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Sierra de la Culebra – In search of the elusive Lobo (1 Viewer)

On the way back to the Posada we took a slight detour to the village of San Pedro de las Herrerias where Simon and Karen where staying at the CTR Veniata. There was some excellent woodland behind the hotel where Simon had seen a Lesser Spotted Woodpecker earlier in the holiday. Unfortunately we couldn’t find the woodpecker but we added Blackcap to the trip list and scored some very vocal Jays. Incidentally the habitat looked fantastic for herps and small mammals.

We had no real plans for the rest of the day but agreed to stay local. The track leading from our hotel (Roman Road XVII) seemed as good a place as any for a midmorning stroll.

The ice covered puddles crunched underfoot as we traversed the heathland to the sound of a distant Tree Pipit. Woodlarks and Stonechats abounded whilst a tree full of Redwing and Fieldfare looked slightly out of place in the Spanish countryside.

It wasn’t long before we came across wolf spoor with both scat and prints seen within a few hundred metres of the hotel. There was also plenty of deer and boar sign. A small party of Rock Buntings ended the walk before we headed to the village bakery for sandwich supplies.

A seasonal swimming hole/boating area near the village of Cional was apparently a good place to see Otter. This was our next port of call and we enjoyed an al fresco lunch while we scanned unsuccessfully for our target. We did find an old spraint confirming Otters do use the area while a distant Great Crested Grebe was a new trip tick. Nearby, a dirt track allowed us to find more winter thrushes along with some very showy Firecrests and a nice Green Woodpecker.

The rest of the afternoon consisted of visiting a second wolf watch point (more to satisfy our curiosity than anything else) and adding Nuthatch to the list back at San Pedro de las Herrerias. It was then time for the evening shift at our favoured vista where in poor light we failed to connect with the wolves, or anything else interesting for that matter.

After another excellent meal back at base, most of the team decided on a closing night drive. James, who had finally run out of steam, opted for an early night instead. A couple of hours driving the back roads produced the grand total of one Rabbit - and two of us managed to miss that! It seemed our outstanding run of good luck had finally ended.


27 February

Our last morning and we met in the bar for coffee before our final visit to the watch point. We had high hopes of a third sighting especially as we now had some idea of the wolves dawn routine. It was still dark outside when Raul unlocked the hotel doors and none of us were prepared for the sight before us. At least four inches of snow blanketed the landscape making a trip to the vista unwise with our time constraints.

Instead we packed up early and headed back to Madrid with no real idea how long the journey would take in the snow. Although the winter weather accompanied us for most of the drive, it was the faulty windscreen washer that caused the biggest problem. This, combined with the ever increasing crack in the glass, it was a wonder we managed to spot any birds apart from the suicidal Chaffinches that gathered on the road. As it turned out we saw a few Griffon Vultures, together with the usual kites and buzzards. A probable Black Vulture was also noted although we were unable to stop on the motorway for a decent view.

We arrived at the airport with hours to spare and so ended our very successful wolf watching jaunt to the Sierra de la Culebra.

Needless to say it was a thoroughly enjoyable trip with great company and plenty of laughs. While north-west Spain isn’t the most bio-diverse of places in winter, we did see a reasonable of wildlife without a great deal of effort. Of course the wolves were the highlight and seeing them twice required lots of patience and more than a little luck. My advice to future wolf watchers would be to keep an eye on the deer and hope for good weather. Maybe then you have chance a catching a glimpse of one of Europe’s most charismatic predators – the elusive Lobo.
 
Interested that you should record Tree Pipit in Feb. I had one singing myself in Spain one Feb, but convinced myself I was seeing things. Maybe they dont always go to Africa?
Anyway, well done on finding El Lobo in Europe. I had to go to Yellowstone
 
Interested that you should record Tree Pipit in Feb. I had one singing myself in Spain one Feb, but convinced myself I was seeing things. Maybe they dont always go to Africa?
Anyway, well done on finding El Lobo in Europe. I had to go to Yellowstone

It was display flighting very vigorously like a recently returned migrant rather than an overwintering bird. We had a light sprinkling of migrants including a male Subalpine Warbler on the last day and a handful of House Martins. Was great to see El Lobo!
 
We're going to Sierra de la Culebra on the 10th of February, are there any reports on recent Wolf sightings that anyone knows?, I know they're very difficult but anything will help. I know it's going to be very cold but I'm really looking forward to it, I love wild Spain.
 
The most recent sighting I can find is from a Naturetrek trip back in April 2013. Not sure if they only upload trip reports when they have been successful. If so a lack of reports since then doesn't look good.

http://www.naturetrek.co.uk/website...ort_130430_Wolves_Bustards_in_Rural_Spain.pdf

If you haven't sorted your accommodation yet then my advice would be to stay at the CTR Veniata in the village of San Pedro de las Herrerias (details in link below) as they seem more clued up on recent wolf sightings.

I've also included a link to a report I did for mammalwatching.com which has directions to a couple of watch points.

http://mammalwatching.com/Palearctic/Otherreports/MR Spain 2013.pdf

Good luck with your trip and please let us know how you get on.
 
Just got back yesterday from the Sierra De La Culebra after a weeks stay, we had an English guide called John Hallowell for two days and was invaluable in pointing out watchpoints. I must admit it was hard work, the weather was unkind at times and we put the hours in. It didn't help that the Alpha male of the local pack had been shot two weeks before we arrived and the pack had dispersed, before then six animals had been seen together several times. We were rewarded on Sunday morning with a distant but decent view of a fantastic Wolf in the sunshine from 9.40 till 10.10, a big phew all round, it was all worthwhile, a magic and rare experience.
 
Just got back yesterday from the Sierra De La Culebra after a weeks stay, we had an English guide called John Hallowell for two days and was invaluable in pointing out watchpoints. I must admit it was hard work, the weather was unkind at times and we put the hours in. It didn't help that the Alpha male of the local pack had been shot two weeks before we arrived and the pack had dispersed, before then six animals had been seen together several times. We were rewarded on Sunday morning with a distant but decent view of a fantastic Wolf in the sunshine from 9.40 till 10.10, a big phew all round, it was all worthwhile, a magic and rare experience.

Thanks for reporting back Keith. It's certainly hard work but at least you were rewarded in the end. Shame about the alpha male.
 
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