Day Two. Birding and Wildlife Watching

 Wednesday, 30th September we knew was going to be a full day in the countryside between the city and the Sierra de Toledo. An aquatic environment followed by steppe and then to a higher altitude in the mountains was our mixture of habitats.

On arriving back at our hotel at 10pm I knew that I could not be capable of giving a comprehensive write-up for the excellent day that we had been guided through. naturexplorer.es with Jose driving and Juan doing the talking were our companions for the day. They were great. Jose is ‘a country boy’ and knew the area very well. He has a great knowledge of the avión inhabitants and where to find them. He was aided by his incredible eyesight. Juan complimented Jose’s knowledge, with his own knowledge of the flora and fauna. We exchanged information all day long. We had fun and where we could make a joke we laughed too.

We left the hotel at 7.30am and headed straight out to Las Barrancas where we found steep and interesting cliff formations with a large area of water at the base. Sitting there in a cleft was an Eagle Owl - Búho Real in its day time roost. What an excellent way to start the morning with the sun only just up. I will add much more in later. 

By late afternoon we had travelled back down from the highest point of the Sierra and we were traversing areas of oak laden meadows. The cork oak trees provide an interesting landscape although in September the ground is parched. We were here for the ‘Berea’ or the bellowing of the stags or in plain English, the rut. It was what we wanted to see, but more importantly, to hear. All the roads are rough and we had to go slowly and passed through in the late afternoon light. We saw many Red Deer - Ciervo, a good number of Fallow Deer - Gamo and we were lucky enough to see the occasional Roe Deer - Corzo. We spent a considerable amount of time looking, watching and hearing these mammals. Both Corzo and Ciervo are indigenous to Spain while Gamo were not introduced until 15th century. Having reached the end of the route we drove back over it. It was now dusk and we were told that this is the best part of any day to witness the rut. They were correct. In the greater stillness of the evening the sounds of the stags sounded clearer. We learnt to distinguish the full throated bellowing of the Red against the two syllabic sound of Fallow. Roe do not rut until July, but we heard and were able to distinguish their ‘bark’. 

We loved it out there amongst the trees, other mixed vegetation and the stillness of the moonlit night. It was peaceful, muy tranquillo and atmospheric. A wonderful experience and the photos should show something of it. But the memories will last.