A return of one of our favourite tours, this is a short and simple 5 day trip to one of Europe's premiere birdwatching regions in the heart of rural Spain. Extremadura offers some of country's finest and most contrasting habitats including the sun drenched Steppe, rolling plains and the wooded mountain sides of Monfrague National Park. We'll be based in the beautiful and well preserved medieval town of Trujillo, with its many pan tiled rooftops home to breeding Lesser Kestrel and Pallid Swift, while the tops of many chimneys and towers hold White Stork nests. The whole area abounds with wildlife, and is so plentiful many of the birds will be seen well with little or no walking needed. All walks will be moderately easy and short.

Day 1
Meet at the airport to catch our flight to Madrid, pick up our transport and start our drive south to Trujillo. The drive down will give us our first taste of the birds to come, as some commoner species such as White Stork, Black Kite and Griffon Vulture should be seen. Time permitting we‘ll stop at a wetland site en-route, where Cattle & Little Egret, Purple & Night Heron and Little Bittern are all present. Savi's, Cetti's and Great Reed Warbler should be heard singing from the reeds and with some patience all three are usually seen. One of the highlights here will be Purple Gallinule, a species difficult to find elsewhere, though it often shows well here. Black-Shouldered Kite is also frequently seen in the area, as are Gull-billed Tern, Lesser Kestrel and European Bee-eater. We'll then continue to our hotel, which is situated close to the medieval square and offers a good selection of traditional meals.

Day 2-4
Monfrague National Park, described by many as the most important area in Europe for raptors will feature heavily. Here Egyptian, Griffon and Black Vulture will all be seen, the latter with c200 pairs is more numerous here than any where else in the world, while the even more numerous Griffon is widespread and breath-taking views are almost guaranteed, as are Black and Red Kites. No less than five species of eagle occur, Booted, Short-toed, Golden, Bonelli's and the rare Spanish Imperial. As well as the raptors the park is also home to a good selection of other birds including Black Stork, European Bee-eater, Thekla Lark, Crag Martin, Black Redstart, Black Wheatear, Blue Rock Thrush, Short-toed Treecreeper, Red-billed Chough and Rock Bunting. One evening just prier to dusk we'll look for Eagle Owl at a traditional nest site, which in the past has always provided good views. Afterwards we'll try our luck at a nearby site for Red-necked Nightjar. Mammals may include Red Deer, Red Fox, Otter and Wild Boar.

The region is also home to vast areas of Steppe, and one day we'll start with a pre-breakfast drive on to the nearby plains where we'll visit a traditional Great Bustard lek, here we should be able observe this huge birds strange display. Little Bustard also occur here and the males are frequently seen displaying. After breakfast we'll visit a vast area of steppe where both Pin-tailed and Black-bellied Sandgrouse occur. Other birds here should include Montagu's Harrier, Great Spotted Cuckoo, Roller, Southern Grey Shrike, Black-eared Wheatear, Spanish Sparrow and Fan-tailed, Spectacled and Dartford Warblers. Larks are well represented here with Calandra, Short-toed, Crested and Thekla all present.

In the Dehesa (open grassy or scrubby land with scattered trees, mostly Holm and Cork Oak) species include Black-shouldered Kite, Hoopoe, Woodchat Shrike, and Orphean Warbler. We'll also pass through a number of river valleys, where Rock Sparrow, Golden Oriole, Red-rumped Swallow, Crag Martin, and Cirl Bunting should all be added along with Sardinian, Sub-alpine and Melodious Warblers.

Day 5
On our last morning we'll have another optional pre breakfast walk on the plains for those who wish, spending a little time after breakfast in Trujillo where Lesser Kestrel, Pallid Swift, Spotless Starling and Serin all breed and often give good views from the castle. We'll then start our journey back to Madrid via Monfrague in plenty of time so we can make one or two birding stops on the way. Back in Madrid we conclude what will have been a very rewarding short break. There are very few places in Europe where you can see so much in such a short time.

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