Day 2 – The Day we Left Madrid
After a few days in the Spanish capital of Madrid we were
excited to be leaving for the Spanish Countryside.
To do that we had to meet our Spanish Bird Guide [of British
descent] Steve West and I had to pick up a van from the Madrid airport. Both of
these elements were achieved early in the day. I met Steve, who had driven down
from near Barcelona the previous day in a Nissan Van fully equipped with a dead
Chaffinch in the radiator grill, while he was in the midst of delicate car
rental negotiations. Soon, well only half an hour after the car rental business
had promised the vehicle, all was resolved and we were on our way. Steve,
despite not having driven an automatic car for years, was driving an automatic
Mercedes van while I, who had not driven a manual for years, was driving a
manual Nissan Van. Obviously my left hand kept looking instinctively for the
invisible gear stick while my right hand, that had never had the gear-changing
pleasure had to be pressed into action.
Despite that minor inconvenience my fourteen months driving experience
in North America kicked in and I quickly felt back at home on the right side of
the road – even in a manual.
Steve and I picked up the group from the Travelodge and were
soon on our way circling the city from the east to the south before heading
west towards Extramadura.
First stop, after a couple of hours, was lunch at a service
station. No bacteria filled Aussie hot box here but our first Tapas; olives,
fresh bread, chicken, pork, rabbit, omelette, calamari washed down with café
con leche y coke cola. It was mwee bien [bloody brilliant] or as Russ put it,
‘a ripper’.
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| Crested Lark |
Our first birding stop was a nearby wetland that had our
first Swamphen, Coot, Gadwall, Little Bittern, Grey and Purple Herons on or
near the water while Barn and Red-rumped Swallows plus a flotilla of Sand
Martins sped around. Raptors were everywhere; Eurasian Griffon Vultures, Marsh
and Montague’s Harriers, Black and Red Kites, Booted Eagle plus four Lesser
Kestrels flew over us. White Storks were conspicuous while, closer to the
ground Crested Lark and Zitting Cisticolas gave us something to look at while
Cetti’s Warbler and various Reed Warblers sang invisibly.
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| Distant Short toed Eagle |
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| Lizard spp? |
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| Lizard spp 2? |
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| Melodious Warbler |
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| Melodious Warbler |
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| Nightingale |
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| Nightingale in song |
Savi’s Warbler sang – if that is the correct word as their
song is an insect like trill - but refused to show well. I’m sure we got very distant
views of this bird on The Stick but they were unconvincing. More convincing was
our first Kingfisher – The Kingfisher – as in Europe there is only the one.
Driving and raptors continued; Black Vulture, Short-toed
Eagle and, when we stopped, Bonelli’s Eagle. This stop yielded Nightingales,
Nightingales and more Nightingales plus warblers; Melodious, Sardinian but we
missed an Orphean that had been singing also. Woodchat Shrike, Crag Martin,
White Wagtail were also seen at this ‘Warbler Alley’. Two lizard species were
recorded here also.
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| Warbler Alley |
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| Warbler Alley |
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| Bucolic Scene |
Before calling it a day we had one last stop for Thekla
Lark, Corn Bunting and yet another warbler, Dartford Warbler. I had missed
Dartford Warbler in the UK, over twenty years previously, and was delighted to
get good views of this bird among this Spanish vegetation, rich as it was with
beautiful wild Lavender.
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| Corn Bunting |
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| Dartford Warbler |
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| Dartford Warbler |
Some cool birds encountered enroute included Bee-eaters,
Hoopoe, the endemic Iberian Magpie, Jay [that I worked out late in the evening
after it flew past my windscreen earlier in the day], and the impressive
Egyptian Vulture.
Finally we were treated to an excellent three course meal
with local red wine at our hotel. All in all a bloody great day!
Oh and while we were eating we could watch tits outside the
dining room; Blue tits had taken up residence at a nest box. Let me repeat; All
in all a bloody great day!
