A day out last week with
a friend, to a pre-Roman hill fort in the Arribes overlooking the rocky canyons
of the river Huebra, rewarded us with some great views of Griffon vulture both
perched and soaring, and a pair of Golden eagle flying in harmony.
We also saw Short-toed
eagle, both light and dark Booted eagles, Sparrow hawk, Red kite and
Buzzard.
There were warblers:
Subalpine, Willow, Whitethroat, Blackcap, Spectacled, Chiffchaff and Cettia. This is a good time of year for warblers as
many are heading south and the younger ones are often more visible. There were Cirl
and Rock bunting, a Blue Rockthrush hunting a butterfly in mid-air, Crag
martin, House martin, Red-rumped and Barn swallow. In amongst the oaks and dog-rose bushes were Short-toed treecreeper,
Lesser-spotted woodpecker, Bluetit, Great tit, Long-tailed tit, Stonechat,
Chaffinch, Serin and Goldfinch, and just about everywhere young Blackbirds.
On the ground or on the
rocks Black redstart, Rock sparrow, Wheatear, Crested lark and large Psammodromus
lizards, as well as Striped Grayling butterflies.
The temperature was tolerable and even cool in
the shade with a welcome breeze. We
stopped off at a lagoon on the way home and were pleasantly surprised to find
two Black storks, one adult and one young, preening by the water’s edge. Close by were groups of Little egret, Grey
heron and one Great white egret.
