Saturday 13th April 2019 (a)

BUBO in ESPAÑA - part 4

The plan for the second full day in Spain was to visit the famous Montfrague National Park, a place I had been desperate to visit for a long time. Since I had seen all my target ticks, I was looking forward to some pretty laid back birding too. We decided not to breakfast in the hotel today but grab something out and so we were ready a bit earlier than the previous day. I wandered out to the car first and sat outside the smashing little church in the centre of Plasenzuela, with the orange trees surrounding it and a Hoopoe singing from the weather cock at the top. Andy came out and, as we were packing up the car for the day, we looked up to see two Great Bustards lazily flapping over the village square, barely above roof height, flashing their white wing patches on every downbeat. Probably flying between their roost and feeding sites, Ian and Daniel chose an excellent time to appear from the hotel and managed to see them too.

Plasenzuela Church, 13 Apr 19

We headed north out of the town and, just by the roadside, we drove past a fine Iberian Grey Shrike. The taxonomic status of this species is a little odd, with it currently classed as a separate species from Great Grey Shrike, despite subspecies of Great Grey existing north, east and south of its range. It does look very different from the pale ones we get in the UK, being dark, dull grey above, and pinkish-grey below, with a short, narrow supercilium - very distinctive. I had seen one before but I think this was from a moving car back in 1991, so it was more or less a new bird for me.

Iberian Grey Shrike - near Plasenzuela, 13 Apr 19

We headed towards Trujillo then turned off north along the long, straight road towards Montfrague. When the road dropped down into the shallow valley of the Rio Almonte we decided it was a good spot to have a break and we parked up by the bridge. The area had plenty of life with Nightingale, Cetti’s and Fan-tailed Warblers singing in the wetter areas and an army of frogs were creating rather a cacophony of croaks. A Common Sandpiper flushed down the river where a Spanish Terrapin loafed, and a few groups of Bee-eaters went over. As I was trying to take pictures of the resident Crag Martins, Andy picked out a brown bird fly into a riverside tree. As we were trying to refind it, it flew out and revealed itself to be another Rock Sparrow. This bird gave much better flight views as it went past us, but didn’t stop this time and disappeared from view. It was a lovely little spot but breakfast was calling us.

Crag Martin - Rio Almonte, 13 Apr 19

Crag Martin - Rio Almonte, 13 Apr 19

Crag Martin - Rio Almonte, 13 Apr 19

The next village was Torrejon El Rubio and the first building was a hotel with a picture of a Spanish Imperial Eagle painted on the sign. Clearly we had to stop there for some ‘desayuno’ and drinks. I can’t remember what I had (but it was probably eggs) but we were soon on our way towards the park. The Montfrague area is a huge expanse of unbroken, open woodland and it was much, much greener than I expected. We parked up in the car park below the Castillo for a walk up the path to the lookout. As it was now the weekend, this was quite a touristy spot and we had to share the path with many visitors.

View from the car park, Montfrague, 13 Apr 19

It was much warmer and sunnier than the previous day and we headed on up the steep path/road towards the top of the ridge where the Castillo was perched on top of the ridge. We wondered whether the Chiffchaff calling from the trees might be Iberian put I don’t think they breed around here. There were plenty of birds flicking about in the trees either side but they were mostly common species. A singing Nightingale by the path was typically and frustratingly elusive. As I was taking my time trying to get a view of this bird I had dropped back from the others and couldn’t see them ahead of me on the path. As I tried to quicken my pace, a warbler appeared in the bushes in front of me on the left hind side and flew across into a small oak tree on the right hand side. It looked a bit Blackcap-ish but was a different colour and so I tried to get a proper look. I waited by the tree, peering between the boughs, and suddenly, right in front of me was a bobby-dazzler of an Orphean Warbler, with white eye gleaming through the shade of the leaves. Much better views than the previous day. Unfortunately the others were too far ahead to shout to and the bird slinked away. When I caught them up at the sharp bend they were watching a nice flock of Griffon Vultures circling really close just above their heads.

