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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Vipers" data-source="post: 899246" data-attributes="member: 18710">On 1st May we were joined by Kevin and Andy, brothers who live in North Norfolk.  Today we headed for the Albacete plains.  Our first stop produced Black-Eared and Northern Wheatear, Corn Bunting, Crested and Calandra Lark, Mistle Thrush, Greenfinch, Serin, Stock Dove, Woodpigeon, Carrion Crow, Red-Legged Partridge and Woodchat Shrike.   Turning off road onto the farm tracks we soon found eight Great Bustard and the first of many Montagu’s Harriers, Stone Curlew and Common Buzzard.  Back on the road to Corral Rubio, Gwen spotted what she thought were two ducks flying, but they were actually Little Bustard.  One landed in the field opposite where we had parked, the other one kept flying and landed much further away.  While we were watching the Little Bustard a small flock of birds flew into the same field, but we didn’t get a good enough view to id them.  So as we scanned to find these birds on the ground Gwen found another Little Bustard much closer and then Jules found them, four Black-Bellied Sandgrouse.  Just outside Corral Rubio there are a couple of road side pools created by recent rain.  The first one was very busy with Mallard, Temmink’s and Little Stint, Kentish Plover, Black-Winged Stilt, Redshank and Greenshank, Avocet, Lapwing, Yellow Wagtail (thunbergi) and another Montagu’s Harrier.  The only thing different on the second pool was a Wood Sandpiper.  Then on the outskirts of Corral Rubio we found a Black Kite and a Buzzard that Jules tried his best to turn into a Honey, but unfortunately it was a Common Buzzard.  After a superb morning we were all feeling a bit peckish, so we drove to Petrola for lunch, finding a female Marsh Harrier on the way.  After an excellent lunch we stopped at Petrola lagoon, but it was fairly quiet, with only Avocet, Whiskered Tern, Kentish and Little-Ringed Plover, Common Sandpiper, Redshank, Red-Crested Pochard, Gadwall, Black-Headed Gull and a Raven.   In the area around the lagoon we found Common Buzzard, Marsh Harrier and a couple of Monty’s, including one that flew right passed the car.  On the farm tracks heading back to Corral Rubio, we found a Short-toed Lark in with the Calandra Larks, plus a single Great Bustard, Stone Curlew, Monty’s and Marsh Harrier, about ten Bee-Eaters and two more Black Kites, including a very pale individual.  A final stop at Higuela lagoon produced Black-Necked and Little Grebe, Gadwall, Common and Red-Crested Pochard, Coot, Greenshank, a flock of seventy one Redshank and a superb male Marsh Harrier.  On route back to Oliva we found a Southern-Grey Shrike near Bonete and then to quote Jules the ‘icing on the cake’ was a Lesser Kestrel that flew across the road right in front of the car.  The 2nd May saw Gwen and I have a lie in, while Jules took Kevin and Andy on a pre-breakfast trip to Pego marsh.   We went and sat on the roof terrace while we waited for them to return from Pego.  From the B&B roof we saw Serin, White Wagtail, Swallow, House Martin, Swift, Blackbird and Kestrel.  After breakfast we all headed for the Val de Gallinera, seeing Cirl Bunting and Red-Rumped Swallow on route.  Our first couple of stops produced a Golden Eagle, twenty plus Chough, Barn and Red-Rumped Swallow, Sardinian Warbler, Goldfinch, Common Cuckoo and brief flight views of Firecrest and Golden Oriole.  After a start like that we decided to stop for a Coffee and sitting on the wire outside of the café was a very nice male Stonechat.  On leaving the café we spotted what looked like a raptor, circling near the cliffs, as we stopped to check it out a Golden Eagle came off the cliffs and got mobbed by the original bird, which turned out to be a Chough.  The Eagle just soared off across the valley into the distance.We had a brief stop to watch about thirty Rock Sparrows sitting on overhead wires, also seeing a Southern Grey Shrike.  We next spent a superb hour on a bridge over a small river, with poplar trees on either side.  Here we had amazing scope views of a male Golden Oriole sitting in the open.  We also saw Wryneck, Hoopoe, Cirl Bunting, Grey and White Wagtail, Iberian Green Woodpecker, Rock Sparrow, Crag Martin, Bee-Eater, Greenfinch, Goldfinch and Serin.  Here, as where ever we stopped was the  customary Nightingale singing.We reluctantly left this location and drove to the Griffin Vulture release site above Alcoy.  Here we found Great, Coal, Long-Tailed and Crested Tit, Black Redstart, Sardinian Warbler, Thekla and Wood Lark, Blue Rock Thrush, Blackbird, Mistle Thrush, Short-Toed Treecreeper, Wood Pigeon, Kestrel, Magpie, Raven, Chaffinch, Crossbill and the stars of the show, forty odd Griffin Vulture.   On the way back to the B&B we found a Little Owl sitting on overhead wires just outside Oliva.After dinner we ventured back out to Pego marsh in the dark.  Driving down one of the tracks we came across a couple of Little Ringed Plover, before we spotted eyes shinning further down the track, but unfortunately they had disappeared by the time we got there. Driving back along another track, we could see some eyes shinning up ahead of us.  We slowly approached until the beam of the headlights reached the bird and we could see the unmistakable shape of a Red-Necked Nightjar.  We edged the car even closer and eventually got to within twenty foot.  On another track we found a Red-Necked Nightjar that was more flighty than the first bird.  It gave us some good flight views as it flew around over the track.  We then called it a day and what a day it had been.</blockquote>

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