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| Griffon Vultures Gyps fulvus at the Sepulveda gorge |
Tuesday 29 June
Away Monday lunch-time following morning tests to confirm
negative for Covid and packing car to spend our first night in a delightful
Country residence (only guests present) on the outskirts of Valdepeñas. Tuesday saw us heading north and once clear
of Madrid into the region of Castilla y
Leon where we were able to make a leisurely drive to our final overnight
stop in the former Bishop’s palace in the small, isolated village of
Guzman. Included in the following report
is the additional journey within the region before crossing into Cantabria and
our final destination of Santander where we took the evening ferry to
Portsmouth.
No sooner into Castilla y Leon and we were still recording
birds from the motorway including Magpie,
Wood Pigeon, Rock and Collared Dove, House Sparrow and Spotless Starling. More
“interesting” birds arrived with the sighting of Common Swift, a few more Buzzards
and then a trio of Carrion Crow. No sooner finished smiling and we looked up
ahead to see not the expected Griffon
Vulture, they came later, but a single Black
(Monk) Vulture. Travelling along
deserted country lanes we made our way to the delightful village of Sepulveda in Segovia province where we
intended to explore the deep gorges which are well-known for their vulture and
eagle species. First passing a small
flock of Bee-eaters resting on the
wires we next came across a female Montagu’s
Harrier quartering a recently harvested corn field and off to the right a
raptor, which given Jenny’s description, suggested it might well have been an
immature Golden Eagle. I only wished, on
this out of character busier road with a little traffic, I had been able to
stop and check for myself rather than the fleeting glimpse well off, disappearing
large raptor.
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| Sepulveda in Segovia province, Castilla y Leon |
Arriving in Sepulveda
we first made our way up through the narrow streets to the top of the hillside
village recording Pallid Swift, Barn Swallow and House Martin. From a mirador
overlooking the valley below we could see the gorges and calculate the correct
route to take for the best observations.
Back down through the village to the main road below and then off to the
far side where we were able to find a parking space overlooking the deep gorge
below. Above us soaring Griffon Vultures and even a couple
resting on a corner ledge also directly opposite. Lots of Common
Swifts flying around below along with the occasional Crag Martin but not the expected birds, albeit we had only a
limited stopping time. Behind us a
female Blackbird was busy delivering
food to nestlings somewhere nearby. As
we drove off up to the top of the hill to seek a turning point we had an Iberian Grey Shrike on a wire to the
left and then, having turned to retrace our steps to the bottom, we came across
the first of at least a handful of Northern
Wheatears that we were to see in the next couple of hours.
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| Our friendly Griffon Vultures Gyps fulvus |
Having noted that there was a suggested site for Duppont’s Lark not so far away near the track leading to the old hermitage we made our way back up through the village and off to Villaseca. Unfortunately, we entered the wrong “Villaseca” into the Satnav (should have been Villaseca de Sepulveda) and a good job we did. Not only more Buzzards and Northern Wheatears but dropping down on the far side of Sepulveda we had a Great Spotted Cuckoo fly across the road immediately in front of us. Not long after this when I was convinced that we travelling in the wrong direction we stopped and re-checked the Satnav. Correction made, we then moved on to the correct Villaseca. All that but no Duppont’s Lark albeit we did find a Black-eared Wheatear on some scrubby, rocky land along with many Crested Lark and a Corn Bunting.
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| The gorges below Sepulveda |
And so on to our booked overnight stop at Guzman. Again, no hurry so enjoyed wandering along
almost deserted country lanes and found a couple of Blue-headed (Iberian)
Yellow Wagtails. Passing through a
small, apparently deserted little village we were suddenly confronted by a Red Kite at low level in front of us followed
by a male Black Redstart and then a
couple of White Wagtails. As the greenery began to appear after all the
corn fields, many recently combined, we came across the occasional Black Kite before finding both Serin and Goldfinch. Where there was
signs of water White Stork would
appear in fields or in small kettles above.
A very pleasing day but the Castilla y Leon adventure was
not yet over. Wonderful views form our
bedroom window in the Palace of Guzman with the Swifts swarming around the hotel and church opposite but it was being
awoken in the early morning by the calling Tawny Owl that made our day,
certainly its start. Once underway by 9
o’clock we soon started counting Buzzards
on poles and then entering the small village of Cevico Navero at a very slow speed a Dunnock hopped up onto the crash barrier at the side of the car as
if to welcome us to the village, probably no more than a score or more small
cottages, as we made our way on towards Cantabria.
Birds seen:
White Stork, Black Vulture, Griffon Vulture, Red Kite, Black Kite, Montagu’s Harrier, Buzzard, Kestrel, Tawny Owl, Great Spotted Cuckoo, Bee-eater, Common Swift, Pallid Swift, Rock Dove, Wood Pigeon, Collared Dove, Crested Lark, Crag Martin, Barn Swallow, House Martin, Iberian Yellow Wagtail, White Wagtail, Dunnock, Black Redstart, Northern Wheatear, Black-eared Wheatear, Blackbird, Magpie, Carrion Crow, Spotless Starling, House Sparrow, Serin, Goldfinch, Corn Bunting
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