Water Mill to Windy Plains

Departed the compact accommodation at Hotel Rural Molino del Batan, close to the town of Molina de Aragon. There seemed to be three or four men 'in charge' and when we arrived they only had eyes for the football on tv in the basement bar. They were so glued that the beers were shoved at us without payment. The wind got up and their washing was strewn all over the place. The room was rustic but compact. The bathroom challenge included towels like exfoliators. 

Breakfast included the Chinese Grand Prix on tv, and of course the serving men were glued - as we were. Lewis Hamilton won and maybe that's why we were offered more toast. All this seemed insignificant when soon after we watched the spectacle of a tiny Buzzard repeatedly mobbing a huge Golden Eagle.

The Football/Grandprix Hotel - Hotel Rural Molino del Batan

 Drove through patchwork country...

 ...heading south-west in strong winds...

...to Pedro Munoz and the Finca Mirador El Encinar de Haldudo

We seem to be the only two staying in the current residence which is entered through a very grand typically Spanish set of metal gates. When we returned from the local 'pub' the gates were closed. It felt like one of those 'my linguistic skills aren't going to manage this in a phone call or a return to the pub' moments. I fleetingly envisaged a night in the super bleeping vehicle. It probably doesn't allow all night sleeping. A shining knight appeared and saved us. Another happy ending.

Trees at last!

Can you catch a whiff of the clean air and hear the gentle flowing Taho River...

...and hear the Firecrests and Treecreepers singing?

Tiny little unnamed flower 

And more trees

Favourites

Three of my favourite birds just happened to pop up on Little Owl's house roof at the same time. You'll have to excuse the size, but I was a long way off in the car.

Little Owl and Hoopoe on the Little Owl house roof of yesterday

Another house guest who popped up further along the roof at the same time - a Red-legged Partridge

One of my favourite tipples

Drove through one of many industrial wine growing areas on our way to Molina de Aragon.

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

A kettle of storks, a charm of goldfinches and a squadron of jet planes

A day in the desert, at Las Bardenas Reales near the town of Tudela. It's a huge spectacular desert-like area of about 400 sq. kms, with loads of ravines an cliffs and flat topped mesa - like tables. 

This is where the super huge car comes into its own, except for the annoying techie beeping. If these aren't obeyed, the warning lights are even more annoying. The real test is motorway tolls. Whoever is in the passenger seat is challenged to the max when they can't reach the ticket machine and have to remove their seat belt. It's bad enough that it sounds like a major security alert, but when the machine also rejects the ticket for payment and we have to reverse and all that jazz....tis somewhat nerve jangling.

A day in the desert

The day began with a discussion about the origins of collective nouns. We first saw a kettle of storks, then a charm of goldfinches. There weren't enough starlings for a murmuration, but there was a flock of sheep and a herd of cows. 

The subject matter stepped up a gear when we happened to stop the vehicle quite close to where a Montagu's Harrier attacked a flock of Black-bellied Sandgrouse. It didn't grab one, but it caused quite a stir and gave us another species to add to the list. The central area of Las Bardenas Reales is a military zone where there just happened to be 'a squadron' of fighter jets engaged in target practice. We could see old planes on the ground which were being used as targets and could hear the bursts of firing. The jets looked just like birds and were amazing to watch, although it felt a bit unnerving seeing them practice strafing a target - diving sharply towards it, giving a quick burst of gunfire and then sharply changing to a near vertical climb. We're wondering whether 'jet' can be included on our list.

A night in the desert?

We experienced a few road closure issues en route to the next hotel, adding a few miles and two hours extra travelling time. We eventually arrived at an abandoned dirty neglected dump of a hotel. I immediately had visions of spending the night in the super vehicle and all its stuff. What would Bear Grylls do in this situation? Head for the woods probably.

After we'd tried all the doors, buzzers and phone numbers, we headed off for the closest town hoping to find something. It was beginning to get dark and hotels are notoriously difficult to find in little Spanish towns, if there is one at all. We drove to Belchite, a few miles up\down the road, in the middle of another nowhere. I engaged in some delightful 'askings' with the gesticulating fast-talking locals - leading to success. So there Bear Grylls...

The story ended happily and we didn't have to spend the night in the above little desert house. Instead we are in the super-modern minimalist Hotel Oleum (two of four guests). It is brand new and very swish, but feels like staying in a show home/hotel. I'm wondering whether we are on a reality show and have been looking for the hidden cameras. 

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Wrynecks and Firecrests

Didn't find many birds here

This morning's plan was to drive ten miles or so to Laguna Rada, a big puddle of water, in search of riparian woodland. I'd never heard of such a thing, but it is habitat with poplars and willows and other trees. We followed directions given in our very good, tried and tested book and instead found large areas of abandoned greenhouses and derelict buildings. Wind turbines and solar farms were in abundance, as was a chill wind. It's much colder than yesterday and I'm double wrapped. 

Heard a cuckoo and after much more searching, re-located to the Aragon River, close to the town of Caparroso. 

This is the picnic spot, close to where the good birds were found

Made up for a frustrating start to the day when we heard a Wryneck. Over a period of about an hour, we saw three and managed to get pictures of two together on a branch - pretty clever, eh? Of course it wasn't me that took them. At the same time, two tiny angry Firecrests got cross with us and the camera was red hot again. You'll have to imagine these birds for the time being. Blame technology.

 

Children's park - Spanish style

Passed through the little town of Fume and couldn't resist taking a picture of this little park. This was an area where we saw loads and loads of Storks nesting in trees.

Vines and Turbines

I am in the land of vines (Rioja) and wind turbines. The hills are alive with wind and solar stuff, in all directions. Today has been day 1 of attempting to beat last year's total number of birds seen in Spain, taking into account that we're not necessarily always the first to get up and out in the morning. In the same way that boats are all about the back and front, this trip is about veering right (east) as we make our way south, rather than left (west) - as per last year.

The day was spent walking around Laguna de Pitillas in Navarra Province. It is described as being mostly reedy, with little actual water apart from channels. As usual, things have changed and there was plenty of water. 

It didn't take long to find some of my favourite birds - Bittern, Short-toed Eagle, Zitting Cisticola and Hoopoe

Things are going to plan so far, although obviously not all the planned-for birds turned up. My Spanish 'body language' language is still working a treat and the food in this exceptionally friendly hotel, Hospederia De Alesves, is very good. Well it was last night. This is a great time of year to be travelling down through Spain - to the right - as hotels are mostly empty of guests. More fuss made of me - yippee!