Coto Donana & the Alentejo with Bird Holidays 28th April - 5th May - Part 2 Mertola

Driving from Huelva we followed the coast road in to Portugal, crossing the Rio Guadiana then heading north to Mertola which is also on the Guadiana.

Mertola

We made  brief stop at a bridge over the river and added Blue Rock Thrush and a small lizard, the Large Psammodromus.

Large Psammodromus

After dropping off our bags at the well placed Hotel Museu we did a short trip around some of the upland meadows of the Alentejo. 

flower fields of the Alentejo

The flowers were spectacular but so were the birds and we soon added Little Bustard and Thekla Larks to our growing list.

Little Bustard

The Little Bustard was inevitably distant but still gave good views through a telescope, especially when it puffed out its throat in display and jumped in the air.
Both Crested Lark and Thekla Larks occur here so their separation is quite a challenge! The Thekla Lark has a shorter, stubbier bill and has darker black markings on its breast but you would need to spend some time here to grasp the subtleties of the two species.

Thekla Lark

Back at the hotel we could now see several occupied Lesser Kestrel nest boxes on the side of buildings below the castle. Something to check out tomorrow!
The following morning we set off towards Castro Verde and had not driven far before a large bird of prey appeared against the hillside; an immature Spanish Imperial Eagle. It was being mobbed by a female Montagu's Harrier but dropped away from us over the top of the hill and was lost to view. A little further on we followed the track at Monte del Aprica where nest boxes have been erected for Roller and Lesser Kestrel. We saw at least three pairs of Roller but stayed in the vehicle as we passed the nest boxes to minimise disturbance of what is becoming an increasingly rare bird in Europe.

Roller

As we watched from a safe distance one bird flew in the air and twisted from side to side in a display flight that gives the bird it name.
More Little Bustards and several Great Bustard were seen against the hillside and there strange mating calls carried across the grasslands. A party of around 30 Black-bellied Sandgrouse broke the skyline and circled before dropping out of view. At the visitor centre at Herdade de Vale Goncalinho we saw more Lesser Kestrel in man made nest holes and a single Red Kite. After lunch we drove a little further and a lone bird of prey circling over the hillside turned out to be a migrating Honey Buzzard.

Honey Buzzard

We heard several Wryneck in both Spain and Portugal but finally found a bird sitting in the open on a dead tree and calling repeatedly that everyone managed to see.

Wryneck

In the evening I returned to the Lesser Kestrel nest boxes at Mertola. The birds were out hunting during the day but returned to the nest boxes to roost which gave a good opportunity for some photos.

Lesser Kestrel - adult male

Lesser Kestrel - malereturning to the nest box with a large millipede

Lesser Kestrel - female

It was an early start the following morning, we did a similar route to yesterday but setting out at 06:30. The birds were more active at this time of day and one of the birds we were keen to see rewarded us as first one Great Spotted Cuckoo, followed by a second bird crossed the road and landed together on the hillside.

Great Spotted Cuckoo - a pair

As we drove further on we came across a pale buzzard sat on a low hill. It was clearly a Long-legged Buzzard of the North African race cirtensis the so called Atlas Long-legged Buzzard. They are smaller than the Eastern race I have seen in Turkey and Greece and lack the long, narrower winged appearance of that bird. Confusingly intergrades occur with Common Buzzard, called the Gibraltar Buzzard so its difficult to know if this was a pure Long-legged Buzzard on our views, it was rather tatty in any case.

Long-legged Buzzard

Close by a female Great Bustard popped up by the roadside and had a good look at us before walking off to a safe distance.

Great Bustard - female

A visit to the river at Pulo do Lobo produced Crag Martin sat on its cup shaped nest and both Rock and Cirl Buntings. 

Pulo do Lobo

We also had several Woodlark singing by the entrance gates which circled overhead whilst delivering their lovely song. 
All too soon the day was over bringing our bird filled week to an end but with some fantastic experiences, memories and great company.

Porto Lagos to the Black Sea Coast

I left Mandra Beach on Sunday morning (1st May) but had a look round the pools before I left. I'm glad I did because a Great Spotted Cuckoo flew past calling as I walked down the track. 

Great Spotted Cuckoo

The waders appeared to be pretty much as yesterday although I couldn't find any Marsh Sandpipers but on the plus side I think there must be at least 4 pairs of Spur-winged Plover on the drier areas surrounding the pools.

Spur-winged Plover

My next stop was the Evros Delta, I knew access could be difficult here and hadn't bothered to arrange a permit for the restricted border area. As it happens I met a bird watching couple from Preston who had just come from Evros, they had a permit but said that no photography was permitted in the border area which kind of supported my decision not to enter that area. I went to the visitor centre but it was closed, it was Easter Sunday in Greece so most places seemed to be shut.

