Tales of a Birder in Extremadura 4/2007 (1 Viewer)

[brianfm]

Extremadura Adventures April 2007

Well I am finally getting round to writing a report of the adventures in Extremadura. This was a trip made by me and Graham in order to suss out a possible RSPB group trip to the region in 2008. We were to stay with Colin Jewitt and his wife Merilyn in a very typical Spanish village. I know one or two north easterners read these posts so will know of Colin a very well known naturalist in the region.

We set of from Newcastle airport on the 06.15 flight to Malaga on the 16th. I had recently been to Mull for a week and the weather there had been wonderful and it had been in Newcastle too so I thought I was acclimatised for the Spanish sun having not seen rain for about a month! Well after a very long drive from Malaga via Cordoba, Merida and onwards to Trujillo we finally made it to the village to be greeted by a few ‘holas’. The drive in parts had been rather interesting bring us through mountains and plains and some very colourful landscape. The blue/purple lavenders were to be a constant companion throughout the week. We had seen some interesting birds too during the drive, Cattle Egrets, Black Kites, Common Buzzards, Montague’s Harriers, Kestrel, Crested, Thekla and Calandra Larks, Corn Buntings, Red Rumped Swallows, Spotless Starlings and Serins to name a few. On arrival I got quite a shock as Colin explained that up until two days earlier he had been scraping ice of the windows in the morning. T’was a shock as I had a bag full of tee shirts with me! I did have some warmer clothing however. I have been to this area before and I know that it is not only ‘the rain in Spain that stays on the plain’ but also the ‘cold in the mornings’. Thankfully the weather was on the turn and although the early mornings remained cold for the rest of the week, by late morning we were complaining of the heat. We in fact had great weather throughout.

Well I had thought that the species we had seen on the drive would be it for the day and we would just have a cuppa and relax until the following day. Colin and Merilyn bless ‘em’ had other ideas and after a cuppa and snack we were out birding locally until darkness began to fall. What an evening we had not far from the village. In what was a reasonably short space of time we had great sightings of more Kites, this time including Red Kite, more Montagues Harriers, Kestrel, Common Buzzard, Red Legged Partridge, Great and Little Bustards, 2 Little Owls, Swifts, Hoopoes, Bee-eaters, Northern Wheatears, Woodchat Shrikes, Southern Great Grey Shrike and Azure Winged Magpies et all. The air was filled with the song of Corn Buntings, Serins, Crested, Thekla and Calandra Larks and a host of other birds. I shall never forget the sound of all those Corn Buntings. I am more and more realising the importance of bird calls and song in bird recognition. The Corn Bunting is an easy one. It was a wonderful way to start the trip and not an evening easily forgotten. Not easy to drag oneself off to dinner either, at the local restaurant. Even harder to place an order when the menu is read out in Spanish. Thanks to Merilyn for making that bit easier. I will mention at this point that Colin and Merilyn have Spanish Imperial Eagle on their patio list just to give some idea of the area they are staying. No one speaks any English but that did not prevent almost everyone being very friendly. I rounded the evening off very well when just before going to bed I went out into the village street to try and get a mobile telephone link. It was black dark by now although the Barn Swallows which were nesting all over the village were still noisy. ‘Whats that white bird making all the weird noises above my head I thought’. It was a Barn Owl of course. I was very, very tired and so to bed.

This is only part one of a long report so you may wish to keep any comments until the end. Thanks. I shall try and get part two on later. There will be a few parts! Lol And a bird list to round things off.

 

[brianfm]

Well I hadn’t slept too well last night and hope my fitness would last for the rest of the day. After a good breakfast I felt more confident that it would and the birds to come saw to that nicely. The cold morning helped to ensure I was awake too although by mid day it was very hot. You will have to forgive me in that all of the birds I saw appear to have merged somewhat so I won’t even attempt to say what was seen exactly where, but I hope I can paint a clear picture anyway. Remember the piano keys are black and whit,e but they paint a thousand colours in your mind.

