It's working fine here John.
Two Go Back to Spain (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter DBK
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Lenny HB
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- Oct 18, 2007
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Works fine, looks like you could do with air suspension.
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DBK
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It's working fine here John.
Works fine, looks like you could do with air suspension.
Thank you, and yes air suspension would be nice.
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I couldn't recognise the Monsaraz aire. The top area was choc a bloc when we arrived, and we were really squashed in to start with. You can just see our blue van looking from the castle. The views really are spectacular.
We had an incident at the Evora campsite, when part of a rotten tree fell on the van just after we had pitched. Gave me a bit of a shock, no real damage but lots of leaves inside the van! But Evora was good, we liked it!
We also went to the megalithic ruins. All good stuff and nice to remember it.
We also went to the megalithic ruins. All good stuff and nice to remember it.
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DBK
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Somewhat alarming when you are attacked by the local shrubbery.
I had a sort of idea to return to Evora, now the rain has stopped, although it still isn't very warm, but it will take too long. It doesn't look very far on the map but it might take an hour and a half and then we would have to retrace our steps afterwards as the plan is to stay close to the border for a while, as should be explained at the end of the next post.
@Viennese, looks like you're another victim of SBD, no, not Silent But Deadly but Summer Branch Drop, a not uncommon event at this time of year but still no comfort when it lands on you.
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DBK
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We have had a relatively quiet time at Camping Rosário this weekend. I tried photographing dragonflies yesterday. I've no idea of the species but they come in brown, red and blue. They were very hard to get close to so I think I'll stick to flowers in future as they don't run away so quickly.
Mrs DBK excelled at lunch yesterday. We usually have salad and cheese or cold meats and sometimes, like today, cheese and cold meats.
We have stopped buying lettuce and don't miss it. Partly because all we've tried have been either bitter or tasteless Iceberg types. The French shops seem to have a much wider range of lettuce compared to what we've found in Spain and Portugal. So now our salads are just tomato, deseeded and peeled cucumber, thinly paired courgette (done with a potato peeler), fresh basil leaves and olive oil.
But back to yesterday's lunch.
Toast some crusty Portuguese bread and cover with olive oil which has had finely chopped garlic sitting in it for an hour or so.
Then add ham, cheese, tomato and pepper and salt.
They were delicious! I've eaten garlic on toast with olive oil before but adding the extra toppings was sublime. When I've done it I've used thinly sliced garlic but this is probably a bit too much for some.
The only warning I would add is if there are two of you, you both must have this dish.
To complete a day of good food we ate pizzas made by the Italian wife of the site owner last night. They don't really run a proper restaurant but offer a small range of dishes to take back to your van or eat on their terrace, which is what we did.
The puddings were good, a pancake, maple syrup and ice cream.
This would be a good spot for astronomy as it is a "dark skies" area. Last night I could see what I took to be Venus and Jupiter but the sky was still too light at bedtime and I was too tired to stay up any longer. The "dark skies" period is quite short this close to the longest day.
This morning we did a two and a half hour circular walk. There were laminated maps available to borrow but the one in English had been nicked so it was either Portuguese or Dutch. I opted for Portuguese.
Note the warning in the red square about dogs! We were to encounter a lot of dogs, most were tethered and just barked but a few were loose but with one exception, explanation to follow, left Charlie and us alone.
The only slightly worrying moment was when we came across a group of men who had just slaughtered a huge pig. It was hanging upside down from a beam and looked as if it had only recently had its throat slit. I would have liked to have stopped and asked if I could photograph it but there were dogs running around in all directions including one about the size of a small sofa which one of the men beat away with a stick. The man then followed us as we walked through the farm, keeping the brute away from us.
Lessons for the future:
Carry a heavy stick when walking in Portugal.
Investigate buying a "dog-dazer"
The walk was through olive groves and the edge of what in Spain is known as dehesa. This is farmland planted with evergreen and cork oaks with the land below generally used for grazing.
There wasn't a lot to see on the walk such as old churches or whatever but there were some Medieval graves carved out of the bedrock.
Part 2 (with eages!) to follow after I have had a shower.
They were very hard to get close to so I think I'll stick to flowers in future as they don't run away so quickly.Mrs DBK excelled at lunch yesterday. We usually have salad and cheese or cold meats and sometimes, like today, cheese and cold meats.
We have stopped buying lettuce and don't miss it. Partly because all we've tried have been either bitter or tasteless Iceberg types. The French shops seem to have a much wider range of lettuce compared to what we've found in Spain and Portugal. So now our salads are just tomato, deseeded and peeled cucumber, thinly paired courgette (done with a potato peeler), fresh basil leaves and olive oil.
But back to yesterday's lunch.
Toast some crusty Portuguese bread and cover with olive oil which has had finely chopped garlic sitting in it for an hour or so.
Then add ham, cheese, tomato and pepper and salt.
They were delicious! I've eaten garlic on toast with olive oil before but adding the extra toppings was sublime. When I've done it I've used thinly sliced garlic but this is probably a bit too much for some.
The only warning I would add is if there are two of you, you both must have this dish.
To complete a day of good food we ate pizzas made by the Italian wife of the site owner last night. They don't really run a proper restaurant but offer a small range of dishes to take back to your van or eat on their terrace, which is what we did.
The puddings were good, a pancake, maple syrup and ice cream.
This would be a good spot for astronomy as it is a "dark skies" area. Last night I could see what I took to be Venus and Jupiter but the sky was still too light at bedtime and I was too tired to stay up any longer. The "dark skies" period is quite short this close to the longest day.
This morning we did a two and a half hour circular walk. There were laminated maps available to borrow but the one in English had been nicked so it was either Portuguese or Dutch. I opted for Portuguese.
