La Bañeza, Villacid de Campos, Laguna de la Nava, Laguna Boada de Campos in Castilla y León, Spain.

Heading back East towards Home, stage One.

Ebird List for La Bañeza, 1 Species.

Ebird List for Villacid de Campos, 8 Species.

Ebird List for Laguna de la Nava, 27 Species.

Ebird List for Laguna Boada de Campos, 20 Species. 

Year Total 114.

Rooks (Graja / Corvus frugilegus).

I left the hotel in A Coruña at around 07:20 and headed to the town of La Bañeza as I had seen on Ebird that there was a cluster of hot spots for Rook (Graja / Corvus frugilegus) in the area.

Rooks (Graja / Corvus frugilegus).

Rook (Graja / Corvus frugilegus).

Rooks (Graja / Corvus frugilegus).

On the way I saw Red Kite (Milano Real / Milvus milvus), Marsh Harrier (Aguilucho Lagunero Occidental / Circus aeruginosus), Common Buzzard (Busardo Ratonero / Buteo buteo), Raven (Cuervo / Corvus corax), Common Magpie (Urraca / Pica pica), Carrion Crow (Corneja Negra / Corvus corone), Common Kestrel (Cernicalo Vulgar / Falco tinnunculus), Collared Dove (Tórtola Turca / Streptopelia decaocto), Woodpigeon (Paloma Torcaz / Columba palumbus), White Wagtail (Lavandera Blanca / Montacilla alba) and House Sparrow (Gorrión Común / Passer domesticus).

Rook (Graja / Corvus frugilegus).

Rook (Graja / Corvus frugilegus).

I came off the motorway and dropped into the town and to the spot where the Pin was and was amazed to find Rooks everywhere, in the trees with their nests and in all the fields around the area as well, I put 150 on the Ebird list but there could easily have been between 200 and 300 birds in the whole area.

White Stork (Ciguena Blanca / Ciconia ciconia).

Anyway, I was very happy seeing this highly localised species in good numbers so I pressed on towards Laguna de Nava a spot I have visited several times before, on the way I passed through lots of agricultural areas and in one of these near to the town of Villacid de Campos i saw a group of 5 Stock Doves (Paloma Zurita / Columba oenas) fly over the road in front of me and land, unexpectedly there was a small pull off in the perfect spot so I spent a little while watching these difficult to get birds down south and also added Skylark (Alondra Común / Alauda arvensis), Corn Bunting (Triguero / Emberiza calandra) and Black Redstart (Colirrojo Tizón / Phoenicurus ochruros) to the day list.

Observatorio del Prado.

The View from Observatorio del Prado.

The View from Observatorio del Prado.

I continued on and arrived at the Laguna where I started the visit at Observatorio de Corralillos and worked around to Observatorio del Prado and Observatorio de La Colada, in general it was quieter than on my other visits but I did manage to find 3x Barnical Geese (Barnacla Cariblanca / Branta leucopsis) mixed in with the Greylags (Ansar Común / Anser anser), Eurasian Teal (Cerceta Común / Anas crecca), Eurasian Wigeon (Sibón Europeo / Anas penelope), Mallard (Anade Azulón / Anas platyrhynchos), Northern Pintail (Ánade Rabudo / Anas acuta),  Northern Shoveler (Pato Cuchara / Anas clypeata), Eurasian Coot (Focha Común / Fulica atra), Northern Lapwing (Avefria Europea / Vanellus vanellus), Green Sandpiper (Andarrios Grande / Tringa ochropus), Grey Heron (Garza Real / Ardea cinerea), Great Egret (Garceta Grande / Egretta alba), White Stork (Ciguena Blanca / Ciconia ciconia), 2x Hen (Aguilucho Pálido / Circus cyaneus) and lots more Marsh Harriers, Iberian Green Woodpecker (Pito Real / Picus sharpei), Common Chiffchaff (Mosquitero Común / Phylloscopus collybita), Blue Tit (Herrerillo Común / Parus caeruleus), Black Redstart (Colirrojo Tizón / Phoenicurus ochruros), Blackbird (Mirlo Común / Turdus merula), Greenfinch (Verderón Común / Carduelis chloris) and Meadow Pipit (Bisbita Pratense / Anthus pratensis).

Blue Tit (Herrerillo Común / Parus caeruleus).

I headed for the hotel next as I was aware that its the Three Kings Parade in many towns tonight and I wanted to make sure I could get in OK later, once I had sorted the room I went down the road to Laguna Boada de Campos and walked out to the hide where there were a trio of Spanish birders from León doing a count, whilst there I picked up a few new species for my list and one, Golden Plover (Chorlito Dorado Europeo / Pluvialis apricaia) which they had missed, only 30 odd of them.

Laguna Boada de Campos.

Other new species included Common Crane (Grulla Común / Grus grus), Shelduck (Tarro Blanco / Tadoma tadorna), Common Pochard (Porrón Común / Aythya ferina), Gadwall (Anade Friso / Anas strepera), Crested Lark (Cogujada / Galerida cristata) and Linnet (Pardillo Común / Carduelis cannabina).

Laguna Boada de Campos.

Laguna Boada de Campos.

I returned to Laguna de la Nava but didn't add anything new to the list but did see that there were a good number of Geese in a field near the Laguna but they were to distant and it was starting to get dark so I couldn't pick out anything other than Greylags before I left.