How is this for a few of the birds seen today? Griffon Vulture, Black Vulture, Short Toed Eagle, Booted Eagle, Bonneli’s Eagle, Red Kite and Black Kite, Common Buzzard, Sparrowhawk and Kestrel That list does nor include 2 of the star birds of the day in Montague’s Harriers and Black Shouldered Kite. Many of these birds were not too far from the village. One of the highlights of the week for me was to visit the field where the Montague’s Harriers were nesting and to watch as several at a time were up in the air. I completely lost count of numbers. I seem to remember the odd food pass. These are such magnificent birds I would have been happy to sit and watch them all day, no all week! However we did have other things to see. Not least the Black Shouldered Kite which we seemed to find with some ease. The Little Owls were still around and today we had sightings of flocks of Black Bellied and Pin-tailed Grouse. Not wonderful sightings I grant you but good enough for me. My first Cuckoo of the year was heard too, or was that yesterday? (No matter). which that week was one of many and I did eventually see a couple on the last day. Hoopoe was a bird we saw I think each day in some numbers and Bee-eaters too. The Lark species were of course out in force along with the ever present Corn Buntings and the song of Cetti’s Warbler occurred from time to time.

We had lunch out near a river today in wonderful surroundings. Just before lunch we had walked down the river side to find Black Wheatear. We were successful. Last time I was in Spain on a group tour we had searched for a long time for this bird and the leader had finally brought it in using his recordings. No problems this time. Well Graham seemed to be struggling with it for a while and it wasn't untill we realised he thought we were looking for Black Eared Wheatear that we understood why. lol By the time we had finished lunch we reckon we had found three pairs! I got chatting to two guys who were visiting from Holland. I believe one of them had a father who was Spanish. They were interested in the birds. No inhibitions these Dutch guys as the next thing we knew they were on the riverside stark naked. Not that I looked I hasten to add, before any comments are made. Colin reckoned they just didn’t ‘wanna’ leave any white bits. The mind boggles. I only hope they were liberal with the sun cream! I was happy enough getting my cheeks tanned!

I seem to remember this was the day we visited an old mill near the river, yes it was. Tis mill is being purchased by Peter Andre’s manager to convert into a house. If you don’t know who Peter Andre is I wouldn’t lose sleep over it.;-) Think this is where we began to list the butterflies and had Small Heath, a Marbled White species and Spanish Festoon. We had a Painted Lady on the first day. Perhaps I should re phrase that!

We heard Quail today and most days for that matter and so more Woodchat Shrike. The Shrikes were very common. Oh and spotted a Whinchat today too. Trees full of noisy Spanish Sparrows and heard the mechanical bill greetings of the White Storks. Graham and I initially thought it was a tractor engine starting up. Lots of White Storks about by the way. Lots of Cattle Egrets, Grey Herons and a Reed Bunting.
Another great day and at dinner the Spanish food was beginning to taste quite good. I slept well. The red wine may have helped a little.

Part three coming soon! Hold fire.

 

[brianfm]

Part Three

Today started early and we ate breakfast in the cold at Monfrague National Park. When I say cold I mean cold. Those of you who know the area will know where I mean when I say we visited Pennafalcon, Tietar cliffs and walked an area near the information centre and also up to the castle. The last bit being rather steep, but giving good views.

Well we had all the raptors of yesterday once again, with even better views, plus an Egyptian Vulture. This is an out standing area and very interesting geologically. The big plus of having Colin and Merilyn with us was that they are all round naturalists with a great knowledge of the area so we had constant information on the flora, fauna and geology. Great stuff. One of the birds of the day was perhaps the Black Stork on the nest on the crags which moved around for us to see in all of its splendour, but there were so many highlights today and everyday. We did at some point eventually find the Eagle Owl on the crags but not without a great deal of searching. We have a fellow north east birder to thank for that. Not a great view mind you, but it was there in one of the recesses in the crag. Graham swore it was a Little Owl. lol Good views to of Blue Rock Thrush. Warblers today included Orphean (a lifer for me), Subalpine, Cetti’s and later in the day Reed,Sedge and Savi’s. Alpine Swifts and Crag Martins, House and Sand Martins today too. Rock Sparrow added to the list too. Nightingale heard.

