Friday 11th May (A Last Visit to the Rock)


Mr. Kite looked out of The Joint window to see three azure-winged magpies sitting in a tree. In the morning sun their azure blue wings were shiny.

Later in the morning Mr. Kite and His Lady went for a final visit to Mirador de la Portilla del Tietar to watch the eagle owl chicks. Within the last day their down was being replaced by feathers and they were walking around the niche taking more interest in the outside world and watching any movement with curiosity.

The pair of spanish imperial eagles made loud noises as they hassled the griffon vultures perched near their nest and flew high and low occasionally stopping to rest on a dead tree where they could be viewed in The Superscope. And mighty impressive they were with their white feathers and massive hooked beak.

It is not just the size of the birds that makes it impressive. A rock bunting sat by the viewing point with a superbly stripped head and buff plumage. For a time this bird was the centre of attention as the papparazi clicked away on their cameras.

A few hours later mr. Kite was in Caceres enjoying a tipple of Maternus Premium Pilsener. Cheers.

Thursday 10th May (Too Hot for Mr. Kite and the Birds)


Mr. Kite looked out of The Joint window into a dawn morning. A scop's owl was sounding off like a faulty car alarm.

A few hours later Mr. Kite was cycling in the Monfrague park. Vultures circled overhead and eagle glided over the hot ground.

To cut a long story short Mr. Kite was searching for warblers and in the heat failed to really identify any. Lots of woodchat shrikes ate the swarms of insects that were enjoying their last hot day on earth.

Mr. Kite watched a Bonelli's eagles nest where what looked like a chick stir but the heat beat everyone.

So in the late afternoon Mr. Kite enjoyed a tipple of Leffe Ruby. Cheers

Wednesday 9th May (Evening Meal with the Birds)

Now Mr. Kite looked out of The Joint window on this Spanish morning to see clouds and hear the thrill of the spotless starlings. A leisurely morning ended with a walk along a track by the main road looking at the crested and thekla larks. Very few were seen so the more detailed study was put off for another day. However the corn buntings were in an energetic mood as they flew from bush top to bush top and provided the bird-watching experience.

A few hours gaps appeared in the clouds and the sun shone warming the earth and the air. Slowly the griffon vultures began to glide overhead, the booted eagles soared over the cork oaks. The white stork headed for the meadows to feed and three short-toed eagles hovered high above the ground searching for reptiles.

Mr. Kite kept an eye on the meadows birds and an eye on the sky. Sitting comfortably on a concrete post Mr. Kite identified the birds above him saying, “Grifffon, booted, black kite, red kite, griffon, short-toed, black kite, possible honey buzzard’.

Half an hour later Mr. Kite then said, “Black vulture”, as a larger and more dark shape glided towards him with some straggly feathers on the wing tips. Looking closely Mr. Kite noticed the straighter wings, a completely black underside and two lighter feet showing. Wow the first black vulture of the trip.

With the sun shining and the air warming Mr. Kite returned to The Joint to cook pasta for tea. At seven o’clock Mr. Kite and His Lady sat outside eating pasta and cheese while overhead white storks, booted eagles, short-toed eagles, red kites, black kites and kestrel flew. In the tree by the table a family of azure-winged magpies looked on waiting for a chance to eat pasta and cheese.

With a bottle of Kronenbourg 1664 in his hand Mr. Kite drank a health to the birds of the Extramadura. Cheers.

Wednesday 9th May (Dawn Chorus)

Mr. Kite looked out of The Joint window as the sun was peering over the horizon. Six thousands cuckoos were calling the dawn chorus with the occasional shrill of the spotless starling and ‘hoop, hoop’ of a hoopoe.

The world was waiting to be watched.

So at nine in the morning Mr. Kite set out into Monfrague National Park. Firstly Mr. Kite was going to identify three types of lark. So on the road he stopped to watch crested larks with their lighter colour and more slender shape. A little further on another lark sat singing with a neat stripe above it's eye. This bird sang very fluidly and had a slight crest that it baarely raised. A woodlark was added to the list.

