Today we travelled from a very nice overnight hotel near Madrid to our usual apartment in Torrejon El Rubio.
Plenty of Woodpigeon, Magpie and Spotless Starling were seen en route before we added Griffon Vulture, Common Swift and a possible, but unidentified eagle to our list.
Soon we were seeing White Storks flying, or on nests near the road. At one point before Talavera de la Reina there were about seven nests in a row!
While driving we added House Martin, Cattle Egret, Hoopoe, our first Black Kite and a Booted Eagle.
We had a short stop at Arrocampo Reservoir where a White Stork was on a nest near the visitor centre. Many Swallows flew around with the odd Red-rumped Swallow amongst them. A Little Egret was moving around at the edges of the reeds and two Purple Herons eventually showed themselves, albeit briefly. Cetti’s and Reed Warbler could be heard nearby. Tree and House Sparrows were plentiful with many of them going in and out of the bottom of the stork’s nest!
As we travelled the very quiet road from Jaraceijo towards Torrejon El Rubio, we had many sightings of birds in the Dehesa, with probable sightings of Azure-Winged Magpies and Woodchat Shrikes amongst them. We will no doubt see them properly in the next few days. On the approach to Torrejon El Rubio there were Corn Buntings and Crested Larks and the resident White Stork was on it’s nest, with two youngsters, in full view of our apartment. A good first day.
Species list – Little Egret, Cattle Egret, Purple Heron, White Stork, Griffon Vulture, Black Kite, Booted Eagle, Woodpigeon, Common Swift, Hoopoe, Crested Lark, Crag Martin, Swallow, Red-rumped Swallow, Stonechat, Cetti’s Warbler (HO), Reed Warbler (HO), Spotless Starling, Magpie, Azure-winged Magpie, House Sparrow, Tree Sparrow, Corn Bunting, Goldfinch.
