Monday 20 February 2012

The Spanish Steppe lands


I spent this morning and evening out on the steppe lands to the east (morning) and north (evening) of Caceres. I headed south for the middle of the day to look for waders near Santa Amelia but they were few and far between. Sunrise found me in Torreorgaz heading north into the Caceres plains. The highlight was a total of 300 (three hundred) Great Bustards. This probably triples the number of Great Bustards that I’ve seen in my life! Rather disappointingly I only managed to see 2 Little Bustards, two females crouched in the grass at the end of a grassy field. The steppes were full of birds. Hundreds of Spotless Starlings, Spanish Sparrows, Corn Buntings, Meadow Pipits, Crested, Thekla Larks, Calandra and Skylarks and good numbers of Hoopoe, Red Kite, Hen Harrier, Little Owl and a couple of small flocks of Black-bellied Sandgrouse. The Calandra Larks were particularly good value and provided some great photo opportunities.
After that I headed down to Santa Amelia. I was hoping to see lots of waterbirds in flooded fields to the east of the town, but unfortunately most of the fields had dried out, along with the numbers of waders. I explored to the south of the town and witness an Extremadura special – the sight of hundreds of cranes thermaling overhead before heading off to their destination (see video below).
It was then back off to the steppelands, this time taking the EX-390 north from Caceres and then the track east towards Santa Marta de Magasca. The highlight of this trip was 58 Pin-tailed Sandgrouse, 54 of them in the same flock! Again there were lots of larks, Corn Buntings and Spanish Sparrows with good views of Hoopoe and Southern Grey Shrike.
Great Bustard

Great Bustard

Great Bustard
Great Bustard

Calandra Lark

Calandra Lark

Calandra Lark

Calandra Lark

Calandra Lark

Calandra Lark

Calandra Lark
Calandra Lark

Black-bellied Sandgrouse


Black-bellied Sandgrouse


Water Pipit
Common Waxbill

Common Crane

Common Crane


Common Cranes

Common Cranes
Common Cranes

Pin-tailed Sandgrouse


Pin-tailed Sandgrouse

Southern Grey Shrike

Southern Grey Shrike

Lapwing

Hoopoe dust-bathing




Hoopoe dust-bathing



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