Spain Day 6 Heading Home

Tuesday 26th.

A slightly more leisurely get up with breakfast and packing the car before paying the bill. €811. For 3 nights accommodation for 4 (2 nights prepaid), 5 nights dinner, breakfast and lunch time boccadillos, including drinks. The very friendly cat tried to join us for the drive home.

We decided to take the cross mountain road so headed back up to Los Escoriales and then took the right hand road to Los Carolina. Along the road we saw lots of aw magpies, serins, a spanish imperial eagle, corn buntings, a gt spotted cuckoo and some stunning scenery, including distant hills with snow.

Dropping down into the nature reserve, past the 4 police we found red squirrel with nuthatch and short-toed treecreeper.

We headed back towards Madrid to the turning for Damiel, where we took a diversion looking for a water treatment plant that we had been told about by John M. (Spainbirding). 

This was an amazing lake covered in blk-neck and little grebes, white-headed ducks, gulls and whiskered terns, plus Purple Swamphen, new for the trip. A short time scanning and then we packed up our cases, loaded the car and headed for Madrid airport.

A total of 1400kms, 120 birds, 2 lynx sightings and a great time with great companions.

Costs:

Flights: £91.00

Accommodation/Fuel: €250. (Approx)

Car Park: £45.75

Spain Day 5 Back to the Lynx Watchpoint

Monday 25th

A reasonably early start for breakfast, with the usual aw magpies raiding the bins. We met a group of dutch people and exchanged nos. After collecting our bocadillos we set off into the mountains for our last day. Weather glorious but cold, 1.5 C.

We stopped at Los Escoriales, finding 2 hoopoe, rock sparrow, Thekla Lark and mistle thrush, as well as some distant Moufflon and the local fighting bulls. 

 We carried on up, pausing to watch some Fallow Deer with antlered males and then found our usual spot and settled down, scanning up and down the valleys. The was a noticeable lack of birds compared to past days, apart from a huge feeding scrum of vultures on a distant valley side.  Dartford warblers and Sardinian warblers were singing and a robin hopped about, but not the throng of birds of prey we had had on Saturday.

A break down to the dam where we had another look at the bats and watched golden eagle displaying over the opposite hillside before we returned for our last vigil. After about an hour or so a small group turned up and 15 minutes later one of them spotted a lynx strolling along the track opposite. Just after one of us commented that he wanted to see lynx walking down this track!

We watched this male stroll along the track and then make a leisurely walk down the valley, stopping to sniff and spray as he went. It went behind a tree and disappeared for a short while but was then spotted to the right. It was chased out by a deer and ran across heading in our direction, it then went out of site beneath the bluff. It was picked up later as it walked across a clearing and into some trees but finally disappeared and not relocated. We watched for a while longer before heading back, calling into the Villa Mathilde to say hello before carrying on down to LP for dinner and bed.

Spain Day 4 Fuente de Piedra

Sunday, 24th.

Having spent 2 days up the mountain in not such good weather we decided on a change of scenery and headed to Fuente de Piedra.  We drove down the motorway towards Malaga, cutting across country at Aquiler, via Puente Genil. A change of junctions had us heading down the wrong road but a dodgy sign got us there along the dirt track along the side of the embalse, seeing a flock of 40 little bustards fly up from a field and over the road and stopping a couple of times to scan the lake. DW heard cranes and a flock was seen flying up and heading away. More cranes could be seen in a field on the other side of the lake.

We visited the centre and then went out for a stroll. There were 1000s of flamingos dotted about with several hundred Black-necked grebes, shoveler, some coot. In the pools we found Black-winged stilts, a black-tailed godwit and a ruff. The bushes were alive with chiff-chaffs.

Returning to the visitors centre DW went to check out some hides which proved to be a good choice. From the 1) .... De Lagunato he found wh-headed duck, gadwall, coot and from the 2)....  He found a wryneck. Slurping ants from the ground. It seemed to clean up what was there and fly into cover for about 15minutes then return to slurp some more.

As I was leaving the hide to try and let CP and PL know about the duck, a very unexpected Grt Spotted cuckoo flew past me and glided into the bushes never to be seen again.

