Birding a hot summer day in La Mancha’s Sierras (1 Viewer)

Now that the heat has been established in the heart of Spain it’s still a good time to go birding for those who loves nature everywhere and at any time. So, despite the 39º C that we bearded last Saturday 25th, we decided to have a complete birding day in the Sierras of La Mancha. At first thing in the morning we moved to the nearby Valle de Alcudia (in Sierra Morena) to help some friends ringing in the hills, a very hard task that made us go up and down several times, making us sweat continuously. The prizes were a pair of Black Wheatears and other interesting birds like Blue Rock Thrush, Woodchat Shrike, a single Melodious Warbler and a shining Western Bonelli’s Warbler. But the best moments were in the sky, where, between some flocks of House Martins and Swifts, we were lucky to watch 2 Pallid Swifts, one White Rumped Swift and another Alpine Swift, without any doubt one of the best moments of the present year. These are the things that could happen in La Mancha, where the birders are so scarce that you never know what could you expect to watch (in a stifling morning). At 11:30 we decided to stop and went back home to rest and recover our exhausted bodies. Late in the afternoon, around six o’clock, we moved to the Campo de Mudela (a small part of the huge Campo de Calatrava) in search of some other common species of the mediterranean forest, such as Thekla Lark, Wood Lark, Crag Martin, Red-Rumped Swallow, Long-Tailed Tit, Azur-Winged Magpie, Golden Oriole, Hawfinch, etc. Here we got some interesting extra birds: Rock Bunting, Cirl Bunting, a Juvenil Golden Eagle jumping on the cliffs (its very first steps in life) and a big flock of Red-Billed Chough coming to roost to a nearby canyon of the Fresneda river (a bird that every year is being more easy to watch in La Mancha). With one hour left to the sunset we decided to catch a glimpse to another canyon of the Fresneda river, where we were lucky to find a new nest of Golden Eagle with one juv learning to fly, a marvellous moment that we'll never forget. Other interesting birds in this extra visit were Griffon Vulture, Short-Toed Eagle, Montagu’s Harrier, Red-Necked Nightjar and a solitaire Green Woodpecker. In the cliffs below us, just in the middle of the canyon, we found three juvs of Black Stork, the offspring of a family that breeds every year in this part of Sierra Morena. At 9:30, still suffering 39º C, we finished our Sierra’s day with an unexpected extra bonus, a solitaire Eagle-Owl slipping away in a hill very close to our home in Almagro.

This is the complete birding list of this hot summer day in La Mancha:

1- White Stork (over 2.000)
2- Black Stork
3- Mallard
4- Griffon Vulture
5- Golden Eagle
6- Short-Toed Eagle
7- Black Kite
8- Marsh Harrier
9- Montagu’s Harrier
10- Kestrel
11- Red-Legged Partridge
12- Moorhen
13- Stone Curlew
14- Green Sandpiper
15- Black-Headed Gull
16- Rock Pigeon
17- Wood Pigeon
18- Eagle Owl
19- Little Owl
20- Red-Necked Nightjar
21- Common Swift
22- Pallid Swift
23- Alpine Swift
24- White-Rumped Swift
25- Kingfisher
26- Bee-Eater
27- Hoopoe
28- Green Woodpecker
29- Crested Lark
30- Thekla Lark
31- Wood Lark
32- Crag-Martin
33- Barn Swallow
34- Red-Rumped Swallow
35- House Martin
36- White Wagtail
37- Black Wheatear
38- Blue Rock Thrush
39- Blackbird
40- Sardinian Warbler
41- Subalpine Warbler
42- Melodious Warbler
43- Western Bonelli’s Warbler
44- Great Tit
45- Blue Tit
46- Long-Tailed Tit
47- Woodchat Shrike
48- Southern Grey Shrike
49- Golden Oriole
50- Magpie
51- Azur-Winged Magpie
52- Red-Billed Chough
53- Jackdaw
54- Spotless Starling
55- Spanish Sparrow
56- Goldfinch
57- Serin
58- Hawfinch
59- Cirl Bunting
60- Rock Bunting
61- Corn Bunting

Vicente.

Interesting report from a little watched area, nice one!

wolfbirder said:

Interesting report from a little watched area, nice one!

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Thanks wolfbirder. Really underwatched: last Sunday we discover two new Golden Eagle nests near a castle and besides a road. Everyday we are increasing our knowledge of La Mancha, but unfortunately we are only a few birders/ornithologits (no more than sixty persons for all the Ciudad Real province).

Regards. Vicente.

HI Vicente,
Another great report of a day's birding in La Mancha, really makes me jealous.

Must say though you deserve it birding in those temperatures, far to hot for we waterlogged brits :-O.

Always enjoy reading your reports, so please keep them coming.

Regards and good birding

John

john-henry said:

HI Vicente,
Another great report of a day's birding in La Mancha, really makes me jealous.

Must say though you deserve it birding in those temperatures, far to hot for we waterlogged brits :-O.

Always enjoy reading your reports, so please keep them coming.

Regards and good birding

John

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Hi again John. We think that birding is worthwhile any time, so by the moment we don't care about the heat.

All the best (and fine weather),

Vicente.