Note the warning in the red square about dogs! We were to encounter a lot of dogs, most were tethered and just barked but a few were loose but with one exception, explanation to follow, left Charlie and us alone.
The only slightly worrying moment was when we came across a group of men who had just slaughtered a huge pig. It was hanging upside down from a beam and looked as if it had only recently had its throat slit. I would have liked to have stopped and asked if I could photograph it but there were dogs running around in all directions including one about the size of a small sofa which one of the men beat away with a stick. The man then followed us as we walked through the farm, keeping the brute away from us.
Lessons for the future:
Carry a heavy stick when walking in Portugal.
Investigate buying a "dog-dazer"
The walk was through olive groves and the edge of what in Spain is known as dehesa. This is farmland planted with evergreen and cork oaks with the land below generally used for grazing.
There wasn't a lot to see on the walk such as old churches or whatever but there were some Medieval graves carved out of the bedrock.
Part 2 (with eages!) to follow after I have had a shower.
Last edited:
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DBK
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Early on in our walk I saw two large birds circling in the distance. They were very pale underneath, with a broad fan-shaped tail. As one turned I could see the upper forewing was paler than the rear part of the wing. They were probably Short-Toed eagles but given my raptor recognition skills I can't be certain. They live off snakes and lizards and there were plenty of the latter around. The common buzzard is superficially similar but these were not buzzards, which we see almost everyday where we live in Devon. They were too big and had long straight wings
Later on the walk we took a wrong turning and had to retrace our steps a short distance. This turned out to be a lucky move as I spotted another big bird emerge from behind an evergreen oak. This one was much closer and turning it gave me a glance of it from above. In the middle of each wing was a pale patch. It had a fan-shaped tail with sharp corners and was two-tone underneath. I'm 99% certain this was a Booted Eagle.
Other birds we saw today included a Kingfisher, which was unexpected, but I guess it feeds in the lake. It flew out from a tiny pond surround by steep banks. I'm sure if we had looked we would have found a burrow in the bank where it was nesting but we left it alone.
I had also had fleeting glimpses this weekend of what I initially took to be a Great Grey Shrike. This afternoon I had the chance for a longer look at one and confirmed it was an Iberian Grey Shrike, which I think has only recently been separated from the Great Grey. I blame the taxidermists.
The lake also has a solitary Cormorant.
Later on the walk we took a wrong turning and had to retrace our steps a short distance. This turned out to be a lucky move as I spotted another big bird emerge from behind an evergreen oak. This one was much closer and turning it gave me a glance of it from above. In the middle of each wing was a pale patch. It had a fan-shaped tail with sharp corners and was two-tone underneath. I'm 99% certain this was a Booted Eagle.
Other birds we saw today included a Kingfisher, which was unexpected, but I guess it feeds in the lake. It flew out from a tiny pond surround by steep banks. I'm sure if we had looked we would have found a burrow in the bank where it was nesting but we left it alone.
I had also had fleeting glimpses this weekend of what I initially took to be a Great Grey Shrike. This afternoon I had the chance for a longer look at one and confirmed it was an Iberian Grey Shrike, which I think has only recently been separated from the Great Grey. I blame the taxidermists.
The lake also has a solitary Cormorant.
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Can't believe you can't find lettuce in Spain, Portugal may be different, there's a lot of it grown here.
Most supermarkets here have Iceberg, Cos, Little Gems .......
Most supermarkets here have Iceberg, Cos, Little Gems .......
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DBK
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I don't mind Little Gems but Mary finds them bitter. Icebergs are crunchy and if you slap plenty on them they are OK. But I must admit we've not tried Cos lettuce while away. We should give them a go but they are big so there is a danger of a priorities clash with the wine and beer in the coolbox.
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DBK
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A frustrating day today. The "Great Plan" was to visit Elvas which is another UNESCO World Heritage site and with "fortifications...among the best preserved in Europe" according to my guidebook.
Elvas also has a huge aquaduct. Work started in 1498 when the town well started to dry up. It took until 1622 to be completed but given it is 8km long the builders can't be blamed for idleness.
It isn't a pretty thing and seems to have been made out of cobbles and rubble skimmed over with a layer of concrete. But it is impressive when you are stood below it.
In the first picture above the flat area to the right is a car park and can be used by MHs overnight. It has no facilities but a local Intermarché supermarket can provide that as we found elsewhere recently.
After parking, and because the carpark was quite remote, setting the alarm, we walked up to the fortress and old town.
This is not a castle like others we have seen on this trip. The traditional castle was built in the days when the most powerful weapon was an arrow or a catapult but in the 17th century, when most of Elvas castle was built, the new threat was the cannon.
In France the Marquis de Vauban was building low forts with angles and slopes to deflect cannon balls - not the vertical walls of a medieval castle which could be quickly demolished by cannon fire.
Elvas castle was built according to Vauban's principles though not by him.
Low and sloping - and very hard to photograph as it is built on the top of a hill.
But at least the front door was built on traditional castle lines.
We walked through the entrance above, dodging the occasional car and then through another tunnel below a secondary fortification. Inside the fort, which is huge, there is a sizeable town which has a fountain still serviced by the aquaduct.
But we never reached it as my phone rang to announce the alarm had gone off in the van.
So we turned round and trudged back (thankfully downhill) to find nothing amiss. I possibly hadn't set the pet alarm correctly though we were parked next to a lamp post and at the next lamp post from us on the carpark some workmen were using a cherry-picker to inspect the lights. Had they disturbed our vehicle somehow? We will never know.
But we had lost the urge to explore Elvas, which, if I am honest was a bit of a disappointment. "Drab" is the word which springs to mind but no doubt had we been in an enthusiastic mood we would have enjoyed the visit.