Griffon Vulture - Castillo de Montfrague, 13 Apr 19

Griffon Vulture - Castillo de Montfrague, 13 Apr 19

We rounded the bend and the Castillo was now right above us. A Black Redstart was singing from the bushes below the rock face. There was more singing in the trees below the road and one of the songs appeared to be another Orphean Warbler. It was in a larger trees and we kept getting brief views as it flicked around in the back branches. It was definitely not fancying to be photographed but it sang almost constantly. I managed a few recordings of the song (see below). We climbed up to the castle which is perched on the highest point of Montfrague. It is not a particularly impressive castle and there does not seem to be much of the 1000 year old original left, but we were able to climb up some narrow stone stairs to the roof, where there was a magnificent 360 degree view of the whole area. From here we could appreciate just how massive the Montfrague Park is and the habitat is immense. If we could find 2 Orpheans in just a short walk, there must be huge numbers breeding in this vast expanse. Up on the top we saw a couple of quick-moving lizards and a fly-past Blue Rock Thrush.

Steps up to Castillo de Montfrague, 13 Apr 19

Looking south from from Castillo de Montfrague, 13 Apr 19

Looking north from Castillo de Montfrague, 13 Apr 19

BUBO atop Castillo de Montfrague, 13 Apr 19

After we had started making our way down we were stopped by a couple of European photographers on the pathside below the Castillo, who told us that they were taking pictures of a Rock Bunting which was coming down to feed on the grass. This made sense because we had seen/heard a very brief unknown bunting from the top, near to where this was. Almost immediately, a fine male Rock Bunting flew down and started picking grass and seeds from the small patch of vegetation between us and the rock. It was very close but moved so fast it was difficult to photograph. I had not seen this species for many years and it was one bird I was looking forward to seeing - and this one certainly didn’t disappoint.

Rock Bunting - Castillo de Montfrague, 13 Apr 19

As we continued down the path towards the car we saw a few species we hadn’t seen on the way up. A Black Stork appeared in the sky amongst the vultures and gave great views as it soared through the blue sky. They breed on the rock faces nearby. Also further down we heard a Sylvia-like song and located a nice male Subalpine Warbler from the top of a tree. We soon found that, compared to many others of the same genus, the Subalps were more than happy to sing out in the open to be admired. I also recorded my first alive Sardinian Warbler of the trip and a Woodlark was singing from somewhere through the trees. In the skies above, as well as the aforementioned species, we had Ravens, Bee-eaters, Black Kites, a Booted and a Short-toed Eagle all enjoying the sunny weather. Right down by the car park, amongst many other insects, I saw a Painted Lady and also a third Orphean Warbler could be heard belting out its thrush-like song from the nearby bushes.

Black Stork - Castillo de Montfrague, 13 Apr 19

Subalpine Warbler - Castillo de Montfrague, 13 Apr 19

Back at the car we headed on further into the park. We planned to have a stop at Salto del Gitano, a famous spot to view a vulture colony, but it was so overloaded with tourists we couldn’t see anywhere to park. So instead we carried on north, over the river and into the tiny settlement of Villareal de San Carlos, where a small café looked too inviting to miss. I didn’t fancy eating, but after downing a glorious ice cold coke and watching the Swallows that were breeding right above our heads, I went for a little wander round the immediate vicinity. My eyes were immediately drawn to a butterfly perched on a fence which looked a bit odd. I identified it as a Nettle-tree Butterfly and it spent its time around one or two recently planted trees which were, I presumed, Nettle Trees. This species is an unusual beastie with its strange wing shape and even stranger beak, and I watched it lay eggs on the just-opening leaves. After we decided that we were refreshed enough, the time had ticked onto midday and we headed off to see what further delights we could find in Montfrague during the afternoon.

Lunchtime café, Montfrague, 13 Apr 19

Nettle-tree Butterfly - Montfrague, 13 Apr 19

Nettle-tree Butterfly - Montfrague, 13 Apr 19

Nettle-tree Butterfly laying eggs - Montfrague, 13 Apr 19

Montfrague farmer, 13 Apr 19

Friday 12th April 2019 (b)

BUBO in ESPAÑA - part 3

After a very successful morning driving the Santa Marta de Magasca loop and me ticking off no less than four new species, we thought it was a good opportunity to stop for a breather and some food. We took the main road towards Cacares before slipping off to get petrol. As we took the roundabout of the junction we noticed a superb Egyptian Vulture just sat in a field to the north of the road. We wanted to get a better look and ended up circling the roundabout four times before we found a break in the traffic to stop.

