A real contrast in habitat today. I started out birding the
Caceres Plains and then headed east to Guadalupe to bird the mountainous Pico
Villuercas. In the morning I did the reverse route of yesterdays trip, starting
off on the CC99 to Santa Marta and taking the track west. The highlight was a
flock of 63 Pin-tailed Sandgrouse feeding on what appears to be their typical
habitat – open mossy unagricultured ground with very little brush or scrub on
it. These birds were about 8km in from the east end of the track. Other birds
along the track included about 20 more Pin-tailed Sandgrouse at yesterdays spot
(4km in from the west were the road bends north-east and there are some trees
on the north side of the road and a flood on the south). Also 6 Great Bustards, Dartford Warbler,
Little Owl, Hoopoe, large flocks of Calandra Lark and a couple of Hen Harriers
were also nice to see.
The road to Villuercas takes you through some lovely Spanish
villages and climbs up through vineyards until it reaches the sierras. My first
Black Kite and Acorn Jay of the trip put in roadside appearances on the way. I
took the track just north of the village of Guadalupe that runs up to the
abandoned military base that sits on a massive granite outcrop on top of the
sierra. My quarry was Alpine Accentor, which took me 3 hours to find and then I
only had about a minutes worth of viewing before the flock of 4 birds that I
found flew off. Still, the views from the top of the mountain are stunning and
birds like Short-toed Treecreeper, Firecrest, Dartford Warblers, Crag Martins,
Blue Rock Thrush, Black Redstart and Black Vulture were all really nice to see.
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