Spending the night on the car park by the aquaduct didn't appeal so we drove 20km or so to Campo Maior and a campsite called Camping Os Anjos which means camping of the angels - or something like that.
Campo Maior is famous for coffee production and we could smell roasting coffee beans all the time we walked into the town this afternoon. There is even a coffee museum here, sponsored by the main producer, Delta Coffee.
But we came, not to drink coffee, but to see bones.
In 1732 a gunpowder magazine was struck by lightning. In the subsequent explosion 1500 people were killed and it seems their bones were subsequently used in the Capella dos Ossos. This is a wierd room in an otherwise unexceptional house which has been decorated floor to ceiling with human bones and skulls.
From online reviews the Capella seems to observe strange opening hours and it was closed when we called but I could take a photograph through a window - after cleaning it with my handkerchief.
A dog's paradise.
We next walked to the castle. After our failed attempt at Elvas we should have been prepared - we couldn't find the way in! You wouldn't think finding the entrance to a castle would be hard but they make it difficult in Campo Maior. Firstly, they have no tourist signs of the "this way to the castle" sort. Secondly, the outside of the castle has had houses built up against it so reducing the original entrance to little more than a garage door when we did eventually find it. Or what we took to be the entrance as there were no corroborating signs.
In the town square is a curious pillory.
I can find little about this online but the figure at the top is holding a pair of scales above the word "Justica" but whether folk were hung from it alive or dead remains a mystery to me.
But all is not grim in Campo Maior. In August most years they have a flower festival. The photo below is not mine, it was stolen, but it gives an idea. The flowers, sadly, are not real.
Tomorrow, as a respite from the castles we will start a few days birdwatching in Spain.
Elvas also has a huge aquaduct. Work started in 1498 when the town well started to dry up. It took until 1622 to be completed but given it is 8km long the builders can't be blamed for idleness.
It isn't a pretty thing and seems to have been made out of cobbles and rubble skimmed over with a layer of concrete. But it is impressive when you are stood below it.
In the first picture above the flat area to the right is a car park and can be used by MHs overnight. It has no facilities but a local Intermarché supermarket can provide that as we found elsewhere recently.
After parking, and because the carpark was quite remote, setting the alarm, we walked up to the fortress and old town.
This is not a castle like others we have seen on this trip. The traditional castle was built in the days when the most powerful weapon was an arrow or a catapult but in the 17th century, when most of Elvas castle was built, the new threat was the cannon.
In France the Marquis de Vauban was building low forts with angles and slopes to deflect cannon balls - not the vertical walls of a medieval castle which could be quickly demolished by cannon fire.
Elvas castle was built according to Vauban's principles though not by him.
Low and sloping - and very hard to photograph as it is built on the top of a hill.
But at least the front door was built on traditional castle lines.
We walked through the entrance above, dodging the occasional car and then through another tunnel below a secondary fortification. Inside the fort, which is huge, there is a sizeable town which has a fountain still serviced by the aquaduct.
But we never reached it as my phone rang to announce the alarm had gone off in the van.
So we turned round and trudged back (thankfully downhill) to find nothing amiss. I possibly hadn't set the pet alarm correctly though we were parked next to a lamp post and at the next lamp post from us on the carpark some workmen were using a cherry-picker to inspect the lights. Had they disturbed our vehicle somehow? We will never know.
But we had lost the urge to explore Elvas, which, if I am honest was a bit of a disappointment. "Drab" is the word which springs to mind but no doubt had we been in an enthusiastic mood we would have enjoyed the visit.
Spending the night on the car park by the aquaduct didn't appeal so we drove 20km or so to Campo Maior and a campsite called Camping Os Anjos which means camping of the angels - or something like that.
Campo Maior is famous for coffee production and we could smell roasting coffee beans all the time we walked into the town this afternoon. There is even a coffee museum here, sponsored by the main producer, Delta Coffee.
But we came, not to drink coffee, but to see bones.
In 1732 a gunpowder magazine was struck by lightning. In the subsequent explosion 1500 people were killed and it seems their bones were subsequently used in the Capella dos Ossos. This is a wierd room in an otherwise unexceptional house which has been decorated floor to ceiling with human bones and skulls.
From online reviews the Capella seems to observe strange opening hours and it was closed when we called but I could take a photograph through a window - after cleaning it with my handkerchief.
A dog's paradise.
We next walked to the castle. After our failed attempt at Elvas we should have been prepared - we couldn't find the way in! You wouldn't think finding the entrance to a castle would be hard but they make it difficult in Campo Maior. Firstly, they have no tourist signs of the "this way to the castle" sort. Secondly, the outside of the castle has had houses built up against it so reducing the original entrance to little more than a garage door when we did eventually find it. Or what we took to be the entrance as there were no corroborating signs.
In the town square is a curious pillory.
I can find little about this online but the figure at the top is holding a pair of scales above the word "Justica" but whether folk were hung from it alive or dead remains a mystery to me.
But all is not grim in Campo Maior. In August most years they have a flower festival. The photo below is not mine, it was stolen, but it gives an idea. The flowers, sadly, are not real.
Tomorrow, as a respite from the castles we will start a few days birdwatching in Spain.
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Great post as always. That room of bones is something else. Unsettling to say the least.
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DBK
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Many thanks! I hadn't even tried looking them up.
I used to have a dragonfly book but it seems to have flown away. There were a few interesting damselflies too with markings on their wings. Not the usual one with dark green bands, these were black and sort of speckled.Subscribers do not see these advertisements
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DBK
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I forgot to post this picture when we were at Campo Maior, it was taken from the road as we walked into the town.
