In the second week of last February I attended the Science Meeting of the EURAPMON project (www.eurapmon.eu) in Murcia, Spain.
After the workshop we took the opportunity and spent a few days in the field with Nick P. Williams watching and photographing raptors in Castilla la Mancha and Extremadura.
Spain is beautiful, the Spaniards are fantastic and on the top of that, the raptor fauna of Spain is truly amazing!
I have never visited Spain in early February before, so I didn’t have previous experience regarding the occurrence of birds of prey this that time of the year. I had been busy preparing for the workshop and we had not decided the field programme till we arrived in Spain. To cut it short, I couldn’t plan or search for details of the field trip. I missed Spain much, so I knew I would enjoy myself wherever we go and whatever we see as for raptors.
McDonald's supports the Spanish stork conservation programme with special nest platforms
“Do not expect too much and you will be satisfied” – this always works. Naturally, we saw a lot of raptors…
Nick - as a falcon fanatic – is a perfect fellow on a raptor trip. His ID skill is fantastic, his enthusiasm is endless (if there are raptors around), he is inexhaustible and his English sense of humour hits taboos quite often… It’s even better if the daily falcon dose is readily available…
Nick in Monfragüe National Park
We observed the following raptors during the trip:
Griffon Vulture Gyps fulvus – several hundred, few hundred in the Monfragüe National Park during one day,
Cinereous Vulture Aegypius monachus – in low numbers, but seen regularly,
Egyptian Vulture Neophron percnopterus – we saw it only three times, once a displaying pairs,
Golden Eagle Aquila chrysaetos – on 8 occasions, once a displaying male,
Spanish Imperial Eagle Aquila adalberti – 5 occasions a total of 6 individuals,
Red Kite Milvus milvus – common wintering species,
Black Kite Milvus migrans – we spotted only one wintering individual,
Black-shouldered Kite Elanus caeruleus – one adult bird near Monfragüe NP,
Marsh Harrier Circus aeruginosus – common species on migration,
Hen Harrier Circus cyaneus – we saw a couple of birds every day,
Common Buzzard Buteo buteo – as its name,
Eurasian Kestrel Falco tinnunculus – common,
Peregrine Falcon Falco peregrinus – we swa only one pair in Monfragüe NP,
Merlin Falco columbarius – a total of 7 individuals were seen.
- Monfragüe NP, Pena Falcón
Many thanks to the participants of the EURAPMON workshop for the successful and enjoyable event and to the organizers for their kind hospitability.
A very special thanks goes to Nick for the excellent company and for all his help he provided during the fantastic field trip and photographing raptors!
Nick in the 7th (°C) Merlin Heaven
I uploaded a set of selected images into the New Images gallery.
Regards,
András