The walk near the information centre brought good views of Woodlark and butterflies today were Wall Brown, Spanish Festoon, Clouded Yellow, Bath White, Small Heath, Small Copper and Cleopatra Brimstone.

The walk up to the Castle brought us Chough and Raven and allowed us to look down upon Griffon Vultures. I seem to remember hearing Great Spotted Woodpecker and Cuckoos here too.

Whilst the national park is stunning the highlight for me to was at what looked at first a rather mundane area at a reservoir. It was here that I was to have my best views ever of Little Bittern, on the reeds right in front of me, and Marsh Harriers at one time engaging in a food pass. The lighting was perfect. Little Egret and Purple Heron were included in a host of other birds in the area. 71 species of bird today. A good one and went to bed happy.

The following morning was put aside for a walk before taking lunch in a restaurant. Lots of butterflies on this walk and new ones added to the list included Nettle Tree, Provence Orange Tip (a beauty), Holly Blue, Red Admiral, Fritillary species and Large Tortoiseshell. Our drive had begun with sightings of 5 Wild Boar (lifer) and 2 Red Deer. At the start of the walk there seemed to be Blackcaps in profusion and during the walk I can’t remember ever seeing as many Jays. Overhead of course was the usual variety of raptors. Even got a brief sighting of Nightingale today along with Dipper on the river. Think I was the only one to see a Dipper throughout the week. Cirl Buntings were about to.

After lunch we took a drive over one of the high passes and this brought me one of my weeks highlights. Strangely not bird related. It was on the top of the pass and for some time we could hear only the tinkling of bells from goats then all of a sudden up above us on the mountain side came dozens and dozens of goats followed by a goat herd. It seemed almost biblical to me and I could not take my eyes off the sight. Anyway we later got Black Eared Wheatears, Stonechats and a Black Redstart.

At another stop Merilyn got her eye on a Lesser Spotted Woodpecker. No one else did despite an extensive search. On our walk we did have the best ever view of Woodlark I or anyone else is likely to have. Colin reckoned the bird must have dropped tired onto the bush as it just sat and watched us take in the sight of it. It was a text book view. I guess one of the stars of the week. On our return we kept an eye out for the Lesser Spotted Woodpecker with little result apart from finding Jays, Blackbirds and Song Thrush in the trees which kept teasing us. After some considerable time we decided to leave. On approaching the car the call of the Woodpecker was heard. This led us to spread out and search again. We found it when it not only called, but drummed. Only the second sighting I have had of Lesser Spotted Woodpecker. A lifer for Graham and Merilyn I believe. It flew right in front of me and I was amazed at its small size even though I was aware that it was small. A great sighting as I had watched it drum in the tree and watched as it turned giving clear views of plumage. Afraid the Greenwoodpecker escaped everyone except Merilyn. She certainly has an eye for the birds!

The day was not yet over as we went to Monfrague to look for Dartford Warblers which would give me another lifer as I had missed them the last time I was in Spain. No luck today either I’m afraid, nor did we have any when listening for the Scops Owl as darkness closed in around us, although we did see another 2 Red Deer and some Bats of various proportions. A true dawn till dusk birding day today as we started at 07.00 and ended after 22.00. We had had our dinner at lunch time, if you know what I mean, so had a nice supper back at the house. The Red wine flowed, my head spun and I slept like a baby.

Part 4 tomorrow folks as I’m off to see the match. Some good bits to come so don’t give up on me!

 

[brianfm]

Part 4 Earlier than expected. I'm in the groove man!