Egyptian Vulture - E of Cacares, 12 Apr 19

Next to the petrol station there was a café and we went in for some grub. As was to be a theme, the vegetarian options weren’t exactly wide ranging and I had a Spanish omelette. My diet for the week would more or less be just eggs, potato and bread. When birding in Europe you’ve always got to take into account that ordering and eating food takes quite a long time. Ideally you’d like to just grab a quick bite to eat and then be out in the field again as soon as possible. In Spain we found that even a quick stop for food was a drawn-out process if you had to place an order. After we’d finished we headed back to the car and noticed that there were quite a few moths sitting on the shady, white wall of the petrol station - obviously there was an overnight security light there. There were lots of the micro Ethmia bipunctella and a few other pyralids, a shark moth which looked like Chamomile Shark (but there are a few very similar species) and a white-coloured footman that we subsequently worked out must have been a plain form of Speckled Footman. Then Andy looked up and saw a huge monster of a moth, as big as your hand, on the overhang. This was a Great Peacock Moth, one of the biggest moths in Europe, a giant version of an Emperor Moth. It was a real beast.

Great Peacock Moth - E of Cacares, 12 Apr 19

Speckled Footman - E of Cacares, 12 Apr 19

Chamomile Shark (or similar species) - E of Cacares, 12 Apr 19

As we’d been very successful in the morning, we didn’t really have any more specific targets to look for in the plains, so we thought we’d try a different area. The guide book said that the plains south of Cacares were pretty good and so we headed down there. We got delayed in the traffic in Cacares town centre but it meant we were able to see some urban swifts above the streets which we guessed were probably Pallid Swifts. About 10 km south of Cacares is the village of Valdesalor and from there we turned west along a dirt track into the plains. At the start of the track, after we crossed a rickety bridge, there were a few ponds where we saw a couple of Little Grebes and a few Fan-tailed Warblers were zitting away. We carried on through the quite dusty and barren habitat but there didn’t seem a lot of birds in this area, although it was now the middle of the day and it was getting warm out. We stopped the car at the top of the first hill so we could scan the area. There wasn’t a great deal to see flying around apart from a few vultures and White Storks. In a large ploughed field there were quite a few Short-toed Larks singing and feeding. We had a few Meadow Pipits and a Wheatear but we pushed on to find a better area.

Valdesalor Plains, 12 Apr 19

Short-toed Lark - Valdesalor Plains, 12 Apr 19

White Stork - Valdesalor Plains, 12 Apr 19

The track wound its way up the next hill and it became a little bit rough with rocks sticking out from the ground. There was a strong chance of undercarriage problems but Ian skilfully avoided any damage - just. Ahead, we could see a large flock of Griffon Vultures circling, perhaps as many as 100 or so. We headed towards these and, over the next rise we got a bit closer. It was quite spectacular watching such a large flock of such a large species. We found at least one, probably two, Black Vultures in amongst these but the heat haze and the distance meant that the species was still avoiding the camera. We had more Short-toed Larks along the track, along with the odd Woodchat Shrike and Spanish Sparrow flock. Later on, as the track dropped back down towards the next main road we found a very distant Great Bustard in a field. Despite our best efforts, we didn’t find half as much in these plains as we had in the Santa Marta area, but it may have been linked with the time of day.

The track we followed crossing the Valdesalor Plains, 12 Apr 19

Griffon Vultures - Valdesalor Plains, 12 Apr 19

Barbary Nut Iris - Valdesalor Plains, 12 Apr 19

Small Heath - Valdesalor Plains, 12 Apr 19

Griffon Vultures and horse - Valdesalor Plains, 12 Apr 19

When we reached the next main road, we headed further SW until we reached the edge of the plains and the road rose towards a rocky escarpment which was apparently a traditional Eagle Owl site. We didn’t expect to see one of course in the daytime but we thought it was a decent place to have a bit of a stroll in a bit of a different habitat. This area was much more bushy dominated by Gum Cistus with its large white flowers. The best bird here was a Dartford Warbler which was elusive but eventually showed briefly. The warm weather had brought the lepidoptera out and we saw a few species of butterfly including a Green Hairstreak and a rather splendid geometer moth, Lythria sanguinaria, which had purple stripes and a bright orange hindwing.

