Up with the larks

Thankfully, today wasn't a horrible story. Intrepidness kicked in again and we headed off to the El Planeron area which is a Spanish Ornithological Society reserve, aimed at conserving Dupont's Larks, our target bird of the day. The reserve is in a vast steppe (elevated plains) landscape comprising a mosaic of cereal fields, irrigated areas and grassland. This sounds like a geography lesson and is a mix of me, the book and the husband (the one I brought with me). And this is him, in it:

Spot the birder

Although the above may not look too thrilling, when we turned up there was no wind and it was totally devoid of horrible noises (cars, tractors, jet fighters). There was just buzzing in the heat, croaking and warbling from the nearby small lake - whoops - sorry, 'the largest oasis of Belchite's steppe'. There was also an aroma of thyme on the gentle breeze, beautiful clear blue skies and unidentified larks singing. 

I heard the Dupont's lark singing several times but we didn't see it. We even heard it close to the car when we left and will come back at dawn tomorrow. Calandra Lark was the best identified today - the rest were a pain, especially as it got hotter and hotter. That's when I became a pain. 

We had several glimpses of Little Owl on a crumbling building, but it was twitchy and couldn't get a picture. Instead, this is the door of its building.

Little Owl's front door

A general view of El Planeron