Today, Friday, was a sort of semi rest day. Thank God!!! I had a long lie in until 08.00!!! Then after a leisurely breakfast we were of to the historic town of Trujillo. We had coffee in the old town Square with Colin and Merilyn whilst watching Lesser Kestrels and Pallid Swifts. After Colin and Merilyn left us Graham and I acted the tourist and explored the old town. I had visited before but enjoyed having a little more time to relax. It really is an interesting place. We paid our Euros and visited the church of Santa Maria La Major. I am not a religious guy, but I like churches and cathedrals and to be perfectly honest they do have the power to make me stop and think about some divine kind of presence. Anyway we climbed to the top of the tower, not a mean fete for someone like me who is terrified of heights. Once there I was happy to have paid my Euros as on the ledge just a few yards away were a male and female Lesser Kestrel giving us great views. Maybe that was my reward from Heaven for being such a nice guy! Also had good views of Red Rumped Swallows flying below. After a walk round town we headed off for lunch. As Graham said at the time I had the quite typical Spanish cuisine of Spaghetti Bolognese. Lol I seem to remember Graham had a Sandwich. Probably chicken, as I think Extremadura was running out of chickens once we left.

We had the afternoon to ourselves and Graham decided to drive to Monfrague again for a second crack at Dartford Warbler. We got the little Devils this time. Saw 5 or 6 and Dartford Warblers and heard more. Lifer for Brian and as I think I mentioned in another post a bird that has excited me for many years, long before I was into serious birding so it will take some beating this year. Other birds seen included Sardinian Warbler, Subalpine Warbler, Red Backed Shrike (although we were thrown by that one for sometime as it was a distant view), Woodchat Shrike and Black-eared Wheatear. We eventually made our way back for a quite rest on the patio before our evening walk.

There was quite a storm that evening, the first rain I had seen for over a month I reckon. We were lucky as it blew over during our walk. The rain had brought out the colours wonderfully and there was quite an atmosphere. I like storms and rain. The mosses on the rocks we walked on looked beautiful and how I wish I knew a little more about botany. Difficult to decide which was the stars of the evening walk. Was it the Great Spotted Cuckoos of which we saw at least 3 in close up or was it the dozens of Bee-eaters which appear to have been brought down by the storm and called and flew just above our heads throughout the walk. I can’t decide, but it was quite an evening I can tell you and a a fantastic birding experience. One highlight was seeing 10+ Bee-eaters sitting on a dead fallen tree. Wow!!!

We eventually got to the pool where there are Otters, but we never did find them however there were some good bird sightings including, Great Crested Grebe, Little Egret, Gadwall, Red Kite, Black Winged Stilt, Hoopoe and Greenshank. Golden Oriole was heard. I forgot to mention that we had seen a Golden Oriole on the day we found the Lesser Spotted Woodpecker. This had been a great walk and a great way to end the day which had started as a rest day! Dinner called.

Last part coming up tomorrow. It ends on a high! Then I shall do a bird and butterfly list

 

[brianfm]

Part 5

Well this morning we were back to the reservoir but in a rather different atmosphere. The drive took us through early morning mists which by the time we reached our destination were beginning to clear. We soon got our eyes on Little Grebe, Cormorant, Little Bittern, Cattle Egret, Little Egret, Great White Egret, Grey Heron, Purple Heron, White Stork, Marsh Harrier, Purple Gallinule, Mallard, Common Sandpiper and Gadwall. We also got further sightings of Black Stork today. The light was wonderful once again and the air full of song from numerous lark species, Savi’s, Reed, Sedge and Cetti’s Warblers. Our morning cuppa was greatly enjoyed. We finally moved off to explore an area know for it’s variety of orchids. I have admitted to not being well up on botanical matters but I enjoy a little time with such diversions and this was very much an all round natural history trip.

Well a short drive and a pleasant short walk brought us to the Olive groves where the Orchids were. Lots of them. I seem to recall many of them were of the ‘Naked Man’ variety. Bit of a theme to the holiday I think.;-) Also some small Bee Orchids. Maybe Graham will comment latter as he was well into this. I enjoyed as much looking at the butterflies which today included Spanish Festoon, Brimstone, Green Underside Blue, Brown Argus, Spanish Marbled White, and of course more Small Heath. As we were searching for plants we were still being entertained by Bee-eaters and Azure Winged Magpies. I noted that the Azure Winged Magpies in the area were far more nervous than the ones further south which had allowed us to feed them in the car park on my previous trip. I never did really like to see such wonderful birds struggling to eat bits of crusty roll.

