A birding day in Madrid
[LEFT][RIGHT][CENTER][LEFT]The morning was quite cold in the surroundings of the Chamartín train station. Joshua and Anne Berman from USA travelled all night from Barcelona to meet us for trying to find together some of the specialities of Madrid in a private trip of a unique day. After picking up them at the agreed time and without loosing time we headed first into El Pardo Nature Reserve, placed in the North West side of the region. El Pardo is a well known area by all the residents in the city, however the entrance to the reserve is prohibited and only some approximations to the old stone wall which surrounds it are allowed. This is a superb spot for raptors and good density of Eurasian Black Vultures and Spanish Imperial Eagles are still surviving here. Although there are several itineraries for hikers and wildlifers we use to travel to the northern side of the reserve towards the town of Colmenar Viejo and then travel south for visiting the main wooded area.
The road which led to our “personal” watchpoint (you need a permit of the landowner) crosses a hilly area with some sparse Holm Oaks trees, Gum Cistus bushes and impressive rocky outcrops… this variety of ecosystems offers good chances for recording species related to the typical “dehesa” landscapes and the open areas so well known in the western region of Extremadura but present most of them also in Madrid.
The first birds seen along the road were all common, Barn Swallows, Collared Doves, Spotless Starling and White Wagtails… but we were going to have soon our first bonus of the day. An adult Egyptian Vulture was found feeding amongst the cattle next to us. We didn’t need to use our telescope to see every single detail of its bare and rare yellow face. This was for sure a migrant bird considering that this vulture is extinct as a breeder in Madrid and the records are not very usual. Jos from the car had the chance to see something like he thought were two large plovers behind the Egyptian Vulture but beyond the first hill. They were in fact two Stone Curlews moving quite active and showing very well in wonderful light conditions. We decided to move the car and keep a considerable distance for not disturbing the vulture and taking our telescope to enjoy a closer view of the Stone Curlews… at least we saw four of them and one even displaying and calling rather loud. Next to the curlews a Carrion Crow was also seen, an uncommon visitor into the area but easy to see in the nearby mountains.
A few metres further in a small patch of trees we heard the unmistakable call of the Penduline Tit and briefly, a nice male showed for us very well. We were seeing the bird for at least 5 minutes whilst three Wood Larks were all time singing right overhead in a telephone wire.
Today the way to the watchpoint was being especially productive but even it was much more when two Great Spotted Cuckoos flew overhead being chased by a pair of Common Magpies… what a views! The four birds displayed for minutes not far from our position. The cold just became slowly in a quite warm day and we noticed a little heat haze at the far distance just in the right moment when we saw our first Black and Griffon Vultures of the day… both quite distant birds.
We still had time to see a flock of Spanish Sparrows, a male Sardinian Warbler, a couple of dozens of Linnets and both Crested and Thekla Larks which provided us the chance to discuss about the different field marks between them… a not easy question at all!
The four kilometres until reaching the farm where the watchpoint is placed took us more than an hour… but we finally did it. A short walk around the farm gave us good views of Dartford Warbler, Serin and both Chiffchaff and Willow Warblers, whilst three Rock Sparrows crossed by, but unfortunately they never landed. The views of the skyline of Madrid on the background were simply amazing… we had so fantastic birds so close to a city of 5 millions inhabitants! In that moment a party of Griffons were flying overhead, the silhouette of the huge Black Vulture was also present, but amongst the vultures a dark and smaller bird paid quick our attention… it was a full adult Spanish Imperial Eagle showing very well there up. We all saw the typical white leading edge on wings so typical of the adult birds… the bird just vanished in question of two or three minutes just behind the closest hill. Suddenly and with no much time for talking about the experience a small party of Azure-winged Magpies crossed down the valley with their noisy calls… good views of the second endemic in less than a couple of minutes! A distant drumming Lesser Spotted Woodpecker was heard too but unfortunately not seen.
This was also a fantastic day for butterflies and all Provence Hairstreak, Large Tortoishell, Common Swallowtail, Western Dappled White, Bath White, Red Admiral, Speckled Wood and Meadow Brown were seen in our walk uphill to the watchpoint.
A female Black Redstart was found in a ruined building whilst several Crag Martins flew around the same construction. Up in the sky Common Buzzards and Griffon Vultures were soaring far and a long-necked large bird made us to check it through the telescope to see a Black Stork flying next the raptors. The bird soared along the ridge and after a few minutes disappeared behind the mountains.
In the surroundings of the watchpoint a Common Kestrel flew right in front of us and a Sparrowhawk showed well before stooping into the valley. Jos found a light like raptor far in the distance and after seeing the bird through the scope we all agreed that it was a Short-toed Eagle.
We had seen there in fact all our target birds so we decided to move to the next spots, the Santillana and Guadalix reservoirs. In a brief stop in the first one we only saw Great Crested Grebe and both Black-headed and Lesser Black-backed Gulls, although a couple of Black Kites were seen flying over the road. The stop on the second reservoir would provide us views of Little Egret, Shoeveler, Common Teal, Gadwall and at least two males Garganeys. We had our lunch next to the banks of this reservoir whilst a Sardinian Warbler was calling very excited around… they probably had the nest not too far. Just before leaving the reservoir a Red Kite with some feathers missing was found soaring close.
We still had to visit three more different habitats so we moved towards the Patones de Arriba, a very tourist place which has some interesting cliffs. In spite of finding some people climbing in the vertical rocks we were soon rewarded with fantastic views of a male Blue Rock Thrush singing from the top of an electric pylon. More Provence Hairstreaks, Brimstone and a Swallowtail paid again our attention on butterflies until we heard the high pitch of a Rock Bunting. A beautiful male then displayed on top of a close rock flying away few seconds later to the cliff where it kept on view for some minutes. Several Black Redstarts chasing each others, Song Thrush drinking water in a small hole in the rock and a male Goldcrest were found all amongst the most interesting species here.
Our next aim was seeing Great Bustards displaying so we drove towards the plains of the Río Jarama not far from Patones. None of the males were very active as we say but we surprisingly saw a large flock of 45 adult males and around 100 young/females in maybe less than a couple of square hectares!… an amazing record with no doubt! Being honest we thought that the total of Great Bustards in that flock should be no less than two hundreds. A male Northern Harrier was seen flying low in the further fields and three Red-legged Partridges run away quickly after seeing us approaching to them by our car. Later on a tiny pond in the plains itself, and just before coming back to the road, three Little Ringed Plovers and a Green Sandpiper were observed, but the most surprising was to see how a female Black-winged Stilt landed right in front of us doing its noisy call.
It was however time to travel to our last spot for the day, the sandy cliffs of Río Henares placed north east Madrid. Then we had been travelling the whole northern side of Madrid but always keeping us south of the Sierra de Guadarrama.
This is an excellent place for Eagle Owl with a pair of these breeding in the cliffs in the last three seasons. However the owl never appeared and we had to enjoy with other species such as Great Spotted Woodpecker, Green Woodpecker (the sharpei race from Iberia), Short-toed Treecreeper, Red-billed Chough, an adult Peregrine, Sparrowhawk, Common Kestrel and a nice male Marsh Harrier. A great end for a birding day in Madrid in spite of missing the owl, one of our most usual records on our trips into the area… nevertheless 83 species were recorded in one single day!
Santiago Villa
www.birdingmadrid.com
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