On the slopes in the park Mr. Kite watched very green greenfinches and yellow serins with woodchat shrikes dropping onto insects nearby. A pair of larks caught Mr. Kite's eye. These birds were slightly stocky, darker and a neat darkish tail. Both birds had a white underside and flew into the air before dropping down rapidly into the undergrowth; thekla larks. Mr. Kite now had a target on warblers and wheatears. To cut a long story short neither really appeared in view at a close distance.

Now with vultures, eagles and stoks in the air and Belgians, French, Germans, Danes and the odd Spaniard Mr. Kite noticed linnets. Soon Mr. Kite was cycling past eagle owl chicks and spanish imperial eagles before stopping to watch a golden oriole and a nightingale. A monster of a green lizard crossed the road; thankfully the dragon disappeared into the undergrowth before too long.

In the late afternoon heat Mr. Kite cycled his new cycling machine back to camp stopping to listen to a cetti's warbler on the route. Soon Mr. Kite was enjoying a tipple of Leffe Ruby. Cheers to the Extremadura and the birds.

Tuesday 8th May (Monfrague)

On Wednesday 2nd May Mr. Kite and His Lady arrived in the Extramadura. The Joint was parked in the camp site and soon the cheeky azure-winged magpies were checking out the new arrivals . Now these colourful characters are a wonderful sight with their black caps. Warm buff bodies and azure blue wings. Their behaviour makes them a delight to watch as they hop, bounce, fight, chase sparrows and peck the morsels from your table or just sit on your saucepan eating your cous cous.

Spotless starling thrilled as they built their nests in the broken roof tiles of the toilet block. House sparrows, goldfinches, blue tits, cukoos, chaffinch, blackbirds, nuthatch and house martins made their appearance on the site.

Overhead booted eagles, black kites and a white stork circled. In the hint of sunshine Mr. Kite put on his walking boots and walked a long a track adjacent to the road where corn buntings and crested lark flew around and called to each other.

In the cloud, gloom and rain Mr. Kite walked around the local area watching blackbirds, stonechats, hoopoes, collared doves, kestrels. Spotted flycatchers, yellowhammers, greenfinch, long tailed tits, swifts, bee-eaters and a common buzzards.

Mr. Kite then looked a little more carefully and  found woodchat shrike and a southern grey shrike. In the cork oaks the shrikes were a common sight. Soon an Egyptian vulture took to the air flapping powerfully to take it’s large black and white body off the ground. Rock doves required less effort and the red rumped swallows never seemed to touch the ground as they continually flew around.

Great tits, wood pigeons and tree pipits soon caught Mr. Kites attention before a singing warblers was spotted on a telegraph wire. This yellowy singing warbler was in full song but continually turning to sing in different direction. A melodious warbler was looking for a mate. Overhead a short-toed eagle expended valuable energy looking for food before a dashing little kestrel plummeted from the sky onto a tapas of some kind.

The first sunny morning of the tour was Sunday 6th May and Mr. Kite packed his new bicycle and set off to Miranda de la Tajadilla. The new machine was a joy to ride on the warm Spanish road. To cut a long story short Mr. Kite reached his target and was pleased with the warm sunny air. The water from the dam had stopped leaving pools of water where the fish were stranded. Unluckily for them six grey herons and a great white egret enjoyed the easy pickings before being joined by a black stork. Now this was a stunning sight the black and white stork with the red legs and bill feeding with grey herons and a great white egret. Three large birds at the same table for once; eating the same lunch.

Nearby a little ring plover and pied wagtail picked at food on the edge of the pools where two red deer were gently sipping water. On the cliff opposite a raven was having a hard time with a griffon vulture whilst the crag martins flew backwards and forwards along the cliff face.

In the heat Mr. Kite cycled slowly back to The Joint stopping to look in the scrub land where a subalpine warbler and black-eared wheatear were located. Following a good day out Mr. Kite enjoyed a tipple of Campo Cruz. Cheers.