Nothing special to look at except fore the huge stork's nest but there was another one on the other side of the road. They would have been grand houses in their day but now abandoned and derelict. But all was not lost in the area. Next to it was a massive area, perhaps a square kilometre or so of newly planted olives with every row irrigated.
Not the most striking of images but it is what it shows which is interesting. The olives are planted in rows but at very close spacing, no more than 1.5m at most. This is not how olives are planted traditionally and I can only assume they won't be allowed to grow very big and may be pruned and harvested mechanically in the way some vineyards are now managed. Alternative suggestions welcome.
We left the campsite with a full cassette. A sentence probably requiring explanation. It is quite common to have campsite toilets where you are not permitted to flush paper down the bowl. This is a good reason to use your onboard facilities but at Camping os Anjos they don't want you to use paper in your cassette if you are going to dump it there.
So we headed over the border to Badajoz a short distance away and the free aire by the old bridge to replenish with water and discharge the unwanted stuff. There was a French motorhome in front of us and we were amused to see an interesting technique for cassette flushing - doing it through the open slide and not through the emptying spout. The amusement came from the high water pressure which was either on or off from the press button tap and when he pressed this he got soaked with (mostly) clean water. He was wearing disposable rubber gloves but then kept them on to fill with fresh water. I don't bother with rubber gloves, soap and water works well afterwards but I do always fill with fresh water first, then grey waste and toilet last.
Badajoz aire is well positioned for exploring the old town but we moved on, driving north east to Cáceres and the free aire near the town centre. This is a small aire (CC6380) with some even smaller bays and it was full by late afternoon. We got in without difficulty but we arrived at lunchtime.
The walled centre of Cáceres is worth exploring. The tourist office is in the Plaza Mayor, which is well provided with restaurants. (below)
There is a lot to see in Cáceres but most of them cost money to enter.
This is the Torre de la Hierba.
Which is near the Ermita de la Paz (with the arches) and the Torre de Bujaco (behind it).
Between these is an entrance through the walls to the old town through the Arco de la Estrella. (No idea why it is named after a beer).
Inside the walls virtually all the buildings are made from the same types of stone and therefore have the same appearance.
This is the cathedral, the Inglesia Concatedral de Santa Maria.
The Palacio de las Cigueñas.
The museum was free to enter - so we did.
It had a lot of local exhibits from pre-history, through Roman to about the 19th century and is worth visiting. Sunk below the museum is a 12th century cistern.
As in Cordoba the pillars have been reclaimed from earlier buildings.
It needed a fifteen second exposure to get the shot above - it was dark!
In reaching Cáceres we had deliberately missed Merida. We want to visit it but things have not worked out this year. We will have to return.
The next day (today) we set off towards Plasencia but we didn't go directly, heading instead east towards Trujillo and from there taking the EX 208 road northwards. The reason for this was so we could drive slowly through some top birdwatching country. The Extremadura is a prime birdwatching region but this is one of the hotspots - and there were a lot of big birds overhead but sadly not many places to pull over and watch them.
Ground zero here is the Parque Natural de Monfragüe which sits either side of the Tajo river, which is dammed in several places.
There is a small carpark opposite this cliff and we were fortunate to find a space to squeeze in. Vultures nest here but we are a month or so too late! There were only one or two young still in nests. The rest were loafing around on the top of the cliff.
I can count at least 8 plus the adult. These are all Griffon vultures, as is this one which flew close, dangling its legs.
But there are Black vultures here and Black storks too. We have booked an escorted trip tomorrow so for the moment I can only share my shots of a Spanish sparrow hiding in the grass.
An immature Azure winged magpie - note down on head.
And an adult with something tasty.
Nothing special to look at except fore the huge stork's nest but there was another one on the other side of the road. They would have been grand houses in their day but now abandoned and derelict. But all was not lost in the area. Next to it was a massive area, perhaps a square kilometre or so of newly planted olives with every row irrigated.
Not the most striking of images but it is what it shows which is interesting. The olives are planted in rows but at very close spacing, no more than 1.5m at most. This is not how olives are planted traditionally and I can only assume they won't be allowed to grow very big and may be pruned and harvested mechanically in the way some vineyards are now managed. Alternative suggestions welcome.
We left the campsite with a full cassette. A sentence probably requiring explanation. It is quite common to have campsite toilets where you are not permitted to flush paper down the bowl. This is a good reason to use your onboard facilities but at Camping os Anjos they don't want you to use paper in your cassette if you are going to dump it there.
So we headed over the border to Badajoz a short distance away and the free aire by the old bridge to replenish with water and discharge the unwanted stuff. There was a French motorhome in front of us and we were amused to see an interesting technique for cassette flushing - doing it through the open slide and not through the emptying spout. The amusement came from the high water pressure which was either on or off from the press button tap and when he pressed this he got soaked with (mostly) clean water. He was wearing disposable rubber gloves but then kept them on to fill with fresh water. I don't bother with rubber gloves, soap and water works well afterwards but I do always fill with fresh water first, then grey waste and toilet last.
Badajoz aire is well positioned for exploring the old town but we moved on, driving north east to Cáceres and the free aire near the town centre. This is a small aire (CC6380) with some even smaller bays and it was full by late afternoon. We got in without difficulty but we arrived at lunchtime.
The walled centre of Cáceres is worth exploring. The tourist office is in the Plaza Mayor, which is well provided with restaurants. (below)
There is a lot to see in Cáceres but most of them cost money to enter.
This is the Torre de la Hierba.
Which is near the Ermita de la Paz (with the arches) and the Torre de Bujaco (behind it).
Between these is an entrance through the walls to the old town through the Arco de la Estrella. (No idea why it is named after a beer).
