The Uplands

A day away from the coast, and high up into the hills and beautiful countryside for our last day.

Rolling hills with yet more of those delightful flowers that have been thrilling me all week.   A first stop for Little Bustard was totally successful, and we were buoyed up with that as we went for the second hope.  We also spotted an Osprey carrying a fish, and watched as it perched on top of a telegraph pole and proceeded to eat it until another bird mobbed it and it flew away.

Rolling Countryside

We started in an area where our guide's uncle had been the forestry engineer responsible for bringing the land back to its former glory, from being used for agriculture.   Replanting native species and encouraging a wide diversity of wildlife to return to the land.

This is also a protected area for Great Bustard - our hope for this morning.   After scanning from one site, we moved nearer to where the dot of a bird had been seen, and initially spent our time enjoying odonata and butterflies.

However, one of the group soon had a bird in his scope, and although we didn't get another scope view, I was lucky enough to be standing in the right place to see it fly - excellent views of those huge wings and amazing that it just disappeared into the undergrowth not to be seen again.

Bee Swarm

One member of the party found a detached birds head which was identified as Osprey by the beak.   The deduction was that it was either shot or taken by an Eagle Owl, so the relevant details were taken, and will be reported.

We caught up with Spanish Marbled White, Small Copper, Meadow Brown, Wall Brown and Small White butterfly, and Western Clubtail, Black-tailed Skimmer, and another unidentified dragonfly.

We were in Black Vulture country today, and they did not disappoint either, with several flying in formation over and around us as they rose in thermals.

Next stop Coffee and Cake, before we were off again looking for (and finding) Blue Rock Thrush and Rock Bunting to be specific.

Wild Gladioli

After a picnic lunch we were off again, and after stops for some beautiful Tongue Orchids, and a bee swarm we were checking out an area where Black Stork had previously nested.   As the last couple of years had been dry, the pair had abandoned the nest site, but glory of glories, there was a bird there!   We watched for ages, as it preened and stretched and looked around to see if we could see a second bird.  The nest was empty and in fact has greenery growing on it from lack of use in the previous two seasons, however we did see a pair of Black-eared Wheatears, one with a pale throat and one with a black version.   Next up were Linnet and Wren.  Then a pair of Red-billed Chough flew across the quarry several times giving us some great views of their red bills in the sunlight.

As we were about to leave the area our Black Stork took off, but then as we were all aboard, and ready to drive off, a second bird appeared, and they went from the nest to the perch and back, then finally both took to the air where they road a thermal and we were delighted to see them moving together in the sky.

So, we are all crossing our fingers in hope that this pair will find sufficient food to breed this year.

Tongue Orchid

White Storks are far more successful, with their ability to nest anywhere, eat almost anything, and with no regard for humans and their disturbance, there are currently around 17,000 pairs in Spain.   The Black Stork however is a more shy, secretive bird and is a solitary nester requiring peace and quiet, and relies almost totally on amphibians and therefore needs wet areas to feed and thrive.   They are recovering slowly but still classed as scarce in Spain.