Monday 25th September saw us heading off to Madrid in Spain for a weeks holiday. It wasn't going to be a wildlife holiday but I managed to see some interesting things during our time away in-between all the eating, drinking and sight-seeing.
Madrid is a fab place to visit, one of my favourite places, and this was our 3rd visit and just as enjoyable as the previous ones. The weather was hot, still, humid and sunny for the whole time we were there, hotter than usual for the time of year with temperatures up to a scorching 31°c. This made for a sweaty experience at times but there was plenty of shade, air-conditioning and cold beer to help cool things down.
The usual assortment of common birds were seen around Madrid itself such as Woodpigeon, House Sparrow, Magpie, Great Tit, Green Woodpecker, Moorhen, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Mallard and Blackbird but more interesting birds included Pied Flycatcher, Spotless Starling, Monk Parakeet, Sardinian Warbler (heard) and Egyptian Goose.
A day trip on Wednesday 27th September to El Escorial, a Spanish Royal Family Palace, was something new for us with Griffon Vultures seen soaring overhead on the train journey and Crag Martins flying around the buildings of the palace with one unfortunate bird seen flying around inside the library full of priceless books after flying in through an open window.
A day trip by train to Segovia on Friday 29th September was also interesting with Red Kites, Griffon Vultures, Black Vultures and Common Buzzards seen soaring overhead on a hot and sunny day with cloudless blue skies. It was surprising how difficult it was at times to see such large birds in the bright sky and how easily they were lost to view as they circled around despite being quite low down at times.
We had visited Segovia before back in 2014, I saw Vultures overhead then too but in my ignorance had assumed the Black Vultures were immature Griffon Vultures until I checked my bird books on returning home and so I was pleased to revisit to have another proper look at them. I also had the most horrendous toothache that day and I remember very little about our visit and have wanted to return ever since so it was nice to go back and experience it all again. (And I nearly missed going this time too due to suffering with some gastric distress overnight but I paracetamoled and immodiumed up, took some spare pants and shorts and hoped for the best and fortunately it all went well).
Sunday 1st October saw us heading to Aranjuez, another town with a Royal Palace and another new place for us on what was an incredibly hot day, the hottest of the whole week and probably not ideal for a guided cycle ride around the sites. However it was great fun and the electric bikes and regular stops in the shade helped combat the heat.
A good range of wildlife was seen on the day with highlights being a Common Sandpiper, a male Tufted Duck, 2 Serin, a Grey Wagtail, a Red Kite, Crested Larks (heard), Clouded Yellow Sp., Hummingbird Hawkmoths and a Lang's Short-tailed Blue that finally settled long enough for a quick photo.
We journeyed from Madrid to Aranjuez and back on The Strawberry Train (Tren de la Fresa), so called as it passed fields of stawberries along the route. The train was made up of vintage train carriages and hosted by a range of am-dram actors dressed up in costumes playing out vignettes, fortunately all performed in Spanish resulting in us being mostly ignored amongst all the frivolities but it was nice to see the locals really enjoying it and singing along. We also had a very tasty punnet of strawberries on the journey back to Madrid but we were glad to get back to the hotel after a long, hot and tiring day trip.
All to soon it was time to head back home where grey skies and rain greeted us as we got off the plane at Heathrow, it had been a great trip away but it was nice to return home to more sensible temperatures and I saw a grand total of 30 species of birds without even trying.
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