Jacana
Will Jones
For the last week, a colleague and I have been in the Montemor-o-Novo area of Portugal for work. The weather had been pretty damp and cool, but Saturday the 5th looked a bit better and so we decided to take the opportunity to drive a couple of hours south to the steppes around the town of Castro Verde. The habitats here are quite different to those in Montemor, with the montado oak groves giving way to short grasslands.
Although I live in Spain now; Asturias, my new home, is quite far removed from the image of Iberia that is usually conjured up. Ecologically, Asturias has more in common with NW Europe or the Alps than it does with the plains of Castille. So the bird life is very different to what I'm used to. There were three potential lifers for me in the region and I made them my main targets. Calandra Lark was the one I thought I was most certain to see. The other two, Black-bellied Sandgrouse and Spanish Imperial Eagle, I expected would take a bit more effort and luck.
In addition to the three lifers, there was also a glut of spring steppe birds that I was keen to add to the year list. Birds like Great and Little Bustard, Lesser Kestrel, Roller and Greater Short-toed Lark. In particular, I was keen on seeing Little Bustard. My one and only previous sighting of this species was a female during a New Year's Day twitch in East Yorkshire in 2015 and I was keen to "upgrade" my tick.
We left Montemor at dawn and took the road due south, passing through the mixed groves of holm and cork oaks that characterise the montado. Eventually the montado began to thin and olive and fruit groves started to take over the landscape. There were also more pines along the roadside, which were home to little flocks of Iberian Magpies that zipped across the road. Occasionally, we would cross small wooded river valleys and the bridges invariably had little colonies of either Eurasian Crag Martins or European Red-rumped Swallows.
Eventually, we hit the grasslands north of Castro Verde, near the village of Carregueiro and we slowed the car, wound down the windows and started scanning for birds. Almost immediately, we paused to quickly scan a small lake. This was a good plan, as I picked up my first year tick of the day, a couple of male Garganey. A kilometre or so down the road, we stopped again as we came across a birding couple looking intently through their scope. Upon hopping out of the car, a quick scan revealed that they were looking at a small group of Great Bustards in the distance. Crested Larks, Corn Buntings and Common Quail were singing everywhere, and among them, several CALANDRA LARKS were doing their short display flights. Lifer number one down almost before we'd properly begun! The birders also dropped a good piece of news. They'd seen at least 6 Spanish Imperial Eagles over the last few days. I'd held out the least amount of hope of seeing this species out of the three, so this was welcome news!
Another kilometre later, the road crossed a small stream, where a pair of European Bee-eaters were hawking for insects. In the trees beside the stream was a small colony of 5 or 6 White Storks, already busy incubating. Flitting around their nests was a large mixed flock of House and Spanish Sparrows.
We pressed on to Vale Gonçalinho, in the heart of the steppes. Here we parked up and walked the trails hoping for a sniff of a Sandgrouse. Lesser Kestrels had returned and were hunting around their colonies near the visitor's centre. Again, there was the constant sound of larks and Corn Buntings. But here, the Calandras and Cresteds were joined by the occasional Thekla's and Greater Short-toed Larks. It has been a wet spring down here, and the grass was very lush and full of purple, white and yellow flowers. We quickly came across another group of 12 or so Great Bustards in the distance. At one point, a pair of Red-legged Partridges flushed up from the path, not the hoped for Sandgrouse unfortunately. As the sun rose, some raptors started to make an appearance, none of them large enough to be an eagle though. At least 3 Montagu's Harriers quartered over the meadows and Common Buzzards and one each of Black and Black-winged Kites took to the air.
After a couple of hours, we hadn't bumped into anything new, so we returned to the car. On the way back though, we were surprised when a Collared Pratincole flew through the valley. It wasn't really a bird I was expecting to see here, but it was a welcome addition to the year list. Finally, back at the visitors centre a Eurasian Hoopoe strutted beside the car. And there was one more surprise waiting- a pair of Gadwall, which made an embarrassingly late addition to the year list!