Short-toed Eagle - SW of Valdesalor Plains, 12 Apr 19

Gum Cistus - SW of Valdesalor Plains, 12 Apr 19

Lythria sanguinaria - SW of Valdesalor Plains, 12 Apr 19

As it was now getting well into the afternoon, we thought it might be worth retracing our steps this morning and heading back to the Santa Marta de Magasca loop. We saw quite a few more Little Owls on the Roller nestboxes but didn’t really stop until we got to the same bridge west of the village that we visited earlier. We didn’t see any different birds here, although the Crag Martins were putting on quite a show, chasing each other around. The best thing here though was the snake that Daniel spotted swimming through the water. From the bridge I could see it really well as it swam underneath and out the other side. We identified it as a Viperine Snake from the zigzag pattern on top and the white spots down the side. This is in the same genus as Grass Snake and is similarly very aquatic, this one probably hunting frogs. Whilst watching this one we saw two smaller ones in the water. I was thrilled with this - I never get to see any snakes!

Viperine Snake - West of Santa Marta de Magasca, 12 Apr 19

Viperine Snake - West of Santa Marta de Magasca, 12 Apr 19

Viperine Snake - West of Santa Marta de Magasca, 12 Apr 19

Crag Martins - West of Santa Marta de Magasca, 12 Apr 19

We found the track that we had visited first thing this morning to see if the bustards were showing any closer. We did see a couple of the Great Bustards but they were again pretty far away on the crest of the hill. Most of the birds we saw were similar to this morning - we did have a calling Quail however. We thought it was worth stretching our legs for a walk up one of the tracks to see what we could see and maybe get closer to the bustard. We could not however and the main areas of interest were non-avian. A fritillary on the track revealed itself to be a Queen of Spain Fritillary with its white underwing spots and curved forewing. We photographed a yellow-coloured dragonfly which we eventually identified as a Western Clubtail. We couldn’t work it out at first especially as this species barely has a clubbed tail at all. Just as we returned to the car I saw a large lizard race across the track and hurl itself over a dry stone wall. I didn’t get a good look at it and it was impossible to refind, but from size alone it had to be an Ocellated Lizard.

SE of Santa Marta de Magasca, 12 Apr 19

Queen of Spain Fritillary - SE of Santa Marta de Magasca, 12 Apr 19

Western Clubtail - SE of Santa Marta de Magasca, 12 Apr 19

Red-striped Oil Beetle and a smorgasbord of lichens - SE of Santa Marta de Magasca, 12 Apr 19

Walking back down the track SE of Santa Marta de Magasca, 12 Apr 19

Driving out of the area, before we got to the main road, we saw a small flock of birds fly across the road in front of us. They gave the impression that they may have been sandgrouse and appeared to land in a field. So we pulled up and climbed the bank to look in the field but all we saw were sheep. However, just in the field next door we were surprised to see a super Great Bustard, much closer than any we had seen earlier. It seemed to suddenly appear from nowhere so may have been sat down in the long grass before spotting us. Really I should have got better photos before it wandered off over the rise.

Great Bustard - SE of Santa Marta de Magasca, 12 Apr 19

As with the previous day, I had now developed a stinker of a headache and the painkillers I had taken a short while before hadn’t helped at all. It’s more annoying than anything when you just want to enjoy your time away and your head is distracting you. We headed off for some food at a roadside eatery - well when I say food, I mean a strange “vegetable burger” of various salad things and eggs, with much ‘gunk’ upon it - not very pleasant. Outside we noticed that the juvenile Swallows here had already left the nest from the colony in the car park. Also in the car park we found a flattened Sardinian Warbler that had probably fallen off someone’s front grill, and also a dead Spanish Marbled White lying on the floor.

Spanish Marbled White (deceased) - near Trujillo, 12 Apr 19

We took the back roads back to Plasenzuela after we had eaten and finally came across an Azure-winged Magpie that stood still for a minute. The species is relatively common it seems but nearly always only seen in flight. This was the only opportunity I had all holiday to take a snap. But a cracking bird nonetheless. After doubling up on paracetamol and having a lie down in the room I suddenly felt a lot better and was finally able to enjoy a nice beer with the lads in the bar. Loooooooooog!!!

Azure-winged Magpie - nr Plasenzuela, 12 Apr 19

Our route for the day