Inside the walls virtually all the buildings are made from the same types of stone and therefore have the same appearance.
This is the cathedral, the Inglesia Concatedral de Santa Maria.
The Palacio de las Cigueñas.
The museum was free to enter - so we did.
It had a lot of local exhibits from pre-history, through Roman to about the 19th century and is worth visiting. Sunk below the museum is a 12th century cistern.
As in Cordoba the pillars have been reclaimed from earlier buildings.
It needed a fifteen second exposure to get the shot above - it was dark!
In reaching Cáceres we had deliberately missed Merida. We want to visit it but things have not worked out this year. We will have to return.
The next day (today) we set off towards Plasencia but we didn't go directly, heading instead east towards Trujillo and from there taking the EX 208 road northwards. The reason for this was so we could drive slowly through some top birdwatching country. The Extremadura is a prime birdwatching region but this is one of the hotspots - and there were a lot of big birds overhead but sadly not many places to pull over and watch them.
Ground zero here is the Parque Natural de Monfragüe which sits either side of the Tajo river, which is dammed in several places.
There is a small carpark opposite this cliff and we were fortunate to find a space to squeeze in. Vultures nest here but we are a month or so too late! There were only one or two young still in nests. The rest were loafing around on the top of the cliff.
I can count at least 8 plus the adult. These are all Griffon vultures, as is this one which flew close, dangling its legs.
But there are Black vultures here and Black storks too. We have booked an escorted trip tomorrow so for the moment I can only share my shots of a Spanish sparrow hiding in the grass.
An immature Azure winged magpie - note down on head.
And an adult with something tasty.
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DBK
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We've just returned from our bird watching trip and enjoying a bottle of well chilled El Cheapo Cava. The trip, like the Bustards trip, exceeded all my expectations.
We saw what for me were the Big Three; Spanish Imperial Eagle, Black Vulture and Black Stork. The latter two both flying and on the nest, the former just flying but we did see the nest but no adult was there and the three chicks known to be in the nest were hunkered down and out of site.
I won't post any photos until tomorrow, it will take some time as I may have taken hundreds with the camera in motor drive mode. I am just going to enjoy an overall warm tingle this evening.
Oh, and did I mention the Blue Rock Thrush....?
...and the Rock Bunting?
We saw what for me were the Big Three; Spanish Imperial Eagle, Black Vulture and Black Stork. The latter two both flying and on the nest, the former just flying but we did see the nest but no adult was there and the three chicks known to be in the nest were hunkered down and out of site.
I won't post any photos until tomorrow, it will take some time as I may have taken hundreds with the camera in motor drive mode. I am just going to enjoy an overall warm tingle this evening.
Oh, and did I mention the Blue Rock Thrush....?
...and the Rock Bunting?
We've just returned from our bird watching trip and enjoying a bottle of well chilled El Cheapo Cava. The trip, like the Bustards trip, exceeded all my expectations.
We saw what for me were the Big Three; Spanish Imperial Eagle, Black Vulture and Black Stork. The latter two both flying and on the nest, the former just flying but we did see the nest but no adult was there and the three chicks known to be in the nest were hunkered down and out of site.
I won't post any photos until tomorrow, it will take some time as I may have taken hundreds with the camera in motor drive mode. I am just going to enjoy an overall warm tingle this evening.
Oh, and did I mention the Blue Rock Thrush....?
...and the Rock Bunting?
The Spanish Imperial Eagle is on my list. I've seen the other two (both at Monfrague).
Some keen birdwatchers staying on the camperstop here are convinced they took a photo of an Imperial Eagle over Sierra Espuña and it certainly looked like it. It was carrying what looked like a fox !!! Of course I didn't see it
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DBK
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Given there are according to my book only 150 pairs of Spanish Imperial Eagles in the whole of Spain then it would be only with great luck you might spot one by accident, which isn't to say it doesn't happen of course.The Spanish Imperial Eagle is on my list. I've seen the other two (both at Monfrague).
Some keen birdwatchers staying on the camperstop here are convinced they took a photo of an Imperial Eagle over Sierra Espuña and it certainly looked like it. It was carrying what looked like a fox !!! Of course I didn't see it
We saw this one today because we were taken to near the nest site, nearly a kilometre away I think, and stood around waiting for an adult to appear, which one did. It would only be by chance you would have seen it without knowing where to go.This is of course assuming you are able to recognize it when you do see it.
On my own I would have put it down as a "possible" as I simply don't have the experience to identify one with any confidence despite the fact we could see it's "landing lights" on the forewing very clearly.
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DBK
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Here are a few of the photos from yesterday. These aren't the best versions for quality as my camera is set to take two versions of each photograph taken. The main version is a RAW usually around 10Mb in size but the second is a much smaller JPG file only about 1200 pixels wide. I use this version for posting here as it is quick to download from the camera wirelessly and can be uploaded to Fun without the need for any further resizing. The RAW files will have a much better resolution but downloading and manipulating them "in the field" so to speak using my tablet is long-winded and involves several stages which I won't bore you with. So here are the slightly fuzzy versions.
We went on an organised tour booked at the campsite office. Our guide was Valentine who knew his stuff but given he hosts two tours a day one might expect him to but he had very sharp eyes as we were to discover.
We drove into the Monfragüe (pronounced "Monfragway") National Park and using public roads stopped at numerous spots to see what could be seen. Here are a couple of shots showing the general area.
The main bits you can access are centered around the confluence of the Tajo and Tiétar rivers.
We made our first stop to look up at a group of about a dozen Griffon vultures. This is a Griffon.
But one of them wasn't a Griffon it was a Black Vulture, the first I've seen but it moved off too quickly for a decent photograph. But later on I had another opportunity to photograph one.