We later stopped for lunch and I experienced Goat Chops for the first time. To me they were the same as spare ribs. A cool glass of beer was welcome too. Sadly after lunch we returned to the vehicle to find that the window had been knocked out and my bag had gone. This meant a detour to the police station. As Colin said at the time there are parasites every where. Happily there are very nice people everywhere to and a local who spoke very good English helped us at the station. No one was harmed and the thieves got little that would be of any use to them. Thanks to Colin and Merilyn we got on with the birding. I blotted the scum out of my mind right away and choose to remember all of the friendly people I had met.

Other birds as the day continued included more Griffon Vulture, Black Vulture, Short Toed Eagle, Black Kite, Red Kite, Common Buzzard, Montague Harrier, Great Bustard, (displaying) Little Bustard, 5 Yellow Wagtails, Stonechat, Wheatear, Black Eared Wheatear, Red Rumped Swallow, Hoopoe, Garden Warbler, Sardinian Warbler and Long Tailed Tit. In the evening we tried especially for better views of Black Bellied and Pin Tailed Grouse with mixed fortunes. Saw the Little Owl again.

So it was to dinner. This time Graham and I ventured out alone. Strangely for a Saturday night we were the only people in the restaurant and were served by very efficient waiters one of whom had a splattering of English. We had chicken! Very nice it was and so to bed.

We didn’t dash up on Sunday as this was to be our last day and as we were setting off at about 23.00 for an all night drive to Malaga for return flights to Newcastle an extra hour in bed was welcomed. Still the day had many highlights. We visited another reservoir in the morning. This brought us some new birds for the trip as well as some we had seen often. I guess some of the newer birds included, Little Ringed Plover, Grey Plover, Lapwing, Redshank, LBB Gull, Gull Billed Tern, Little Tern. I got a brief look at a Spanish Scarce Swallowtail Butterfly too. I also got a glimpse of a Collared Pratincole flying away from me but more of them anon. I remember we had good views of a Short Toed Lark as well along with White Wagtail and Yellow Wagtail. After another short drive, on which we saw another Great Spotted Cuckoo, we stopped for lunch at a picnic spot with small pool. Lunch was good but there was no thoughts of there been much birdlife about until Graham got his eye on a Kingfisher which we all had good sightings of. I remember listening to Cetti’s Warbler here too.

After lunch we headed to what Colin called the ‘paddy field’ area. It was certainly interesting and a mass of bird song and calls were heard in the reed beds. Little could be seen though although Zitting Cisticola where all over the place ‘Zitting’ like mad. We got some good views of them and their fanned tails. Of course they used to be called Fan Tailed Warblers. Blackcaps, Reed, Sedge and Cetti’s Warbler were in full song. We managed to find both Common Waxbill and Red Avadavat which seem to have colonised the area. The later being a bird from the Indian continent. I have seen many Stonechats in recent years but never one so well as I saw today only feet away in full sun. One of my top ten birds. We also had Hawfinch, although not as well as seen earlier in the week, Linnet, Tree Sparrow and Goldfinch. White Storks were around in number. Colin had seen Collared Pratincoles following the tactors earlier but the drivers seemed now to be having their siesta. Never the less we did find some in a field. Perhaps the highlight of the trip for me was at the end of the walk we were surrounded on all sides by flying and close up Collared Pratincoles. The colouring of these large Swallow like birds is subdued, but wonderful. I could have stood here and watched all day. Collared Pratincoles have entered my top ten bird ratings. A real birding experience. As we watched 2 Cuckoos flew past too! I believe we saw 3 Cuckoos in total today. I lost count of the Pratincoles, but Merilyn had counted up to 30 in the field. I’m sure that there were many more. Now as we prepared to rejoin the vehicle to return to the village as our trip was nearing it’s end Colin pointed up to the Sky and said ‘hows that for a bird’. It was an immature Golden Eagle! Our first Golden Eagle of the week and not a bad one to end on I reckon.

