Day 23 02.05.2017
Today was our first full day waking up and going to sleep in
Spain. The change in habitat was obvious from the start, with the pastures
substantially drier and less verdant than those we had left behind in Portugal.
The walk in the morning produced plenty of Calandra and Short-toed Larks. I
also had a lifer in Pin-tailed Sandgrouse. Stunning birds! I had a few that
flew past me late morning and then again in the evening. Really awesome to
catch up with these and hopefully we will see more during our time in Spain.
Also in the morning I had one of my best bird encounters of the trip so far,
when a pale phase Booted Eagle took to circling directly over my head for at
least a minute. Seriously awesome to see, such a beautiful bird! Northern
Wheatears were also on the agenda (always a win) and I also had a butterfly
lifer in the form of Panoptes Blue, plus there were these crazy lacewing type
insects all over, which were really smart.
-Lacewing thing
-Spanish Psammodromus
-Panoptes Blue
-Booted Eagle
-Pin-tailed Sandgrouse
-Short-toed Eagle
In the evening we headed back out to the plains. Bustards
were on the agenda this evening and I scored big time with a flock of 22 Great
Bustards on my transect. Also on the transect I had a Golden Eagle fly
overhead, although quite high as well as my first Ocellated Lizard, although it
was an extremely brief encounter.
After the Booted Eagle in the morning it would be pushed to
have a more amazing encounter, but I was wrong. On our drive up to my transect
we had amazing views of Collard Pratincole coming to drink at a puddle near the
car. We pulled up and had incredible views of the birds coming down and flying
all around us, probably 10 in total although only one came down to drink.
Seriously cool! And then, just to top it all off on the way back, as we drove
home in the semi gloom we spotted a large ball of fluff on the roadside. We
turned around, and sure enough we had juvenile Eagle Owl, not yet near
fledging, that must have fallen out of the nest onto the road. We picked it up,
beak clapping the whole time, and move it to a safer position back up away from
the road. We later picked out the adult perched up on a pylon low down. A
seriously amazing encounter and a seriously amazing day!
-Collard Pratincole
-Golden Eagle
-Eagle Owl chick
Species List:
La Serena: Crested
Lark, Thekla Lark, Short-toed Lark, Calandra Lark, Northern Wheatear,
Stonechat, Zitting Cisticola, Melodious Warbler, Cettis Warbler, House Sparrow,
Spotless Starling, Barn Swallow, Red-rumped Swallow, House Martin, Crag Martin,
Common Swift, Raven, Jackdaw, Black-bellied Sandgrouse, Pin-tailed Sandgrouse,
Great Bustard, Little Bustard, Mallard, Gadwall, Grey Heron, Little Ringed
Plover, Black-winged Stilt, Common Sandpiper, Collard Pratincole, European
Eagle Owl, Little Owl, Lesser Kestrel, Common Buzzard, Booted Eagle, Short-toed
Eagle, Golden Eagle, Montagu’s Harrier, White Stork, Hoopoe, Ocellated Lizard, Spanish Psammodromus,
Mediterranean Pond Terrapin, Broad-bodied Chaser, Black-tailed Skimmer, Emperor
Dragonfly, Iberian Bluetail, Meadow Brown, Western Dappled White, Bath White,
Green-striped White, Clouded Yellow, Brown Argus, Common Blue, Panoptes Blue,
Essex Skipper, Painted Lady,
Day 24 03.05.2017
For our morning work we returned to the area we had worked
the previous evening, and given the great birding of the previous evening we
were extremely optimistic it would be a brilliant morning. Whilst the morning
was good, it was not as good as we had hoped. Bird wise it felt fairly steady,
although there remained good numbers of Calandra and Short-toed Larks in the
song. The Pratincoles were a prominent feature of the morning, flying overhead
the whole time. A dry field near to my transect route seemed to be where they
were congregating and I would bet they were nesting in there. Other birds; Our
first Egyptian Vulture of the trip, a single Great Bustard, a few Little
Bustards, 3 Stone Curlew and more Pin-tailed and Black-bellied Sandgrouse. On
the none-bird front I had another Spanish Psammodromus, plus more frustratingly
brief views of Ocellated Lizard. There were a few butterflies on the wing, a
lifer in the form of Black-eyed Blue, plus better views of Berger’s Clouded
Yellow. Dragonfly lifer; Western Clubtail! My first ever Clubtail dragonfly so
happens to be the one without a club. A Damselfly lifer; Southern Emerald
Damselfly, plus a trip tick in Common Blue Damselfly. In the evening the birds
remained fairly steady; a Bonelli’s Eagle probably the highlight on the
transect itself. On the way over we had a Roller on a fencepost right by the
roadside, my first one since the first week back in Castro Verde. Continuing
the trend for our drives back, tonight we were interrupted by a Red-necked
Nightjar that had obviously been feeding from the road. We flushed it as we
pulled up, sadly it did not return but we heard it calling in the distance.
Another new dragonfly for me and the trip was Scarlet Darter, a seriously
stunning insect.