The above image shows the small difference in silhouette between the two. The wings of the black are more or less the same width along the length and the trailing edge of the wing is saw-toothed as the ends of the flight feathers are pointed. Perhaps a bit difficult to see as this bird is missing a few feathers. The tail of the Griffon above looks a bit odd, but it is curved when seen directly from below.
At the same time we saw three Egyptian vultures.
The Egyptian is a summer visitor, the Black and Griffons are resident all year round.
And here a Black and Egyptian together.
Now I think this is an immature but almost fully developed Griffon on the nest - but it could be an adult! The difference is whether the bill is grey or yellow, hopefully I might be able tell when I can look at the RAW file. Either way it is a Griffon.
Having ticked off Black vultures another one I was keen to see put in an appearance. A Black Stork - on the right in this picture.
This was taken at the Peña Falcon cliff we stopped at as we came here a few days ago. Here's the photo of the cliff again.
I wrote at the time I thought most of the young birds had fledged and we were a bit late. It is true most of the Griffons had flown but there were still a few youngsters in nests but the still nesting black storks we missed completely! I think there were only three nests on the cliff but we hadn't looked in the right place, their nests were right at the bottom of the cliff and only a few metres above the water. The next photo was taken using my mobile phone pressed against the eyepiece of Valentine's 'scope to make use of its 38X magnification.
We then went to see the nest of a Black Vulture which unlike Griffons and Egyptians which prefer cliffs, nest at the top of trees. The Blacks are also more shy so choose a tree away from human disturbance. So it was only really visible through a telescope and you wouldn't begin to know where to look without a guide. After a quick stop to see an Egyptian vulture chick in its nest on a small cliff we drove on to an otherwise unprepossessing location most bird watchers would have driven past. Valentine deployed his telescope and far in the distance we saw a large nest in a tree. This was the nest of a Spanish Imperial Eagle with three chicks but they were sadly out of sight. While waiting my turn for the telescope I looked up and I'm kicking myself for being too slow to say "Valentine, what's that?" because I knew it wasn't a vulture as its tail was too long. Sadly for my ego Valentine then spotted it and announced it was one of the parents.
You'll just have take Valentine's word for it these grainy images by me are of a Spanish Imperial Eagle.
There was a car parked here with a man in it who Valentine knew. I suspected afterwards he might have been there to watch over the eagles, these are highly protected birds. On a similar theme while we were at the Peña Falcon cliff someone started flying a drone. He soon stopped when Valentine had words with him. I suspect the fine would have been in three figures at least, not to mention the confiscation of the drone.
We finished with an al fresco supper of bread, cheese, various sliced sausages and red wine. It was an amazing trip and we wouldn't have seen a fraction of the birds on our own. Knowing where to go, where to look when you get there and of course recognise what you are looking at is what we paid €45 a head for. They do a €35 tour but squeeze 6 in the vehicle and you don't get fed. There was only us and another British couple on our trip. The shot below was at our picnic spot.
More info on the Park can be found here:
Leaving aside the usual starlings and sparrows the list of birds we saw yesterday is shown below. It was Grand Day Out.
Crag Martin
Black redstart
Rock bunting
Blue rock thrush
Wryneck
Golden oriel
Bee-eater
Corn bunting
Spanish imperial eagle
Black stork
Black vulture
Griffon vulture
Egyptian vulture
We went on an organised tour booked at the campsite office. Our guide was Valentine who knew his stuff but given he hosts two tours a day one might expect him to but he had very sharp eyes as we were to discover.
We drove into the Monfragüe (pronounced "Monfragway") National Park and using public roads stopped at numerous spots to see what could be seen. Here are a couple of shots showing the general area.
The main bits you can access are centered around the confluence of the Tajo and Tiétar rivers.
We made our first stop to look up at a group of about a dozen Griffon vultures. This is a Griffon.
But one of them wasn't a Griffon it was a Black Vulture, the first I've seen but it moved off too quickly for a decent photograph. But later on I had another opportunity to photograph one.
The above image shows the small difference in silhouette between the two. The wings of the black are more or less the same width along the length and the trailing edge of the wing is saw-toothed as the ends of the flight feathers are pointed. Perhaps a bit difficult to see as this bird is missing a few feathers.
The tail of the Griffon above looks a bit odd, but it is curved when seen directly from below.At the same time we saw three Egyptian vultures.
The Egyptian is a summer visitor, the Black and Griffons are resident all year round.
And here a Black and Egyptian together.
Now I think this is an immature but almost fully developed Griffon on the nest - but it could be an adult! The difference is whether the bill is grey or yellow, hopefully I might be able tell when I can look at the RAW file. Either way it is a Griffon.
Having ticked off Black vultures another one I was keen to see put in an appearance. A Black Stork - on the right in this picture.
This was taken at the Peña Falcon cliff we stopped at as we came here a few days ago. Here's the photo of the cliff again.
I wrote at the time I thought most of the young birds had fledged and we were a bit late. It is true most of the Griffons had flown but there were still a few youngsters in nests but the still nesting black storks we missed completely! I think there were only three nests on the cliff but we hadn't looked in the right place, their nests were right at the bottom of the cliff and only a few metres above the water. The next photo was taken using my mobile phone pressed against the eyepiece of Valentine's 'scope to make use of its 38X magnification.
We then went to see the nest of a Black Vulture which unlike Griffons and Egyptians which prefer cliffs, nest at the top of trees. The Blacks are also more shy so choose a tree away from human disturbance. So it was only really visible through a telescope and you wouldn't begin to know where to look without a guide. After a quick stop to see an Egyptian vulture chick in its nest on a small cliff we drove on to an otherwise unprepossessing location most bird watchers would have driven past. Valentine deployed his telescope and far in the distance we saw a large nest in a tree. This was the nest of a Spanish Imperial Eagle with three chicks but they were sadly out of sight. While waiting my turn for the telescope I looked up and I'm kicking myself for being too slow to say "Valentine, what's that?" because I knew it wasn't a vulture as its tail was too long. Sadly for my ego Valentine then spotted it and announced it was one of the parents.
