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Message: <blockquote data-quote="foresttwitcher" data-source="post: 3562306" data-attributes="member: 97625">Thanks guys. Sorry for the delay in further posts but I have been (said with typical British understatement) 'a bit under the weather' this week.Friday 21st April:Headed for Los Monegros today in more fine weather seeing what were proving to be the usual common / roadside birds en route. Started in the west along the back roads linking Osera / Monegrillo / Farlete / La Almolda. Calandra, Short-toed & Crested Larks plus Zitting Cisticola singing and soon Black Kite, Common Buzzard & Griffon Vultures overhead and the first Iberian Grey Shrike of the trip on roadside wires. I then moved on to the east doing the circuit Candasnos / Ontinena / Alcolea de Cinca / Ballobar. The car I had was of very limited ground clearance so I was restricted mainly to the paved roads but did take a couple of gravel tracks as far as I could which added a nice male Spectacled Warbler in a small track-side bush, a pair of Red-legged Partridge on the track and a Marsh Harrier quartering over some crop fields.The highlight of the morning was the impressive sandstone cliffs right by the road at Chalamera. Well worth a stop along here as the many ledges and holes hosted a variety of birds in some numbers: House Sparrow & Spotless Starlings commuting from the farmland opposite to the lower levels; Rock Doves & Jackdaw higher up; and Crag Martin & Red-billed Chough near the top. There were also Barn Swallow, House Martin, Swift and a few Alpine Swift overhead.After refueling at Bujaraloz I headed south but found the salinas visible from the road to be dry and the tracks leading to the others too rough for the car. But a slow drive along the road provided a mid-distance fly-by flock of Black-bellied Sandgrouse, Bee-eater, Hoopoe, Lesser Kestrel and both Northern & Black-eared Wheatear.At the Ebro crossing between Sastago and Alforque the trees held the expected finch species and both White & iberiae Yellow Wagtail down by the water.Late afternoon I returned to the Belchite area and again drove the El Planeron track but it was noticeably quieter than yesterday. Back on the road and heading north I saw a slight movement of what seemed to be a reasonably large, upright bird on the near verge and stopped rapidly to see a Stone-curlew rush out of the short vegetation, stumble and fall flat on its beak on the carriageway. It quickly picked itself up, took a couple more steps and took off to fly over the field on the other side - I'm sure it managed to look embarrassed!Having found such a nice spot yesterday I returned to the meander of river at Quinto de Ebro for a pre-dusk alfresco meal. Many of the same species where there again but the quiet back-water held a Little Grebe, a lone Cormorant sat on the spit, a couple of Coot fertled in the edges, 3 Little Ringed Plovers joined the other waders in the shallows and Sand Martins swooped near the surface - all the the sound of Nightingales & Cetti's Warblers on a warm sunny evening. It's not such a bad pass-time!</blockquote>

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