It was now approaching mid-day, and although there were still plenty of hours left in the day, I was starting to get nervous about the Sandgrouse. We moved further south and east, along some small country roads, until we reached a small collection of farm buildings at São Marcos da Ataboeria. Several people had seen the Sandgrouse here in recent weeks, so we got out of the car and walked in the direction of a recently ploughed field. Almost immediately, 6 BLACK-BELLIED SANDGROUSE flushed up and circled around us, giving excellent views. They quickly settled down in another ploughed field on the other side of the road, vanishing into the background as soon as they landed. This was my main target of the day and I would have been happy to finish on that high note. But there was still the lingering possibility of the Eagle and Little Bustard. So we went a little further south, to an area where Little Bustards had been reported the week before.
Upon arriving, we met some more birders gazing intently in the air and there they were, a pair of SPANISH IMPERIAL EAGLES soaring high above the ground! Hat trick! We watched the eagles for about 10 minutes as they slowly drifted away from us. Now there was just one real target left- Little Bustard. However, it had been increasingly apparent throughout the day that this was going to be difficult. The wet spring had meant that the grass was taller than normal, giving them plenty of opportunity to hide away. They were also not yet displaying. Nevertheless, we kept scanning the area, just in case. We were distracted by a third Spanish Imperial Eagle (or maybe one of the pair?) that flew low over us, making it's strange frog-like call. In the distance, I managed to pick out a European Roller, another bird that I wasn't really expecting as I thought we were a tad early for them. I was happy to see it, not having seen one since I left Hungary a few years ago. Just as we were ready to call it a day, I spotted two birds with broad, white wings flying far in the distance. Not- it turns out egrets, but a pair of Little Bustards! While I can't say I exactly upgraded my tick of the species, given how far away they were. I was extremely happy to have seen them anyway.
With that, there was basically nothing left in the area that I could have added to either my life or year lists. Save from maybe seeing a Quail (!) or bumping into a Great Spotted Cuckoo, which I should still have a chance of around Montemor. So with the memory of Sandgrouse, Bustards, Eagles and Larks, we turned back north again, back to camp.
Although I live in Spain now; Asturias, my new home, is quite far removed from the image of Iberia that is usually conjured up. Ecologically, Asturias has more in common with NW Europe or the Alps than it does with the plains of Castille. So the bird life is very different to what I'm used to. There were three potential lifers for me in the region and I made them my main targets. Calandra Lark was the one I thought I was most certain to see. The other two, Black-bellied Sandgrouse and Spanish Imperial Eagle, I expected would take a bit more effort and luck.
In addition to the three lifers, there was also a glut of spring steppe birds that I was keen to add to the year list. Birds like Great and Little Bustard, Lesser Kestrel, Roller and Greater Short-toed Lark. In particular, I was keen on seeing Little Bustard. My one and only previous sighting of this species was a female during a New Year's Day twitch in East Yorkshire in 2015 and I was keen to "upgrade" my tick.
We left Montemor at dawn and took the road due south, passing through the mixed groves of holm and cork oaks that characterise the montado. Eventually the montado began to thin and olive and fruit groves started to take over the landscape. There were also more pines along the roadside, which were home to little flocks of Iberian Magpies that zipped across the road. Occasionally, we would cross small wooded river valleys and the bridges invariably had little colonies of either Eurasian Crag Martins or European Red-rumped Swallows.
Eventually, we hit the grasslands north of Castro Verde, near the village of Carregueiro and we slowed the car, wound down the windows and started scanning for birds. Almost immediately, we paused to quickly scan a small lake. This was a good plan, as I picked up my first year tick of the day, a couple of male Garganey. A kilometre or so down the road, we stopped again as we came across a birding couple looking intently through their scope. Upon hopping out of the car, a quick scan revealed that they were looking at a small group of Great Bustards in the distance. Crested Larks, Corn Buntings and Common Quail were singing everywhere, and among them, several CALANDRA LARKS were doing their short display flights. Lifer number one down almost before we'd properly begun! The birders also dropped a good piece of news. They'd seen at least 6 Spanish Imperial Eagles over the last few days. I'd held out the least amount of hope of seeing this species out of the three, so this was welcome news!
