was a male Black Wheatear. It flew in front of the car and couldn't be relocated.
I enjoyed a nice lunch in a local bar / café with a few unexpected guests...
Barn Swallows enjoying lunch with me.
There were supposed to be Black-eared Wheatear in the centre car park but I gave up after 30 minutes due to being a soft "Northerner" who can't stand too much sunshine.
I stopped briefly at Salto Del Gitano (Gipsy's Leap). Crag Martins everywhere, Cirl Bunting, Griffons, Black Stork, Egyptian Vultures and a dark morph Booted Eagle were seen here.
Egyptian Vulture, adult
Booted Eagle, dark morph
Griffon, with nesting material, on "half brakes" and about to land.
I then headed "round the corner" to the main car park for Castillo de Monfragüe. It was nearly empty and all of the cars were spread out under every piece of available shade. I then drove to the small car park at the top and, luckily, there were a few spaces, plus shade, there. I walked the rest of the way and the views were tremendous. Best bird was undoubtedly the single White-rumped Swift. I had noticed it on the previous visit but I wasn't sure of the ID then. Rock Bunting, Black Redstart, Robin, Wren, Linnets and Western Bonelli's Warbler were all singing nearby.
Some great butterflies and moths too. My only Red Admiral of the trip, Clouded Yellow, Pale Clouded Yellow, Small Copper and a single Sooty Copper. The moth was the gorgeous Lythria sanguinella.
Black Redstart declaring his domain.
Views from Castillo de Monfragüe
Linnet ssp. mediterranea
Lythria sanguinella
Small Copper.
I headed off back to the Hotel Peru for a cool ceverza and a rest. It had been a very good day. At the hotel a Black-winged Stilt flew over just to cap it off.
Hotel Peru
Black-winged Stilt, male.
16th May 2018
I had visions of spending the day at Arrocampo reserve near Saucedilla. Unfortunately it was blowing a "Hoolie" so most birds were keeping their heads down. I saw no Little Bitterns at all and the only Western Swamphen was a distant purple dot. The only herons seen were Little and Great Egrets and Purple heron. Plenty of Warblers singing from cover, Eurasian and Great Reed plus Savi's and Cetti's Warblers. Zitting Cisticola showed well but a Penduline Tit was all too brief. Bee Eaters were well represented.
I found two species of Broomrape which I provisionally identified as Yellow and Greater (probably wrong).
As for insects, well the wind kept most at bay except for a group of enormous wasps. The Mammoth Wasp female can be up to 6cm long. I only saw males which were still larger than European Hornet!
They mainly feed on pollen but the larvae only eats the larval form of European Rhinoceros Beetle. There must have been a lot of these beetles because there was shed load of wasps despite being solitary.
European Bee-Eaters
Cetti's Warbler
Cinereous Vulture
Common Sandpiper
Great Egret
Greater Broomrape (possible)
Mammoth Wasps
Yellow Broomrape
Zitting Cisticola display flight.
I had a further look around the pools nearby but only Kingfisher and 2 Avocet were of note. I then drove to the Saucedilla central square to see if the stories about Lesser Kestrel were true. They were so close that I'm sure they took a few hairs off my head. Excellent views; much better than Trujillo.
Lesser Kestrels, Saucedilla Church
I decided to follow the N5 to Jaraicejo via the local mountains. This produced several Cinereous Vultures and my first Eurasian Sparrowhawk of the trip. I was tired and flagging by this time so Pulled up at the picnic site at Puerto de Miravete. When I woke it was time to head back but I did see Thekla Lark, Red-legged Partridge Woodchat Shrike and Western Subalpine Warbler along the way.
Red-rumped Swallow
Western Subalpine Warbler, male
That's it for today. More to follow.
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