Greenshank birding : Short Summary of EXTREMADURA

I recently birded Extremadura with Heatherlea, a bird-filled region in Spain, with countless new species, and good views of many of the commoner species. Even the hotel grounds had lifers for me, and the most colourful birds were often the most common. This is just a short summary about a trip I could write a lot more about but, over a month after I went, I've fallen behind on blog writing.

One highlight included the variety of raptors, including mating Spanish Imperial Eagles, hunting Short-Toed Eagle and abundant Booted Eagles. I also had more distant views of Bonelli's and Golden Eagles, but ID features were seen well on both species.

There were also smaller raptors, such as the Lesser Kestrels nesting in towns, and a distant Black-Shouldered Kite flying high in the sky. Griffon Vultures were common, with Black seen most days and Egyptian seen a couple of times. Other species included many Black and Red Kites, Buzzard, Osprey, Peregrine and Common Kestrel.

Another highlight was the huge variety of warblers, including many new species, such as Spectacled, Subalpine, Sardinian and Western Bonelli's. It was, however, the Western Orphean Warbler that was the highlight of the warblers, and probably the birds, of the trip. A shy warbler that showed well for a brief period and singing constantly.

Other warblers included Dartford and the more common species.

Birds were everywhere, including by the roadsides, so we were constantly stopping the bus to watch Roller, Bee-Eater, Iberian Grey Shrike, Zitting Cisticola and Woodchat Shrike.

Birds of the Plains included many displaying Great Bustards, a displaying male Little Bustard, Black-Bellied Sandgrouse in flight, and some more familiar species such as Little Owl.

Larks were numerous, with Short-Toed, Calandra, Crested, Thekla's and Woodlark. Some days we entered different habitats - the marshes and pools held Black-Winged Stilts, Purple Swamphens, Little Bitterns, Gull-Billed Tern and Penduline Tit.

We drove up to high altitudes one of the days for some specialist species - this is where I saw the Western Bonelli's Warbler, and other species such as Golden Oriole, Iberian Green Woodpecker and Short-Toed Treecreeper.

With all these specialities, there were many common birds, with Corn Buntings and Crested Larks everywhere, and Red-Rumped Swallow, Crag martin, Alpine Swift and Pallid Swift were seen over bridges and towns.

Other species included Blue Rock Thrush, Nightingale, Black Redstart, Spanish Sparrows, Cirl Bunting, Common Waxbill, Red Avadavat, Rock Sparrow, Great Spotted Cuckoo, Purple Heron, Cattle Egret, Montagu's Harrier and Quail.

It was a great place, and a new area for me. Birds were everywhere, including beside motorways and near the hotel. I would definitely come back here, even though I saw most of the targets, as the chorus of Corn Buntings remind me of what Britain could have been like with the correct habitat. Thanks to the excellent, skilled guides at Heatherlea, who found the amazing birds and were friendly and helpful.