Destinations
The air holidays shown are ATOL Protected by the Civil Aviation Authority. Our ATOL number is ATOL 3253. ATOL Protection extends primarily to customers who book and pay in the United Kingdom. Click on the ATOL logo if you want to know more.
Extremadura 14 – 21 February 2012
Cranes and much more
Crane season in wild, central Spain runs from November to February. Some 100,000 cranes overwinter in the region, providing one of Europe’s great wildlife spectacles.
The cranes feed on acorns in the ‘dehesa’ or wood pasture that is such a distinctive feature of Extremadura. They also feed in rice paddies and maize stubble fields, sometimes in groups, sometimes big flocks. And you can hear their evocative bugling: birds overhead or tucked out of sight in the holm oaks.
Crane photos by Steve Fletcher
The cranes may be reason enough to travel to Extremadura in February, but there is much more. Other wintering birds include waterfowl and, on the steppes, flocks of golden plovers and lapwings, the latter avefría – cold bird – in Spanish.
Also on the steppes are impressive great bustards, often in small parties as the breeding season approaches. In the air, the sight of one of the world’s heaviest flying birds is quite something. Other steppe birds include little bustards, stone-curlews and both pin-tailed and black-bellied sandgrouse. Crested and calandra larks are also found in the plains. Another speciality is Spanish sparrow, a rather local bird in Spain despite its name.
We will visit Monfragüe Natural Park, some 25 miles north of Trujillo. This is one of the most outstanding areas for seeing birds of prey in a country which is itself probably the best for raptors in Europe. It has the core Spanish population of black vultures, which breed here along with griffon vultures and both Spanish imperial and golden eagles. From the various crags, which make fine vantage points for raptor-watching, other species that can be seen include black stork, chough and rock bunting. There are clear signs of spring, too, in February.
White storks are bill-clapping on their huge nests. Lesser kestrels will be back along with other migrants such as great spotted cuckoo, martins and swallows.
We stay at the wonderful Finca Santa Marta, a granite-built olive oil mill converted into a country inn, situated in the countryside south of Trujillo. It’s a great place to see azure-winged magpies, that amazing, colourful bird of the east with an outpost in Spain. One theory was that they originated from birds escaped during trade with China in earlier times, but proof that it is a relict population has recently come to light with the discovery of sub-fossil bones.
Great bustards (Steve Fletcher).
More photos of birds of Extremadura by Steve Fletcher: his website is here and his photos are on our birds gallery and our birds of prey gallery.
Back in the UK: website about the book The Norfolk Cranes' Story
Azure-winged magpie (Steve Fletcher)
Calandra lark (Steve Fletcher)
