PeterHG’s sixth. Wherever it may take us.

[shazdwn]

Great bustard shots

[pedro maia]

1 hour ago, shazdwn said:

Great bustard shots

Literally .

[PeterHG]

Thank you @pedro maia, @TonyQ, @Galana, @shazdwn! 
Yes. @TonyQ, Olhao is quite a good starting point to visit interesting birding areas. 

[xelas]

What an up-close and personal encounter with GB!

[Dave Williams]

Well done on the ton x2 Peter! Superb raptor shots and almost all the rest too.( Don't want to go overboard on praise do we!)

The Iberian Peninsula has so much to offer, must spend more time there.

[Kitsafari]

wow great BIFs! and of the bustards. 

[elefromoz]

On 11/4/2021 at 4:07 PM, PeterHG said:

Miradores de Revilla, situated in the Ordesa National Park in the Spanish Pyrenees.

Loving your photos of your journey and having been right there myself makes it more special.The Vultures and Raptors in that area are incredible, such awesome photos. Congrats on a stunning 200.

[PeterHG]

Thank you @xelas, @Kitsafari, @elefromoz!

 

We also drove to the visitor centre north of  Castro Verde: Vale Gonçalinho, to see if we could find some more steppe birds and take a walk there. It turned out the centre was closed, but we were able to make a nice walk on the steppes. Back at the centre we made this photograph, which we sent to a birding friend of mine, who visited the area a few years ago. He was amazed at how close I was to the Bustard and texted back, asking if it was a tame one. Not even that. It's an artificial one, made to life-size proportions and was part of a children's trail, showing what birds could be found on the steppes. 

 

[PeterHG]

We saw very few birds on our walk, but we did get one addition:

 

215 /P 16. Tawny Pipit. Alentejo, October

 

[PeterHG]

One of our drives led us to a deserted railway station in the middle of nowhere. Perfect setting for a movie, I guess.

 

 

Nearby we spotted another tick:

 

216 / P17. Red-rumped Swallow. Alentejo, October

 

[PeterHG]

An not far from there we found this Litle Owl. We had been looking for it eversince we arrived in the Alentejo, scanning every ruin, but so far without luck. It's already counted earlier in the year.

 

 

[pedro maia]

On 11/28/2021 at 4:40 PM, PeterHG said:

One of our drives led us to a deserted railway station in the middle of nowhere. Perfect setting for a movie, I guess.

 

 

Nearby we spotted another tick:

 

216 / P17. Red-rumped Swallow. Alentejo, October

 

That abandoned train station is the best spot for Lesser kestrel (when they are here), there’s a colony of them, and it’s also good for European roller.

[PeterHG]

On 11/30/2021 at 12:51 AM, pedro maia said:

That abandoned train station is the best spot for Lesser kestrel (when they are here), there’s a colony of them, and it’s also good for European roller.

Yes, we read about that, Pedro, but unfortunately this was not the right time of the year for them. We’ll have to go back there….

[PeterHG]

We left the Alentejo and headed to our last destination: the Extremadura in Spain. The first three nights we had booked acommodation in the 'Casa Rural El Recuerdo', a pleasant B&B, just 10 km outside the town of Trujillo. It is run by Martin and Claudia Kelsey, very friendly and welcoming hosts. Martin gave us several useful tips on where to look for particular birds and where to go for scenic drives. On one of the roads he had pointed out, we managed to get brief views of the smaller member of the bustard family. Very distant, but a good find.

 

217 / Sp 17. Little Bustard. Extremadura, October

Edited December 1, 2021 by PeterHG

[PeterHG]

We also got our only view of the Stone Curlew. I was scoping the fields for bustards, when I came across 4 of these. The other three were only partly visible.

 

218 /Sp 18. Stone Curlew. Extremadura, October

 

Edited December 1, 2021 by PeterHG

[PeterHG]

Martin had pointed us to a mountain road near the town of Guadaloupe leading to the highest viewpiont of the Extremadura. He told us that on a clear day it would even be possible to see Madrid. Well, that was not the case for us but we did have spectacular views from the Villuercas viewpoint.

 

 

 

Right at the top we found a new tick for the trip:

 

219 / Sp 19. Red-billed Chough. Extremadura, October

 

Edited December 1, 2021 by PeterHG

[PeterHG]

And of course this one:

 

220 / Sp 20. Crag Martin. Extremadura, October

 

[PeterHG]

After three nights we moverd a bit further north, to the Finca Las Abubillas. In a 'dehesa' five bungalows have been built, all very comfortable and lots of space around them. This was our most expensive stay (€ 115 per night), but we really liked it. Also it was equally close to the Monfrague reserve,  the steppes of  Santa Marta and the Arrocampo reserve. It even has a little hide that is free for guests to use. I did go there a few times, but, due to the season, there were only a handful of common species to be seen. Still, this could be quite different in spring. I never really do this at home so, at least I got a number of those unmistakable 'hide shots'....;)

 

 

 

 

 

 

[PeterHG]

Back in the steppes, about the only birds we saw were larks. Fortunately there were also Calandra Larks among them. 

 

221 /Sp 21. Calandra Lark. Extremadura, October

 

[PeterHG]

I did not have any picture yet of the Spotles Starling, though we had seen them several times already. We saw a little group foraging among some bulls. I walked up to the gate to try a get a little closer, but somehow I got the feeling I was not very welcome

 

 

Well, the gate looked solid, so I got a few shots.

222 /Sp 22. Spotless Starling

 

[PeterHG]

The morning light gave us some good views of Griffon Vultures, waiting for the thermals to take them up in the sky.

 

[PeterHG]

Some time later another vulture passed overhead. One we had not seen so far and even bigger than the Griffons.

 

223 / Sp 23. Cinereous/Black Vulture. Extremadura, October.

 

 

One of the back roads near our accommodation offered a different perspective.

 

 

[PeterHG]

On the same road we also saw a hoopoe close by. We had seen it before, also in Portugal, but mostly flying off in the distance.

 

224 /Sp 24. Eurasian Hoopoe. Extremadura, October

 

[PeterHG]

A visit to the Arrocampo reserve did not produce very much, but we did get some views of the Swamphen. I had tried to find in the Quinto de Lago reserve in the Algarve, but failed to do so. I think @michael-ibkhad better luck there, though only briefly, I think.

 

225 /Sp 225. Western Swamphen. Arrocampo, October.

 

[PeterHG]

On our last visit to the steppes (mainly between Trujillo and Santa Marta)we very much wanted to find sandgrouse. We had only had a distant fly-by of the Black-bellied one. Fortunatley they flew a little closer this time. Still a heavy crop, though.

 

226 /Sp 26. Black-bellied Sandgrouse. Extremadura, October.