Going North to do some Butterfly hunting.
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| Great Bustard (Avutarda Común / Otis tarda) 8 of the 20 or so. |
I set off at just after 04.00, made a stop at around 09.00 for some breakfast and then pulled off again around an hour south of Madrid for a break and a bit of birding.
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| Great Bustards (Avutarda Común / Otis tarda). |
I drove along some tracks in a large area of mixed agriculture, a site I have visited several times but over the years it has change from a vast area of cereal crop to an area which is now starting to be dominated by Olive trees and is becoming more and more sterile.
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| Great Bustards (Avutarda Común / Otis tarda) |
However for the moment there are still some good areas and they still hold a decent number of the amazing
Great Bustard (Avutarda Común / Otis tarda), today I managed to see around 20 birds in two groups along with
Woodchat Shrike (Alcaudón Común / Lanius senator),
Common Kestrel (Cernicalo Vulgar / Falco tinnunculus), Greater Short-toed (Terrera Común / Calandrella brachydactyla),
Crested (Cogujada / Galerida cristata) and
Calandra Lark (Calandria / Melanocorypha calandra),
Collared Dove (Tórtola Turca / Streptopelia decaocto),
Woodpigeon (Paloma Torcaz / Columba palumbus),
Raven (Cuervo / Corvus corax),
Jackdaw (Grajilla / Corvus monedula),
Spotless Starling (Estornino Negro / Sturnus unicolor),
Barn Swallow (Golondrina Común / Hirundo rustica) and
Stone Curlew (Alcaraván Común / Burhinus oedicnemus).
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| Cardinal Fritillary (Argynnis pandora). |
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| Cardinal Fritillary (Argynnis pandora). |
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| Cardinal Fritillary (Argynnis pandora). |
On the way I made a couple of roadside stops to stretch the legs, get some lunch and have a look for some Butterflies to start the trip list off with, somewhere between Madrid and Burgos I picked up
Great Banded Grayling (Kanetisa circe),
Iberian Marbled White (Melanargia lachesis),
Small White (
Pieris rapae),
Cardinal Fritillary (Argynnis pandora),
Adonis Blue (Lysandra bellargus), Meadow Brown (Maniola jurtina) and Iberian Scarce Swallowtail (Iphiclides feisthameli).
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| Small Heath (Coenonympha pamphilus). |
Then later once I was on the minor roads I picked up
Red (Milano Real / Milvus milvus) and
Black Kite (Milano Negro / Milvus migrans),
Common Buzzard (Busardo Ratonero / Buteo buteo), Montagu's Harrier (Aguilucho Cenizo / Circus pygargus), White Stork (Ciguena Blanca / Ciconia ciconia),
Common Stonechat (Tarabilla Común / Saxicola torquata),
Carrion Crow (Corneja Negra / Corvus corone) and Corn Bunting (Triguero / Emberiza calandra) as I drove.
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| Spanish Gatekeeper (Pyronia bathsheba). |
At another roadside stop I spent a while trying to photograph an extremely flighty
Great Banded Grayling which gave me the run around for a while but whilst chasing it I also recorded
Long-tailed (Lampides baeticus) and Lang's Short-tailed Blue (Leptotes pirithous),
Spanish Gatekeeper (Pyronia bathsheba),
Iberian Scarce Swallowtail,
Meadow Brown,
Pyramidal (Anacamptis pyramidalia) x2 and a very tatty looking Fragrant Orchid (Gymnadenia conopsea).
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| Lang's Short-tailed Blue (Leptotes pirithous). |
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| Lang's Short-tailed Blue (Leptotes pirithous). |
I continued on to Ojedo over Mirador de Piedrasluengas but didn't stop as it was getting on a bit and I wanted to check in at my digs for the next few nights.
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| Pyramidal Orchid (Anacamptis pyramidalia). |
Later, after getting settled in I went into Potes for something to eat where I bumped into a couple of friends, Ed and Monica Mackrill, who had been camping in the area for a while and were also looking for butterflies.
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| Great Banded Grayling (Kanetisa circe). |
I went with them up to the restaurant on their camp site where we had a meal, chatted and arranged to meet next morning to visit a few nearby sites that Ed had already checked out and had found a few species I wanted, very exciting😀😀😀😀
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