Almaraz Lagoons, Navacerrada & Colmanar
Dawn on final full day of our trip found us camped on the shores of Almaraz Lagoons (the coolant supply for the nearby nuclear power station). The bushes and reedbeds were full of interesting birds which, annoyingly, mostly disappeared as soon as it was light enough for photography.
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Little Bittern (Ixobrychus minutus)
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Purple Heron (Ardea purpurea)
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White Stork (Ciconia ciconia)
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| The insects and flowers on the borders of the reedbeds provided another distraction... |
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Meadow Brown (Maniola jurtina)
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Chafer sp.
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Cream-spot Tiger-moth (Arctia villica)
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Tongue Orchid (Serapias lingua)
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Quaking Grass (Briza maxima)
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| By mid-morning, the weather had started clouding over and we made the decision to head north to the mountains and have one last try for a Citril Finch. Our first port of call was the Valdesqui ski station. |
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Valdesqui
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Narcissus rupicola
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| A search along the forests bordering the entrance road proved fruitless, so we headed back into Navacerrada in the hope of finding somewhere to buy some bread for lunch. This turned out to be a very serendipitous move, as right in the centre of town, in a glade created for a ski-tow, we found a thriving population of Citril Finches! |
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Citril Finch (Serinus citrinella)
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Firecrest (Regulus ignicapillus)
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| Satisfied that we had achieved our goal for the day, we drove back towards Madrid to try and find somewhere to camp reasonably close to the airport. We eventually found a quiet little valley just outside Colmanar and spent the remaining few hours of daylight searching for birds in the vegetation along the stream. |
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European Bee-eater (Merops apiaster)
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| As darkness fell, a Red-necked Nightjar landed on the telegraph wires close to where we were camped. I haven't yet managed to work out how to get the angle my flashgun far enough away from my lens to prevent eyeshine in nightjars. Their retinas appear to be particularly reflective! |
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Red-necked Nightjar (Caprimulgus ruficollis)
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| An excellent way to end a very enjoyable trip. |
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Spanish Fighting Bull
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