Steppe Birds of Spain

Last week, we provided a guided birding trip for a couple from Yorkshire, UK.  They were keen nature lovers and were very interested to see the steppe birds of Spain whilst they were on holiday in Valencia.     Having collected them from their hotel in the city, we made the journey inland and up onto the high plateau of Castilla de la Mancha.  After a morning coffee stop and a briefing on the species that we were likely to see, we headed across the rolling plains where had great views of Crested Lark and Calandra Lark. The first lagoon of the day held Common Tern, Whiskered Tern and Gull-billed Tern and Greater Flamingo.  We enjoyed some typical sounds of summer, including the song of Skylark and Corn Bunting. We spent the rest of the morning at another great spot, a lagoon fringed with reed beds.  Here we had wildfowl including Shelduck, Gadwall and Red-crested Pochard.  We also enjoyed two especially colourful species, the Hoopoe and Bee Eater. Before we headed up onto the higher steppe, we made a brief stop at a small lake where we had views of…

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