After spending an all too brief night at Gatwick Airport, we were back on a plane again, this time heading for Madrid. Collecting our hire car proved interesting. The first car we were offered matched what we’d booked but came with several additional dents, scratches, knocks and scrapes. It had obviously recently been involved in an accident and was being offered to us without any repairs, so we asked for a replacement car. This time we were given a BMW, a very cool, stylish-looking motor, but with only inches of ground clearance, how practical for birding? Still, we looked and felt great as we cruised down the motorway to Extremadura, where we are staying for the next few days. Driving here is rather hazardous as you spend so much time looking up at the various raptors and storks flying overhead. Maybe that’s how those dents and scratches were acquired?? But with three Cinereous Vultures cruising overhead, we couldn’t resist craning our heads out of the window to take a good look. Huge birds like flying doors, looking enormous even compared to the Griffon Vultures they were circling with.
Having checked in at our accommodation near Trujillo – more on that later – we headed out for an hour or so birding before dark. Azure-winged Magpie was quickly added to the list before we even left the village, and checking out the bullring in Trujillo itself, we were pleased to see around seven Lesser Kestrels coming in to roost on the roof, with a good number of Spotless Starlings gathering on nearby chimneys and TV aerials. Back to the guesthouse for supper as darkness was falling, but still enough light to see a Red Kite circling over the village, a new bird for the list.
Bird species total: 1874
Posted 9pm 26th March, Trujillo, Spain