Monday 7th May (Mirador de la Portilla del Tietar)

Mr. Kite looked out of The Joint window into a cloudy sky. Soon Mr. Kite and His Lady were heading to the Mirador. Passing cormorants, jays and a pair of red-legged partridge they reached the Mirador as the rain started.

Ten minutes later the rain stopped and Mr. Kite and His Lady set up The Superscope facing the cliff on the other side. Soon large brown griffon vultures were being studied with their long necks, shaggy plumage and powerful beaks.

Then it was time to focus on two eagle owl chicks. Now these two fluffy down covered attractions played to the audience at they walked to the edge of the niche and looked out. The occasional peck at each other, a short sleep before their large attentive eyes opened for a further scan of the world outside where they would have to compete. Surrounded by vultures on a cliff their’s is a precarious world.

Soon a pair of Spanish imperial eagles appeared making loud nasal sounds to make their presence known. These large black eagles with hints of white on their back and wings moved the griffon vultures away from their nest by touching them. Aerial combat displays took place as the vultures were pushed from their rocky perch onto one further away. The eagles celebrated with ‘high fives’ as they touched legs in the air and rolled over in flight.

At times the eagles landed on the ground where their powerful bodies could be seen. A great hooked beak looked the part to tear a rabbit to pieces.  But that hooked weapon did not stop a black kite continually diving towards any sitting eagle. The eagle had to continually raise it’s head and open it’s beak as the kite swooped time after time after time over the Spanish imperial eagles head. No rest for the wicked. However grand and rare this bird one black kite was not to be subservient to a Spanish imperial eagle.

For more than four hours Mr. Kite and His Lady watch a flying display of Spanish imperial eagles. griffon vultures and black kites. The eagles flew low and high; banked and rolled showing every conceivable feather. The eagle owls continued to show new behaviour and plumage as the turned their back on the audience and moved in the niche.

Of course not everything that was exciting was large and raptorish. A dazzling blue rock thrush sat above the eagle owls showing that he too was worth looking at. A black redstart; not an ordinary black redstart but a giraltarienlfis made an appearance. Black as the ace of spades with two shiny white streaks on it’s body and a tinged blue cap he was a stunner.

So Mr. Kite and His Lady had a great day out in The Monfrague National Park. To celebrate they had a tipple or two of Maternus Premium Pilsener. Cheers from the place where those azure-winged magpies are magical.

Sunday 29th April (Mr. Kite is on Tour in the Rain)

From Thursday 19th April until Friday 27th April Mr. Kite looked out of The Joint window onto a pond in La Brenne in the village of Rosnay. Often with a nightingale singing in the ditch behind The Joint and a hoopoe hooping from a nearby tree and a cuckoo flying over. One morning Mr. Kite looked out of the window to see thirty cattle egrets feeding by the pond.

To cut a long story short it rained every day in La Brenne and Mr. Kite got cold feet and wet clothes but he still went cycling, walking and bird-watching. So here are a list of the birds that Mr. Kite watched. Great tit, chaffinch, blackcap, common redstart, cattle egret, black-headed gull, mallard, starling grey heron, pied wagtail, wood pigeon and collared dove.

Soon Mr. Kite was cycling around the area looking over ponds and into woods. On the first complete day in the area Mr. Kite watched the first barn swallows, hoopoe, ring ousel, night heron, nightingale, purple heron, red crested pochard, greenshank, tree pipit and cuckoo.

The more common goldfinch, chiffchaff, tufted duck, house sparrow, blackbird, jackdaw, jay, cormorant common pheasant, skylark, gadwall, coot, little egret, mute swan, teal, great crested grebe, pochard, Canada goose, kestrel,  common buzzard, long tailed tits, greenfinch, common redshank,  northern pintail,marsh harrier were spotted.

Mr. Kite continued his cycling and walking tour of La Brenne visiting the Maison du Parc and acting like a man on holiday. It was Saturday 21st April before Mr. Kite spotted his first great white egret, northern wheatear, common whitethroat, stonechat, cirl bunting, black-necked grebe and sedge warbler.

Mr. Kite enjoyed the rain as he watched little grebe, magpie, moorhen and mistle thrush.

