Urban Birder The
David Lindo watches migration in action in Western Spain’s wildlife-rich Extremadura region
T
ake me to the bridge was a phrase made famous by the Godfather of Soul. I’m sure that when James Brown first grunted that line he wasn’t thinking about birding but it was the most appropriate phrase that sprung to mind on my first night in Merida, the capital city of the Extremadura region in Spain. I was in my hotel room on the phone to my guide, Martin Kelsey, who was briefing me on the following day’s birding plans. He spoke of an ancient magical bridge literally 10 minutes walk away, from which the most amazing birds could be seen. It was no surprise that I couldn’t sleep that night. In the morning, after noticing a pair of nesting White Storks standing on an untidy pile of sticks right on top of my hotel, we soon found ourselves on the bridge. Known simply as The Roman Bridge, it straddles the Guadiana River in the heart of the city and, at 790 metres, is the longest surviving Roman bridge in the world. Aside from the river, which was a dangerous-looking torrent of brown water, the bridge overlooked a few reedbeds that housed a male Little Bittern sitting in the open, an obliging Penduline Tit, many passage Chiffchaffs hunting for insects and noisy Cetti’s Warblers. It was early March, so it was strange to see migrant Swallows, House and Sand Martins swooping around knowing that they had yet to make landfall in Britain. Local office workers walked past, looking at us quizzically as I whooped and gushed at the array of birds present. Throngs of Cattle Egrets, with the occasional Little Egret in their midst, stood on the branches of clumps of trees that had become islands in a nearby egret roost due to the excessive floodwater brought on by the recent unprecedented rains. A Night Heron flapped languidly overhead as a couple of Purple Swamphens stalked heavily around the remaining visible reeds. Martin told me The Roman Bridge is the best place in the whole of Extremadura to see this oversized moorhen. Next was a 45 minute drive north to Cáceres, the capital of the Cáceres Province – the other of the two Extremaduran provinces. This city’s centre is dominated by Moorish and Medieval architecture, Russell F Spencer
perfect for nesting Lesser Kestrels and White Storks. We stood on the elevated steps of a cathedral and were soon watching up to six Lesser Kestrels patrolling the tiled rooftops with an elegance that blew me away. They twisted, turned and swooped with breathtaking effortlessness. Their colonial habits, altogether brighter plumage with less streaking, and a slight central tail projection separate them from the Kestrels we know and love. When these adorable birds were out of view we were entertained by several Spotless Starlings whistling their simple, watered-down Common Starling-like songs, flocking Jackdaws and Feral Pigeons swirling around the rooftops and of course, the graceful gliding and awkward landings of several of Cáceres’ 250 pairs of White Storks. In the sky above, the occasional migrating Red Kite passed over often in the slipstream of their more numerous black cousins. Now that’s what I call urban birding! Our final urban destination was the small town of Trujillo, another 45 minutes on from Cáceres. Here, we visited a bullring at the edge of town in a fairly rundown area. On the surrounding derelict land Crested Larks, White Wagtails, House Sparrows and Serins hopped among the weeds, while overhead were many Swallows and House Martins with the occasional Red-rumped Swallow. But it was the bullring we had come to see, because up to 30 pairs of Lesser Kestrels nest on the doughnut-shaped roof. We were treated to spectacular views of the birds in courtship mode and watched the females entering the crevices of tiles or the specially supplied ceramic nesting chambers, while their mates seemingly stood guard. The great thing about all three of the cities I visited was that they hold the unusual distinction of being among the very few urban areas in Europe designated by the EU as Special Protection Areas for birds. Extremadura has about 15% of the entire European Lesser Kestrel population. Of course, I could not come to Extremadura without sampling the birding out in the wilds and under Martin’s excellent guidance I managed to catch up with a panoply of goodies; Great Spotted Cuckoo, Thelka and Calandra Larks by the bucketload, Blue Rock Thrush, Black Storks, Spanish Imperial, Golden and Short-toed Eagles, masses of Griffon Vultures with lesser numbers of Black and Egyptian Vultures. The list was endless. On my final morning I return to The Roman Bridge where it all began. Unfortunately, the water levels had risen further to submerge the scant vegetation that was visible only 48 hours earlier, plus the skies were grey and threatening yet more rain. I took solace in watching a Crag Martin that was aerobatically patrolling the length of the bridge. I watched its every twist and change in direction and thought, if James Brown were a birder what line would he have written for this? ■ Thanks to Martin Kelsey, Birding Extremadura (www.birdingextremadura.com). David travelled with Iberia Airlines and is extremely grateful to the Extremadura Tourist Board (www.visitextremadura.co.uk) and the Spanish Tourist Office in London (www.spain.info/uk) www.birdwatching.co.uk 47