You'll just have take Valentine's word for it these grainy images by me are of a Spanish Imperial Eagle.
There was a car parked here with a man in it who Valentine knew. I suspected afterwards he might have been there to watch over the eagles, these are highly protected birds. On a similar theme while we were at the Peña Falcon cliff someone started flying a drone. He soon stopped when Valentine had words with him. I suspect the fine would have been in three figures at least, not to mention the confiscation of the drone.
We finished with an al fresco supper of bread, cheese, various sliced sausages and red wine. It was an amazing trip and we wouldn't have seen a fraction of the birds on our own. Knowing where to go, where to look when you get there and of course recognise what you are looking at is what we paid €45 a head for. They do a €35 tour but squeeze 6 in the vehicle and you don't get fed. There was only us and another British couple on our trip. The shot below was at our picnic spot.
More info on the Park can be found here:
Leaving aside the usual starlings and sparrows the list of birds we saw yesterday is shown below. It was Grand Day Out.
Crag Martin
Black redstart
Rock bunting
Blue rock thrush
Wryneck
Golden oriel
Bee-eater
Corn bunting
Spanish imperial eagle
Black stork
Black vulture
Griffon vulture
Egyptian vulture
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Love it.
When we were last there some locals took us to see an Eagle Owl on a nest. My first, and only so far, sighting of one.
The water level is sooo much higher than the last time we were there also. Looks so much better.
On an aside, I've heard that a pair of Spanish Imperial Eagles have been released in Cazorla, so maybe the one photographed here was one of them. It makes it more feasible.
When we were last there some locals took us to see an Eagle Owl on a nest. My first, and only so far, sighting of one.
The water level is sooo much higher than the last time we were there also. Looks so much better.
On an aside, I've heard that a pair of Spanish Imperial Eagles have been released in Cazorla, so maybe the one photographed here was one of them. It makes it more feasible.
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An Eagle Owl had nested for several years on one of the cliffs we visited but this year the female was found dead.
Otherwise, that would have been another first for me.
I'm not a Twitcher though.
Honest!
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- Aug 18, 2011
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You have good eyesight to see their toes at a distance,,BUSBYEarly on in our walk I saw two large birds circling in the distance. They were very pale underneath, with a broad fan-shaped tail. As one turned I could see the upper forewing was paler than the rear part of the wing. They were probably Short-Toed eagles but given my raptor recognition skills I can't be certain. They live off snakes and lizards and there were plenty of the latter around. The common buzzard is superficially similar but these were not buzzards, which we see almost everyday where we live in Devon. They were too big and had long straight wings
Later on the walk we took a wrong turning and had to retrace our steps a short distance. This turned out to be a lucky move as I spotted another big bird emerge from behind an evergreen oak. This one was much closer and turning it gave me a glance of it from above. In the middle of each wing was a pale patch. It had a fan-shaped tail with sharp corners and was two-tone underneath. I'm 99% certain this was a Booted Eagle.
Other birds we saw today included a Kingfisher, which was unexpected, but I guess it feeds in the lake. It flew out from a tiny pond surround by steep banks. I'm sure if we had looked we would have found a burrow in the bank where it was nesting but we left it alone.
I had also had fleeting glimpses this weekend of what I initially took to be a Great Grey Shrike. This afternoon I had the chance for a longer look at one and confirmed it was an Iberian Grey Shrike, which I think has only recently been separated from the Great Grey. I blame the taxidermists.
The lake also has a solitary Cormorant.
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DBK
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There actually is a bird where seeing the length of one of its "toes" is used to identify it. The Short toed treecreeper looks identical to the common treecreeper except for a very slightly longer bill and a short hind claw.You have good eyesight to see their toes at a distance,,BUSBY
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A long drive (for me) yesterday brought us to Northern Portugal.
We stopped for lunch at CC 40425 in Zamora, a town we have visited before but the first time we stopped at the other aire which is much bigger. However, if you can find space (it is tiny) this one is in a nice location beside the river and the old bridge.
Leaving Zamora we drove west into Portugal, passing Bragança with its well known aire and after a further hour stopped at Vilartao-Valpacos and CC 41713. This is one of the highest rated aires listed in CamperContact, scoring an average of 9.5 from nearly 60 reviews.
The main reason for the favourable reports, apart from the swimming pool and showers etc., are the owners, Xavier, who comes from the Auvergne region of France and his Portuguese wife Fatima. There are not many aires where you are greeted with a cold beer on arrival.
They cook supper almost every night unless it is very busy when they only cook every other night. We arrived too late yesterday to be included but we are sitting down to the communal meal tonight with anticipation.
I spent an hour or so this morning walking on a local hill but the lack of interesting birds or indeed any birds other than the odd sparrow or blackbird was disappointing. A bit of research online after I came back suggested all the missing birds have probably been shot or poisoned. A striking contrast to the Monfragüe region of Spain we had come from where the birds are protected and thousands come to see them every year.
This afternoon I walked around the village of Vilartao-Valpacos which we had already seen when the satnav tried to take us through it yesterday! If you come this way from Bragança direction don't take the first sign for the village but keep driving for another couple of kilometres until on the west side of the village you will see a prominent sign for the air.
On foot, the village is worth exploring. Like some of the stone walls around the fields (and the aire) they like to use big stones here.