We spent the rest of the afternoon watching from these hides as hoopoe, chiff-chaff and blk redstart entertained us, the highlight being the appearance of 2 mongeese which were hunting along the backside. 

We retraced our steps back to LP as the sun set leaving a very vivid sky. We had ordered a paella for dinner which was excellent. We were presented with a bottle of 'limonella' liqueur. Very fresh lemon taste with a kick. Eventually we tore ourselves away and went to bed.

Spain Day 3 - More Lynx watching

Saturday 23rd.

An earlier start had us ready for breakfast as the restaurant opened at 7.30

Birds around the LP included aw magpie, blackcaps, hawfinch. A very friendly and persistent cat tried to join us. Even though we were much earlier, we were still about 15/20 minutes too late for a sighting. Lots of mist and low cloud to start with but soon cleared to give great light.

We had waves of griffon vult, blk vult, black kite. SIE, STE, kestrel, blue tit, crested tit, dart ford warbler, grn wdpker, hoopoe, mistle thrush, serin.

Through the morning herds of red deer and a few roe deer came running from the left (e?) down the slopes, stopping to look behind them, all in a high state of alert, plus some wild boor. Also reports of Mouflon had us driving the short distance down towards the dam but no luck. Photographing some angel tears and reprimanded by rangers for going off the road, "stay on the road" was the unmistakable message.

Returned to the watch point for lunch.

Sat around scanning until a car of Danes came up the road and told us their friend had a lynx further up, not sure where. Called the others on radio, collected scopes and drove up, collected others and drove on back till we saw a group of people scoping the hillside. The lynx had disappeared but hopeful as ever, we piled out, set up our scopes and scanned. It reappeared and was watched for ten minutes slowly walking east, stopping and spraying. it was calling constantly, a deep, growly meow, before it slipped into cover. As it was travelling in a steady direction we decided to move further down the road, in the hope that it would be relocated. After about 15 minutes it came into view and was watched for a further 15-20 minutes before it finally walked out of sight. Congratulations all round.

We decided to continue down to the river at La Encinajaro to see if could see any otters. No luck but we did have Hooped Petticoat narcissus, kingfisher, great spot, moorhen, cormorant, house Martin, black vulture. They were letting water through the dam and we watched as the water levels rose rapidly. We returned to LP as it was getting dark.

Spain Day 2 Lynx watching

Friday 22nd.

Breakfast, LP. Out 9.00 ish. To lynx watch point.

Azure w magpie, blackcaps, span imp eagle.

Very short view of lynx (DW)

Drive down to dam. Angel tears, ib narcissus.

Griffon, blk vulture. Blue rock thrush, com sandpiper, green sand.

Imp eagle. Crag martin.

Walk through tunnel, grtr mouse eared bat, daubenton's, plus ?

Back to watch point, short sunny spell, then rain.buckets of it. Short nap, more views of deer and a lovely big black boar, then more rain. Down the mountain and shopping in Carrefour. Back to LP and then out for dinner, diverting to the run down house and pond next door where we found stripeless tree frog, southern marbled newt and com frog by the restaurant. 

DW & PL went back and found terrapin.

Short Break in Spain - Day 1 February 21st.

We decided to take a short break from the cold and grey of Britain so we booked a flight from Stansted-Madrid for February and then organised our accommodation. The Villa Mathilde, where we usually stay, was full so we managed to book rooms in Los Pinos instead.
Our flight left Stansted at 8.30 and we were soon landing at Madrid where we picked up the hire car, being given a small, free upgrade to a Vauxhall Zafira and headed out of Madrid heading south along the E-5 through Man of La Mancha country. 

After about an hour we left the motorway at Tembleque and took the road towards el Romeral and Lillo looking out for birds as we went. As we left the motorway we saw Black Kites and Storks floating among the windmills. Nearing Lillo we took one of the tracks to the left into the olive groves where we had several small flocks of Great Bustard, lots of little passerines, including chaffinch, spanish sparrow, woodlark, as well as a flock of 90 Little Bustard which flew over with a Pintailed Sandgrouse among them.

Pintailed sandgrouse.

Heron, blk kite, blk stork, white stork, chaffinch, span sparrow, woodlark, linnet, flamingo, shelduck, mallard.

Late arrival at Los Pinos.