Lagunas de Fuente de Nava, Palencia Province and driving South Home, Spain.

Travelling back home for a few days. 

Ebird List.

Horrible very low light shots of some of the Great Bustards (Avutarda Común / Otis tarda).

I set off early to spend a few days at home as Santi and Howard were travelling South tomorrow for Hospital appointments, first of all I went pretty much due west to visit the Lagunas de Fuente de Nava reserve to see what Geese I could find.

I arrived just before light but had four Redwings (Zorzal Alirrojo / Turdus illacus) feeding in the car park, I walked out to the screens right at the start of the track where I could hear lots of Greylag Geese (Ansar Común / Anser anser) and Common Cranes (Grulla Común / Grus grus) but they were out of sight behind the reeds.

As the light got better the Geese and Cranes started to fly out to feed so I scanned flocks as they left and after sifting through a good number I had a single Barnical Goose (Barnacla Cariblanca / Branta leucopsis) fly out with the one group which was a new species for my Spanish list but I could not find either of the two Canada Geese (Barnacla Canadiense /Branta canadensis) which had been reported in the week.

Great Bustards (Avutarda Común / Otis tarda).

I walked up towards the tower hide which give a great view over the pools but again it was closed for some reason, even so I still found a 4x Great Bustards (Avutarda Común / Otis tarda), 8x Great Egrets (Garceta Grande / Egretta alba) out on the fields to the right of the track along with quite a few White Storks (Ciguena Blanca / Ciconia ciconia) and numbers of Marsh Harriers (Aguilucho Lagunero Occidental / Circus aeruginosus).

Other species seen as I walked this track included Mallard (Anade Azulón / Anas platyrhynchos), Northern Shoveler (Pato Cuchara / Anas clypeata), Gadwall (Anade Friso / Anas strepera), Little Grebe (Zampullín Común / Tachybaptus ruficollis), Water Rail (Rascón Europeo / Rallus aquaticus), Snipe (Agachadiza Común / Gallinago gallinago), Little Owl (Mochuelo Europeo / Athene noctua), Iberian Green Woodpecker (Pito Real / Picus sharpei), Siskin (Lúgano / Carduelis spinus) and back at the car another 10x Great Bustards on the fields there.

I decided to head off south and had an uneventful drive home.