The journey to Trujillo took us through some lovely countryside and we soon saw our first White Stork of the day, closely followed by many more of these birds nesting on top of poles, buildings or trees. After entering Extremadura we started to see Azure winged Magpies, another bird which was soon to become commonplace. We stopped for our picnic near the Embalse de Garcia de Sola, which was opposite some rocky cliffs. As we stood watching Griffon Vultures and Black Storks we heard Golden Orioles calling but although we scanned the Poplar trees below us we could not see them. We drove a bit further along the road to look at the reservoir and found numerous House Martins nesting under the two road bridges and some Red rumped Swallows which seemed to be nesting at the bottom of the cliffs. Above the cliffs we saw a few Alpine Swifts and a single Egyptian Vulture. We went back to the parking area and enjoyed eating our lunch while watching Griffon Vultures, Black Storks and many hirundines flying above and in front of us. We continued our journey and as we got closer to Trujillo we saw our first Black Kite and a few Kestrels, possibly Lesser Kestrel. We arrived at our cottage and settled in before eating our meal in the garden. We were a little distracted while eating as so many birds were flying around the garden or overhead. These included Swallow, Red rumped Swallow, House Martin, Common Swift, Lesser Kestrel, White Stork and a Black Kite. Added to this the garden was visited by two Azure winged Magpies and a Woodchat Shrike, both species giving us repeated good close views. Amazing!
Species list – White Stork, Black Stork, Griffon Vulture, Egyptian Vulture, Black Kite, Kestrel, Lesser Kestrel, Woodpigeon, Collared Dove, Common Swift, Alpine Swift, Bee eater, Hoopoe, Green Woodpecker, Crested Lark, Crag Martin, Swallow, Red rumped Swallow, House Martin, Blackbird, Woodchat Shrike, Spotless Starling, Golden Oriole (HO), Magpie, Azure winged Magpie, Jackdaw, House Sparrow, Serin, Goldfinch, Corn Bunting.