We had been back in England for over a week and not seen a single bird, except in passing, and we were getting a bit fed up. When we finally had a free day we went to visit our local patch of Belvide, always a good place for cheering us up. The woods were peaceful and yet noisy, being filled with birdsong! There seemed to be Robins everywhere and as we walked along the path we heard and saw four or five Wrens. As we approached one of the hides John spotted a bird feeding on the grass next to the path, amazingly, it was a Water Rail! It was too far away for a photo but we had a great view of it through the bins. From the hide we had good views of Dunnocks, as they sang from the top of twigs. The reservoir held hundreds of gulls together with plenty of duck species, including Gadwall, Goldeneye and Tufted Duck. As we made our way back John stopped to look for the Firecrest which had been reported here, but instead he found a Treecreeper which was still a good new bird for the list. Back at the woodland feeders we saw Nuthatch, Great Spotted Woodpecker and two Bramblings, all birds we don’t usually see in Spain, along with many of the more common species. We returned to our caravan for lunch having enjoyed a great morning’s birding with plenty of new species for the year.
Species list – Mute Swan, Canada Goose, Mallard, Gadwall, Tufted Duck, Goldenye, Pheasant, Cormorant, Great Crested Grebe, Buzzard, Water Rail, Moorhen, Coot, Black headed Gull, Woodpigeon, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Wren, Dunnock,Robin, Blackbird, Fieldfare, Song Thrush, Chiffchaff, Blue tit, Great Tit, Coal Tit, Long Tailed Tit, Nuthatch, Treecreeper, Magpie, Crow, Tree Sparrow, Chaffinch, Brambling, Greenfinch, Goldfinch.