-Iberian Water Frog
-Berger's Clouded Yellow
-Western Clubtail Dragonfly
-Montagu's Harrier
-Scarlet Darter
-Southern Emerald Damselfly
-Great Bustard
-Iberian Pond Terrapin
Species List:
La Serena: Crested
Lark, Short-toed Lark, Calandra Lark, Stonechat, Zitting Cisticola, House
Sparrow, Spotless Starling, Barn Swallow, Common Swift, Raven, Jackdaw,
Black-bellied Sandgrouse, Pin-tailed Sandgrouse, Great Bustard, Little Bustard,
Mallard, Gadwall, Grey Heron, Little Ringed Plover, Black-winged Stilt, Collard
Pratincole, Lesser Kestrel, Egyptian Vulture, Griffon Vulture, Common Buzzard,
Short-toed Eagle, Bonelli’s Eagle, Montagu’s Harrier, White Stork, Hoopoe,
European Roller, Red-necked Nightjar, Marsh Harrier, Moorhen, Whinchat, Ocellated Lizard, Spanish Psammodromus, Iberian
Water Frog, Broad-bodied Chaser, Emperor Dragonfly, Western Clubtail, Scarlett
Darter, Common Blue Damselfly, Southern Emerald Damselfly, Iberian Bluetail
Damselfly, Meadow Brown, Western Dappled White, Clouded Yellow, Berger’s
Clouded Yellow, Brown Argus, Common Blue, Black-eyed Blue, Essex Skipper,
Southern Marbled Skipper, Painted Lady, Small Copper,
Day 25 04.05.2017
For our penultimate day in La Serena we returned to the area
we had worked the previous couple of days for the last time. Birds were fairly
steady, with a regular assortment of species on display. A Golden Eagle gave me
a hard time, looking right into the sun, but it was indeed a Golden, nothing
more. Early morning a large number of Vultures had taken to roosting in the
field next to my transect, and using a bit of classic Branch stealth I was able
to get reasonably close to them. It’s always worth mentioning when a Northern
Wheatear makes an appearance, as it was obviously a highlight. On the none bird
front; Dragonflies remained in healthy numbers, with an obviously large
emergence of Common Darters overnight, lots of fresh individuals around. A few
Lizards were on the rocks and there were good numbers of Terrapins around. One,
in discovering my presence attempted to scuttle into the water, but ended up
flipping itself over. I gave it a hand and flipped it back, and as a result got
to see one with its limbs and head withdrawn into its shell. All good stuff!
-European Black Vulture & Griffon Vulture
-Griffon Vulture
-Iberian Pond Terrapin
-Geniez's Wall Lizard
-Fledgling Crested Lark
-Black-eyed Blue
In the evening we headed off to a mountain site in the hope of WR swift again. We failed again but had a good time anyway, especially with Rock Buntings. There was a family with 3 fledged juveniles plus an additional, possibly two additional, males singing around the mountain. We found a Blue Rock Thrush nest and had Melodious Warbler, Black Vulture and plenty of Serins. A really nice reptile tick was Iberian False Smooth Snake, which crossed the road right in front of me, evening attempting to go under my foot.
-European Black Vulture
-Rock Bunting
-Iberian False Smooth Snake
Species List:
La Serena: Crested
Lark, Short-toed Lark, Calandra Lark, Stonechat, Zitting Cisticola, House
Sparrow, Spotless Starling, Barn Swallow, House Martin, Common Swift, Raven,
Jackdaw, Black-bellied Sandgrouse, Pin-tailed Sandgrouse, Great Bustard, Little
Bustard, Mallard, Gadwall, Grey Heron, Little Ringed Plover, Black-winged
Stilt, Collard Pratincole, Lesser Kestrel, European Black Vulture, Griffon
Vulture, Common Buzzard, Short-toed Eagle, Golden Eagle, Montagu’s Harrier,
White Stork, Hoopoe, Marsh Harrier, Northern Wheatear, Blue Rock Thrush, Melodious Warbler, Serin, Rock Bunting, Black-eared Wheatear, Lesser Kestrel, Crag Martin, Red-rumped Swallow, Spanish Psammodromus, Mediterranean Pond Terrapin, Iberian Water Frog,
Broad-bodied Chaser, Emperor Dragonfly, Western Clubtail, Common Blue
Damselfly, Southern Emerald Damselfly, Iberian Bluetail Damselfly, Meadow
Brown, Western Dappled White, Common Blue, Black-eyed Blue, Panoptes Blue,
Lulworth Skipper, Gatekeeper, Essex Skipper, Painted Lady, Small Copper,
Day26 05.05.2017
For our final day in La Serena we headed out to an area just
north of the town, across the road from where we had worked on the first day.
The weather had taken a turn for the worse and as a result there was not a
great deal of birdlife on display. A few Short-toed Larks and Tawny Pipits were
about the best on offer. A couple of Chough were nice and a pair of Roller were
obviously nice to see. However, I found something I had been looking for during
the entire time in Iberia; corrugated tin slabs, 2 in fact, and under each one
I found an enormous Ocellated Lizard looking superb. Each one was about a foot
long, and a fairly hefty beast too. Really nice to see! That got me in the mood
for turning over rocks and other items, which produced a surprise in the form
of a Scorpion, not something I expected to see during my time in Spain. And
that wraps up our time in La Serena, next stop: Merida.
-Male Ocellated Lizard
-Scorpion
Species List:
La Serena: Crested
Lark, Short-toed Lark, Calandra Lark, Stonechat, Zitting Cisticola, House
Sparrow, Spotless Starling, Barn Swallow, House Martin, Common Swift, Raven,
Jackdaw, Chough, Black-bellied Sandgrouse, Little Bustard, Mallard, Little
Ringed Plover, Black-winged Stilt, Lesser Kestrel, Common Buzzard, Short-toed
Eagle, Montagu’s Harrier, White Stork, Hoopoe, Roller, Tawny Pipit, Black-eared
Wheatear, Red-legged Partridge, Ocellated
Lizard, Large Psammodromus, Scarlet Darter, Broad-bodied Chaser, Meadow Brown,
Iberian Marbled White,
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