Colin and Merilyn are unlikely to read this on the forum but I still offer them both thanks from Graham and I for such a fantastic all round birding and natural history experience. I know my report is long (as usual) but it has only touched the surface of what was a wonderful week. We had never met Colin or Merilyn before, but left feeling we had made some very good friends. The birding was dawn to dusk and pretty intense but done in a laid back manner. Colin and Merilyn know there stuff and are therefore happy to share their knowledge without any sign what so ever of one upmanship, a thing which I have found can happen in some birding circles and which I deplore.

As I said at the beginning I am planning on taking an RSPB group out to Extremadura next year if there is the demand. Colin and Merilyn are willing to put packages together to suit small groups and I am sure can fit in trips for couples and groups of 4 too. If anyone reads this and is seriously interested please pm me for details. I assure you I am not their agent or on commission. Lol

Bird and Butterfly List will follow this evening hopefully. Hope you have enjoyed reading the report.

 

[Gill Osborne]

Wow!!!!!! I am absolutely speechless at all that fabulous wildlife :clap: Mouthwatering or what!!! I wanna go but there's no way I can afford anything like that until 2009 at the very earliest :-C Unless I don't bother moving house next year, that is!

Say one thing though hunny.....all this trekking out to possible Group Trip sites you and Graham HAVE to do - it's a hard job but somebody has to do it, eh? :-O

 

[Ant]

Now that is some report Bri!

Too much to comment on, but, I'd love to see the montague harriers.

Do the funds come out of your own pockets or do the RSPB pay you to reccie these places?
right now, I can't really think of anything else to say so may make some comments on each part seperatly later on.

 

[brianfm]

Now that is some report Bri!

Too much to comment on, but, I'd love to see the montague harriers.

Do the funds come out of your own pockets or do the RSPB pay you to reccie these places?
right now, I can't really think of anything else to say so may make some comments on each part seperatly later on.

Re Funds.........I wish Ant, I wish.........lol

cya

 

[Quacker]

Re Funds.........I wish Ant, I wish.........lol

cya

I sponsor him ...

 

[brianfm]

Extremadura 16th -23rd April 2007 Bird List
Great Crested Grebe
Little Grebe
Cormorant
Little Bittern
Night Heron
Cattle Egret
Little Egret
Great White Egret
Grey Heron
Purple Heron
White Stork
Black Stork
Mute Swan
Mallard
Gadwall
Griffon Vulture
Black Vulture
Egyptian Vulture
Golden Eagle
Short Toed Eagle
Booted Eagle
Bonnelli’s Eagle
Red Kite
Black kite
Marsh Harrier
Black Shouldered Kite
Montagu’s harrier
Common Buzzard
Sparrowhawk
Kestrel
Lesser Kestrel
Red Legged Partridge
Quail (H)
Pheasant
Moorhen
Coot
Purple Gallinule
Great Bustard
Little Bustard
Oystercatcher
Black Winged Stilt
Stone Curlew
Collared Pratincole
Little Ringed Plover
Grey plover
Lapwing
Common Sandpiper
Redshank
Greenshank
Whimbrel
Black Headed Gull
LBB Gull
Gull Billed Tern
Little Tern
Black Bellied Sand Grouse
Pin Tailed Sandgrouse
Rock Dove
Wood Pigeon
Collared Dove
Cuckoo
Great Spotted Cuckoo
European Eagle Owl
Little Owl
Barn Owl
Swift
Pallid Swift
Alpine Swift
Hoopoe
Kingfisher
Bee-Eater
Great Spotted Woodpecker
Lesser Spotted Woodpecker
Skylark
Crested Lark
Thekla Lark
Wood Lark
Short Toed lark
Calandra Lark
Sand martin
Crag Martin
House Martin
Barn Swallow
Red Rumped Swallow
White Wagtail
Grey Wagtail
Yellow Wagtail
Wren
Dipper
Dunnock
Robin
Nightingale
Black Redstart
N Wheatear
Black Eared Wheatear
Black Wheatear
Whinchat
Stonechat
Blue Rock Thrush
Song Thrush
Blackbird
Garden Warbler
Blackcap
Orphean Warbler
Sardinian Warbler
Subalpine Warbler
Dartford Warbler
Sedge warbler
Zitting Cisticola
Savi’s Warbler
Cetti’s Warbler
Reed Warbler
Bonnelli’s Warbler
Chiffchaff
Iberian Chiffchaff
Great Tit
Blue Tit
Crested Tit
Long Tailed Tit
Penduline Tit (H)
Nuthatch
Red Backed Shrike
Woodchat Shrike
Southern Great Great Shrike
Azure Winged Magpie
Magpie
Jay
Jackdaw
Chough
Raven
Spotless Starling
Golden Oriole
House Sparrow
Spanish Sparrow
Tree Sparrow
Rock Sparrow
Chaffinch
Linnet
Goldfinch
Greenfinch
Serin
Hawfinch
Reed Bunting
Cirl Bunting
Rock Bunting
Common Waxbill
Red Avadavat

