17th - An early start in the warm sunshine and the grassland of Belen was full of the song of Crested Larks. Travelling along the road I spotted many fly-over Cattle Egrets and Black Kites and a pair of Stonechats chacked by a small stream. The fields were full of feeding White Storks. As I reached the brow of a hill I noticed a large bird flying away from me on the left, its wings a mix of black, white and brown, surely a Great Bustard ! Unfortunately by the time I was out of the car it could not be re located. After another kilometre or so I decided to turn around and on the return journey spotted an amazing sight. About 50 metres from the road, perched on a boulder in an adjacent field sat 2 Black Vultures, an adult and a juvenile, apparently oblivious of me ! I had fantastic views of one of the most endangered raptors in the world ! A quick breakfast and we were soon travelling towards Caceres in the hope of better views of more Great Bustards among other things. The main road between Trujillo and Caceres cut through excellent steppe country. Overhead we spotted many Griffon Vultures, Black Kites, both kestrels and the occasional Buzzard. Along the roadside the nest boxes were full of Rollers, and Hoopoes were everywhere. We then took a road through some Holm oak woodland and spotted many Woodchat Shrikes, Azure-winged Magpies and Bee-eaters. A reasonable sized lake held a pair of Little Ringed Plovers, several Black-winged Stilts and 6 Whiskered Terns. Continuing our journey we found a pair of Great spotted Cuckoos and a Buzzard catching a Swallow in mid air ! Amazing! Having been unsuccessful with our search for any more Bustards we decided to have lunch at the Embalse de Caceres. The lake held many White Storks and we had a wonderful view while we ate our tortillas. We decided to drive the track which led into the park and after a hundred metres or so I noticed some large birds to our right. Sure enough when scoped they were confirmed as Great Bustards ! They numbered around 12 and looked very stately as they wandered slowly through the scrub. We managed a few photos and a movie.


Buoyed by our success we continued along the track and I spotted a single male Little Bustard in flight which, unfortunately, couldn't be relocated on the ground. Larks were everywhere and we managed to see Crested, Calandra, Thekla and Short-toed all within 30 minutes ! When we arrived at the end of the track 3 Montagu's Harriers flew over and a Short-toed Eagle was spotted on a fencepost. On the return journey we found a pair of Stone-curlews and a Raven but no sandgrouse unfortunately. Still, a fantastic day.