On Sunday 22nd April Mr. Kite cycled to La Gabriere where more than thirty black terns flew around in a variety of black and white shiny plumage. With so many birds it was interesting to see the variation. Nearby a short-toed eagle hovered and glided before leaving the area. Not a good day for a hungry eagle because the grass snakes were well and truly hiding.

On Tuesday 24th April Mr. Kite looked out of The Joint window to see that swifts had arrived and were joined by house martins.

On Thursday 26th April Mr. Kite completed a circular walk around Rosnay on a showery day where the clouds rolled in and the rain came down but it was a good day. Red deer wandered leisurely in front of Mr. Kite, golden orioles piped a fluting tune, a pair of turtle doves cooed and what looked like a hawfinch made a brief appearance. Hoping to watch the local woodpeckers in action Mr. Kite sat in a few woods watching but only a passing greater spotted woodpecker was a certain.

Mr. Kite enjoyed La Brenne although the cold wet weather was not to his liking. With more than seventy species of birds watched Mr. Kite felt happy as he headed off to sunny sunny Espana.

Sunday 6th May (Eagles, Vultures and the Extramadura)

Monday 30th April (La Brenne)


Sunday 29th April (Mr. Kite is on Tour in the Rain)

From Thursday 19th April until Friday 27th April Mr. Kite looked out of The Joint window onto a pond in La Brenne in the village of Rosnay. Often with a nightingale singing in the ditch behind The Joint and a hoopoe hooping from a nearby tree and a cuckoo flying over. One morning Mr. Kite looked out of the window to see thirty cattle egrets feeding by the pond.

To cut a long story short it rained every day in La Brenne and Mr. Kite got cold feet and wet clothes but he still went cycling, walking and bird-watching. So here are a list of the birds that Mr. Kite watched. Great tit, chaffinch, blackcap, common redstart, cattle egret, black-headed gull, mallard, starling grey heron, pied wagtail, wood pigeon and collared dove.

Soon Mr. Kite was cycling around the area looking over ponds and into woods. On the first complete day in the area Mr. Kite watched the first barn swallows, hoopoe, ring ousel, night heron, nightingale, purple heron, red crested pochard, greenshank, tree pipit and cuckoo.

The more common goldfinch, chiffchaff, tufted duck, house sparrow, blackbird, jackdaw, jay, cormorant common pheasant, skylark, gadwall, coot, little egret, mute swan, teal, great crested grebe, pochard, Canada goose, kestrel,  common buzzard, long tailed tits, greenfinch, common redshank,  northern pintail,marsh harrier were spotted.

Mr. Kite continued his cycling and walking tour of La Brenne visiting the Maison du Parc and acting like a man on holiday. It was Saturday 21st April before Mr. Kite spotted his first great white egret, northern wheatear, common whitethroat, stonechat, cirl bunting, black-necked grebe and sedge warbler.

Mr. Kite enjoyed the rain as he watched little grebe, magpie, moorhen and mistle thrush.

On Sunday 22nd April Mr. Kite cycled to La Gabriere where more than thirty black terns flew around in a variety of black and white shiny plumage. With so many birds it was interesting to see the variation. Nearby a short-toed eagle hovered and glided before leaving the area. Not a good day for a hungry eagle because the grass snakes were well and truly hiding.

On Tuesday 24th April Mr. Kite looked out of The Joint window to see that swifts had arrived and were joined by house martins.

On Thursday 26th April Mr. Kite completed a circular walk around Rosnay on a showery day where the clouds rolled in and the rain came down but it was a good day. Red deer wandered leisurely in front of Mr. Kite, golden orioles piped a fluting tune, a pair of turtle doves cooed and what looked like a hawfinch made a brief appearance. Hoping to watch the local woodpeckers in action Mr. Kite sat in a few woods watching but only a passing greater spotted woodpecker was a certain.

Mr. Kite enjoyed La Brenne although the cold wet weather was not to his liking. With more than seventy species of birds watched Mr. Kite felt happy as he headed off to sunny sunny Espana.