Another kilometre later, the road crossed a small stream, where a pair of European Bee-eaters were hawking for insects. In the trees beside the stream was a small colony of 5 or 6 White Storks, already busy incubating. Flitting around their nests was a large mixed flock of House and Spanish Sparrows.
We pressed on to Vale Gonçalinho, in the heart of the steppes. Here we parked up and walked the trails hoping for a sniff of a Sandgrouse. Lesser Kestrels had returned and were hunting around their colonies near the visitor's centre. Again, there was the constant sound of larks and Corn Buntings. But here, the Calandras and Cresteds were joined by the occasional Thekla's and Greater Short-toed Larks. It has been a wet spring down here, and the grass was very lush and full of purple, white and yellow flowers. We quickly came across another group of 12 or so Great Bustards in the distance. At one point, a pair of Red-legged Partridges flushed up from the path, not the hoped for Sandgrouse unfortunately. As the sun rose, some raptors started to make an appearance, none of them large enough to be an eagle though. At least 3 Montagu's Harriers quartered over the meadows and Common Buzzards and one each of Black and Black-winged Kites took to the air.
After a couple of hours, we hadn't bumped into anything new, so we returned to the car. On the way back though, we were surprised when a Collared Pratincole flew through the valley. It wasn't really a bird I was expecting to see here, but it was a welcome addition to the year list. Finally, back at the visitors centre a Eurasian Hoopoe strutted beside the car. And there was one more surprise waiting- a pair of Gadwall, which made an embarrassingly late addition to the year list!
It was now approaching mid-day, and although there were still plenty of hours left in the day, I was starting to get nervous about the Sandgrouse. We moved further south and east, along some small country roads, until we reached a small collection of farm buildings at São Marcos da Ataboeria. Several people had seen the Sandgrouse here in recent weeks, so we got out of the car and walked in the direction of a recently ploughed field. Almost immediately, 6 BLACK-BELLIED SANDGROUSE flushed up and circled around us, giving excellent views. They quickly settled down in another ploughed field on the other side of the road, vanishing into the background as soon as they landed. This was my main target of the day and I would have been happy to finish on that high note. But there was still the lingering possibility of the Eagle and Little Bustard. So we went a little further south, to an area where Little Bustards had been reported the week before.
Upon arriving, we met some more birders gazing intently in the air and there they were, a pair of SPANISH IMPERIAL EAGLES soaring high above the ground! Hat trick! We watched the eagles for about 10 minutes as they slowly drifted away from us. Now there was just one real target left- Little Bustard. However, it had been increasingly apparent throughout the day that this was going to be difficult. The wet spring had meant that the grass was taller than normal, giving them plenty of opportunity to hide away. They were also not yet displaying. Nevertheless, we kept scanning the area, just in case. We were distracted by a third Spanish Imperial Eagle (or maybe one of the pair?) that flew low over us, making it's strange frog-like call. In the distance, I managed to pick out a European Roller, another bird that I wasn't really expecting as I thought we were a tad early for them. I was happy to see it, not having seen one since I left Hungary a few years ago. Just as we were ready to call it a day, I spotted two birds with broad, white wings flying far in the distance. Not- it turns out egrets, but a pair of Little Bustards! While I can't say I exactly upgraded my tick of the species, given how far away they were. I was extremely happy to have seen them anyway.
With that, there was basically nothing left in the area that I could have added to either my life or year lists. Save from maybe seeing a Quail (!) or bumping into a Great Spotted Cuckoo, which I should still have a chance of around Montemor. So with the memory of Sandgrouse, Bustards, Eagles and Larks, we turned back north again, back to camp.
