Over the last few days we’ve had a few firsts for the trip. Our first view of a stork was filled fairly swiftly by loads more. Most nests around the Embalase de Pinilla have young about to fledge. One nest was only about 10 feet off the ground. Unlike the two we saw in Buitrago del Lozoya. These would be crane storks I suppose!
And the chicks on the far end of the gantry will have got the hang of flying very early on.
We are now in vulture territory – probably mainly griffon vultures. And having seen one, we soon saw dozens more.
One bunch of twenty or so in particular was circling less than 50 feet in the air, obviously having found supper. Avid readers of this blog will recall from last year that that was a “kettle” about to turn into a “wake”!
Two other firsts were two hunting birds at opposite ends of the size spectrum. The big end was represented by an eagle and the small end by a Scops Owl. To be fair, we never saw the owl – we just heard it’s nocturnal chinking call. “Chink” “chink” “chink”… all night long!
Sadly, not my photo! He’s about the size of a starling and he’s following us everywhere we go!
We also experienced the Spanish weekend camping frenzy. Our lovely peaceful site …
… was transformed while we were out on Friday into
And the blighters kept arriving until midnight! Still they all go again on Sunday and peace and tranquility return to envelop the site.
There were two other things we came across for the first time. One good and one terrible. First the good news! We found coffee for just €1 a cup. Excellent value! The less good thing was the Liverpool football supporters club. Liverpool was playing Spurs in Madrid. We actually moved 30 miles further away from the capital in anticipation of a disturbed night’s sleep. Mistake. We needed to be at least 100 miles away from the match. There were some perfectly respectable supporters, but the majority fell in the category of drunken hooligans. Made us very ashamed to be English. The campsite had no way of controlling them. They found it easier to give all of us who were affected a free night. I hate to think what they would have been like if their team had lost!
One final first (is that possible?) is the coming true of a road sign. Throughout Spain there are 27,456 signs – many of them illuminated with a triangle of red lights – warning of deer on the road. We must have passed 500 such signs when we came across the first deer actually doing what it was supposed to be doing and crossing the road! Right in front of us, just missing a Spaniard who had just blasted past us.
Enough of that. I’m so far behind it’s untrue. I must try and catch up on some of the fabulous places we have been and things we have seen. Next time!