There is a pond to the north of Daimiel not far from the Tablas de Daimiel National Park called the Laguna de Navaseca. It’s not very big but is always full of life. It is a delightful place for any birder, or even one not so interested, who loves to […]
BIRDING
27 posts
Bearded Reedlings – a Year Round Resident One of my favourite passerines is the elusive, but well worth the effort of finding, Bearded Reedling (Panurus biarmicus), also known as the Bearded Tit but it is not a Tit, which is a year-round resident in Castilla la Mancha, Central Spain. They […]
On Wednesday night I had a brief dream about Spoonbills. I don’t know why, maybe because it was coming up to International Wetlands Day. Who knows? I did however wonder about how one might interpret it. I knew I had seen Eurasian Spoonbills (Platalea leucorodia) and taken photos of them in […]
The Tabla de la Patata, Picón. Near our new house and guest accommodation in Picón the River Guadiana flows by about 500 metres down the road. You can go down the main road to it where the Marsh Harriers fly about or you can take the small country dirt road […]
Walking in the Atalaya just over a week ago, a park on the outskirts of town, I came across something which I thought really had no place there, nor anywhere for that matter – a bird trap! Trap in a public park It was made from fine chicken wire with […]
Western Marsh Harrier (Circus aeruginosus) with wing-tags OL I was out at the Laguna de Navaseca near Daimiel last Wednesday when a Marsh Harrier caught my eye. It was flying about the reeds as they do but this one was different. It had tags. The tags were orange and yellow […]
Spotted Crake (Porzana porzana) I went to the Laguna Navaseca having received word of a Bittern there. The Bittern didn’t show after much searching, not that I expected it to be all that obvious, however the day was not without its surprises. At the Navaseca, I managed to count 36 […]
Bluethroat female (Luscinia svecica cyanecula) The Bluethroat has been a species that for some reason this year has been more visible than other years. It was rare I saw them before and then this winter…it’s a regular parade of them. Now there really shouldn’t be any reason to discuss the […]
Red Kite (Milvus migrans) It has been a distressing start to the year for our Spanish Imperial Eagles and something similar is also happening in Ireland. A ninth Red Kite has been poisoned since a re-introduction programme started in Ireland in 2007. If you are caught poisoning birds of prey […]
Common Chiffchaff (Phylloscopus collybita) I had a great day out in my hide near the water in Peralvillo the other day. The sun was shining, the hide was warm (until the sun dipped), my coffee was sweet and black and the activity active. It wasn´t a great day for variety […]