Field diary

July 2005

3rd - 9th

Nearly all young birds are now flying. We saw a group of magpies with 2 young Great Spotted Cuckoo which very probably had been raised by the magpies. Juvenile White Stork may still be seen in the nest but they are virtually all proficient flyers using the nest to rest. A popular saying says "Por San Juan los pollos de cigüeña echan a volar" - "By the 24th June (Fiesta of Saint John) the young storks are flying"

There has been no rain now for many months. Officially this is the longest period of drought in many years and nationally the siuation is the most serious in the last 60 years. The situation in the Guadiana basin is not as acute as in many other areas with good levels of water still in the reservoirs. Despite the drought most birds have been successful in raising young. The numbers of young for some species, however, are well down. In a normal year we would see around 300 juvenile Montagu's Harrier take to the wing, but this year there have only been around 80 in this area. On the brighter side, not all birds have experienced this level of difficulty. The Great Bustard have had a very successful year and have raised one or two chicks on average.

A sighting of particular interest this week was a juvenile Great Egret seen on a local river while we were watching Night Heron and Purple Heron. Little Egret and Cattle Egret are common but the Great Egret is quite unusual in this area.

10th - 16th

Great Bustard are starting to come together in groups of females with their young. The males also form small groups but have moved away from the breeding areas. This is a difficult time of the year for observation of Great Bustard as they move little during the heat of the day and feed only at first light and dusk.

The Montagu's Harrier are leaving their breeding areas and are starting to migrate south. Birds which are seen in the area over the coming months are likely to have bred further north and are moving southwards.

This is a good time to observe family groups of Roller often sitting on telephone wires by the roadside in areas of steppe or non-irrigated filds. They are on the lookout for insects or occasionally small reptiles too.

A detail which may be of interest are the large numbers of Moorish Geckos (Tarentola mauritanica) which may be seen on walls in the cooler hours and at night, particularly near street lights. They are common in the area with a population which extends as far north as the mountains of northern Spain.

17th - 23rd

This week started cooler than recently, and with gusty winds (known locally as the gallego (Gallician) blowing in from the West. The Moorish Geckos were not feeding during these 2 days but the following night were much in evidence the following night around street lights.

In the villages around here the inhabitants are in the habit of sitting outside their houses at the end of the day to enjoy the cool night air. We noticed the regular comings and goings of a pair of Tawny Owl over the houses, possibly still feeding young.

The fields of the secano (non-irrigated areas) are now very dry. In the last hours of daylight the melancholy call of the Stone Curlew may be heard in such places. It sounds similar to the call of Golden Plover.

We saw a string of 14 Griffon Vulture high over the village at the hottest point of the day, passing over in single file. This formation probably indicates that they had fed and were returning to the cliff at the head of the lake. When searching for food they fly in fanned-out formation to scan as much ground as possible.

A group of over 100 Black Vulture were seen at dusk on 22nd, wheeling in a loose circle before dropping down to the trees to roost.

24th - 30th

Again a cool week by local standards with the thermometer not much over 30° during the day. Bird activity is now at a low level but there is still plenty to see in the early and late hours. Rollers are particularly in evidence, perched in pairs or family groups on fences or telephone cables.

A new study from the University of Extremadura highlights the importance of the region as the main habitat in Spain for Black Vulture. Almost half (47%) of breeding pairs in the country are found in the region. Interesting data has emerged from satellite tracking of birds, which reveals that young birds tend to be very mobile during the spring months and cover distances up to 500km from their home territories, moving as far away as Galicia and Asturias in the north-west of the country. Female birds travel further and for longer periods than males.