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| Hotel Rural |
17/04/2014 to 21/04/2014 - On 17/04/2014 we headed north and away from El Rocio towards Extremedura where we would spend the next 4 days looking at raptors and the birds that inhabit the steppe countryside. We spent those days visiting a variety of habitats which provided the following birding highlights: Alpine Swift, Great Bustard, Little Bustard, Pin-tailed Sandgrouse, Black-bellied Sandgrouse, Cinereous Vulture, Egyptian Vulture, Quail, Rock Sparrow, Rock Bunting, Bonelli's Eagle, Thekla and Calandra Larks. Below are some of my better (and not so good photos).
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| Alpine Swift |
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| Calandra Lark |
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| Cinereous Vulture and Griffons |
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| Crested Lark |
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| Great Bustard |
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| Montague's Harrier |
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| Quail |
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| Rock Bunting |
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| Rock Sparrow |
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| Thekla Lark |
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| White Stork |
During the one of the day's outings we encountered a Lark on the border of the Steppe, which in the field was identified as a Thekla Lark but upon closer examination of the below photo I think it is a close call, any comments would be appreciated between that and Crested Lark.
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| Crested or Thekla? |
On 21/04/2014 it was another early start with a drive to Madrid followed by a flight back to reality.
Hi R. Further to my text, here is a link you may get a kick out of, written by the great Peter Jones. http://www.andaluciabirdsociety.org/article-library/comparative-fieldguide/118-comparative-identification-guide-2.html
ReplyDeleteMany thanks for the link - I found that earlier when searching on Google and it is a good guide. So, with the jizz I got in the field and using that guide and others the consensus is that the above is Thekla
ReplyDelete