I tried the area known as the Isabelline Flats which, unsurprisingly, is supposed to be good for Isabelline Wheatear. The area was agricultural land with fields full of crops and I soon got lost on the rough tracks. It didn't look like good habitat for Isabelline Wheatear which have similar habitat preferences to our Wheatear in my experience. Needless to say I didn't see any so headed for some pools by the beach. I ended up going back around Alexandria airport but eventually got to the beach which was actually very good  with small pools holding Wood Sandpipers and Little Stints and the rough coastal vegetation Short-toed and Crested Larks plus Tawny Pipit and a Black-headed Wagtails. As I drove on I disturbed a Collared Pratincole, parking up I soon located more and there were probably 20 in the area. It was early afternoon by now and the light was terrible, especially for photographing birds overhead. 

Collared Pratincole

After an hour or so with the pratincoles I decided to call it a day at Evros, it's probably a great area if you know it I didn't.

I headed for the Dadia Forest which was about an hours drive to the north and was on the route I planned to take into Bulgaria.

It was a good road getting there and I arrived at the plush visitor centre where the staff were very helpful and I watched a video about the raptor conservation in the forest which was very good. The nearby hotel was full, there seemed to be some sort of party going on with load music and dancing. I declined the offer to join in the the personnel at the centre kindly allowed me to park overnight on their car park.

I did the walk to the raptor observation hide and was pleased to hear and then see several male Eastern Bonelli's Warblers. It was difficult photographing them with the changing light in the wood and their constant activity but I persevered and eventually got some reasonable photos of this lovely bird that is a smaller version of our Wood Warbler.

Eastern Bonelli's Warbler

The Collins Guide suggests that dark lores may be a feature for separating Eastern from Western Bonelli's but these looked to have pale lores from most angles.

There was nothing to be seen from the hide late afternoon so I walked back having seen or heard 6 or 7 Bonelli's.

The following morning I took the organised bus back to the raptor hide, where animal carcasses are put out for the vultures. It was €4 for a one way trip as I planned to walk back again. It was overcast and raining which didn't bode well but the lady guide was optimistic so I and half a dozen interested Greeks headed off.

Egyptian, Griffon and Black Vultures

Black Vultures squabbling

Sat in the trees around the feeding area I counted 17 Black, 7 Griffon and 1 Egyptian Vulture which was joined by two others a little later on. As one Egyptian Vulture arrived it immediately mated with the original bird which got the other vultures attention (see photo). The distance was too great for decent photos but it still made for an impressive sight.

I was impressed with the set up and bought one of their T-shirts, I should probably have got a mug as well! I left around mid-day but on the short stretch of road which connects Dadia to the main road up to the border I had two Short-toed Eagles, Osprey, Common Buzzard and adult Lesser Spotted Eagle. It's definitely a good area for birds of prey.

Lesser Spotted Eagle - adult

Osprey

I then drove about 500Km to the Black Sea coast stopping at Kamchia just short of Varna. Stopping on the way I had several Ortolan Bunting which were new for the trip.

Ortolan Bunting - male

Trujillo and Caceres

Pam and I joined the now familiar A66 and headed south from Plasencia and, as had been the pattern in recent days, the sky was overcast and threatening rain.
We left the A66 and headed towards the plains around Hinojal, luckily we encountered a pair of Great Spotted Cuckoo before the rain started and persisted for most of the morning.

Great Spotted Cuckoo

Still there were birds to be seen, amongst the Crested Larks, Calandra's started to appear in numbers and some decent flocks of Spanish Sparrow.

Spanish Sparrow

 We saw several Hoopoe but no sign of any Montagu's Harriers yet around Monroy but with a slightly brighter afternoon we did find a party of 10 Great Bustards and a distant party of sandgrouse that were too far away to name. 

Calandra Lark

A superb Short-toed Eagle was our first of the trip as we arrived in Trujillo.

Short-toed Eagle

 This morning we explored the castle with around 50 Pallid Swifts, 20 Crag Martin and a dozen Red-rumped Swallow as well as Barn Swallow and House Martin. It was difficult to be certain of the swifts identity in the early morning light but as it brightened the paler body with pale fringes to the feathers, giving a scaly appearance, and large pale throat became visible.
Lesser Kestrels were visible from the main square but larger numbers could be seen around the Bull Ring. 

Pallid Swift

Crag Martin

At mid-day we set off again, heading for Huelva on the Atlantic Coast.

Our route so far