Mammal List
Red Deer
Wild Boar
Brown Hare
Rabbit

Butterfly List

Spanish Scarce Swallowtail
Spanish Festoon
Clouded Yellow
Brimstone
Cleopatra Brimstone
Large White
Bath White
Spanish Marbled White
Nettle Tree
Painted Lady
Red Admiral
Large Tortoiseshell
Green Underside Blue
Orange tip
Provence Orange tip
Brown Argus
Small Heath
Wall Brown
Small Copper
Speckled Wood
Holly Blue
Fritillary species
Marbled White Species

I may have missed the odd bird off the list and maybe graham can comment if I have

 

[level seven]

A few shots to try to give a flavour of the region.

 

[Pam_m]

I haven't time tonight to read the last report Brian...sooooooooo long, but I am looking forward to it tomorrow.I shall digest it with my coffee and biccie later in the morning!

Smashing pics Graham.....and lovely to see the Storks on their nests:t:

 

[RKell1]

Fabulous reading Brian and no I'm not green with envy..Thanks for sharing:clap:

 

[Renee Redstart]

I thoroughly enjoyed reading parts 1 - 4, and am saving part 5 for when I get the time. Just popping in to say it's brilliant so far, and really took me there.

 

[Mabel]

Brian, what can I say? You deserved all you got dude, and you got it in spades! Thanks for sharing!

 

[dafi]

Brian that was a fantastic set of reports. I think its the first time i have drooled reading BF. Good one.

 

[BazR]

Hiya Bonny Lad.
It would take too many words to sum it up properly, but how about Wow! tremendous, fantastic and, you jammy b....r. Seriously though kidda, what a wonderful holiday, and a superb report. Pity about the thieving scumbag: his fingers should rot off.
Thanks for delighting us with it Brian. Lovely pics Graham.

All the best.
Baz.

 

[robinm]

Good reports Brian :t:

I have sat in the almost the same spot in Graham's photo in post 12 watching Lesser Kestrels.

 

[brianfm]

Hi all

Thanks for the comments folks and thanks for the pics Graham. Thank goodness people have managed to wade through it. ;-) Believe it or not I do enjoy writing these reports as it brings everything back to me. Don't know about others, but I find when out birding some details can slip past you as your so busy on concentrating on the birds. Writing things up always helps me remember the detail. Some of you may remember a guy on the old beeb board that used to write really long but very interesting reports. I have forgotten his name, but I actually picked up a bit from him. Remember the beeb removed one of his reports once cos it was too long. Only the beeb could do that! Poor guy got fed up I think and packed in. Pity as I always enjoyed reading his reports from his local patch. Wish I could remember his name.

Anyway I am dead beat with all my jaunts last month, but out birding with the RSPB group tomorrow. Hoping for Ring Ouzel and sun!!!

Best wishes all

ps Suprised no one has passed comment on 'me' hat. Especially Donny Lad! lol I won't wear it in the UK, but these Tilley hats are great for keeping the sun off.

 

[level seven]

Good reports Brian :t:

I have sat in the almost the same spot in Graham's photo in post 12 watching Lesser Kestrels.

I bet quite a few people have Robin. Not a bad way to spend half-an-hour or so. By the time the photo was taken I'd given up trying to distinguish the Pallid Swifts flying above our heads from the common Swifts. It remains a mystery to me lol!