We are moving off again tomorrow to see some Iron Age houses then the Parque Nacional da Peneda-Gerês for a night before heading back into Spain and the coast of Galicia. The weather forecast looks good there.
We stopped for lunch at CC 40425 in Zamora, a town we have visited before but the first time we stopped at the other aire which is much bigger. However, if you can find space (it is tiny) this one is in a nice location beside the river and the old bridge.
Leaving Zamora we drove west into Portugal, passing Bragança with its well known aire and after a further hour stopped at Vilartao-Valpacos and CC 41713. This is one of the highest rated aires listed in CamperContact, scoring an average of 9.5 from nearly 60 reviews.
The main reason for the favourable reports, apart from the swimming pool and showers etc., are the owners, Xavier, who comes from the Auvergne region of France and his Portuguese wife Fatima. There are not many aires where you are greeted with a cold beer on arrival.
They cook supper almost every night unless it is very busy when they only cook every other night. We arrived too late yesterday to be included but we are sitting down to the communal meal tonight with anticipation.
I spent an hour or so this morning walking on a local hill but the lack of interesting birds or indeed any birds other than the odd sparrow or blackbird was disappointing. A bit of research online after I came back suggested all the missing birds have probably been shot or poisoned. A striking contrast to the Monfragüe region of Spain we had come from where the birds are protected and thousands come to see them every year.
This afternoon I walked around the village of Vilartao-Valpacos which we had already seen when the satnav tried to take us through it yesterday! If you come this way from Bragança direction don't take the first sign for the village but keep driving for another couple of kilometres until on the west side of the village you will see a prominent sign for the air.
On foot, the village is worth exploring. Like some of the stone walls around the fields (and the aire) they like to use big stones here.
We are moving off again tomorrow to see some Iron Age houses then the Parque Nacional da Peneda-Gerês for a night before heading back into Spain and the coast of Galicia. The weather forecast looks good there.
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DBK
LIFE MEMBER
To use an old fashioned word we enjoyed a convivial evening last night with a mix of Dutch, Belgian and UK around the table. Fatima served up a tasty meal of roasted lamb, potatoes roasted in olive oil and salad finishing with huge wedges of a cheese cake which had fresh fruit in it. Things drink wise kicked off with a glass of port dispensed by Xavier followed by red and white local wines served in a mixture of recycled bottles, the label on the outside meant nothing.
The blokes on the right are discussing the Park4Night and CamperContact apps. The dark green bottle in the middle of the table with "Cruz" written on it was recently given to Xavier by a 95 year old local. It was a potent spirit made in a shed probably not far away and assuming it might help me to reach 95 I did have a small glass. Phew!
The bloke furtherest away from the camera was a Londoner called Alan who lived in the Netherlands and owned two interesting dogs. This is one of them.
A Canadian White Shepherd apparently and not a breed I had heard of. As I understand it they are effectively a white coated GSD. Very calm and well behaved dogs.
Our first stop today was an Iron Age settlement 80km or so west. We had visited a very similar site in Spain a few years ago, which dated from the same period and was constructed in a similar fashion. The Portuguese site is Citânia de Briteiros, the Spanish version is Citania de Santa Tegra which was wreathed in fog when we visited and you could hardly see more than ten metres. I would have liked some fog today because when we arrived it was 34°C and walking uphill over the bare stones was warm work.
Like Citania de Santa Tegra this is a settlement built on the top of a hill surrounded by a wall. The folk inside mostly lived in round houses located in family groups. Two houses have been reconstructed.
The remaining houses are just stumps now.
In the last photo the round house is sitting in front of a retaining wall, the site is extensively terraced.
Not all of the houses were round.
The site was occupied during the Roman period so these houses may date from then.
My plan was to finish on a free aire tonight but the lure of a commercial aire won the day - shade from trees, free showers and a lake for Charlie to swim in were powerful arguments in its favour.
So we are spending a night at CC 48759 - which is exactly the same place as CC 28926. The explanation for which is the place has had a revamp and a change of name and in doing so has created two entries for the same place.
This is where we are, first a large scale map then a close up.
The lake is attractive.
The blokes on the right are discussing the Park4Night and CamperContact apps. The dark green bottle in the middle of the table with "Cruz" written on it was recently given to Xavier by a 95 year old local. It was a potent spirit made in a shed probably not far away and assuming it might help me to reach 95 I did have a small glass. Phew!
The bloke furtherest away from the camera was a Londoner called Alan who lived in the Netherlands and owned two interesting dogs. This is one of them.
A Canadian White Shepherd apparently and not a breed I had heard of. As I understand it they are effectively a white coated GSD. Very calm and well behaved dogs.
Our first stop today was an Iron Age settlement 80km or so west. We had visited a very similar site in Spain a few years ago, which dated from the same period and was constructed in a similar fashion. The Portuguese site is Citânia de Briteiros, the Spanish version is Citania de Santa Tegra which was wreathed in fog when we visited and you could hardly see more than ten metres. I would have liked some fog today because when we arrived it was 34°C and walking uphill over the bare stones was warm work.
Like Citania de Santa Tegra this is a settlement built on the top of a hill surrounded by a wall. The folk inside mostly lived in round houses located in family groups. Two houses have been reconstructed.
The remaining houses are just stumps now.
In the last photo the round house is sitting in front of a retaining wall, the site is extensively terraced.
Not all of the houses were round.
The site was occupied during the Roman period so these houses may date from then.
My plan was to finish on a free aire tonight but the lure of a commercial aire won the day - shade from trees, free showers and a lake for Charlie to swim in were powerful arguments in its favour.
So we are spending a night at CC 48759 - which is exactly the same place as CC 28926. The explanation for which is the place has had a revamp and a change of name and in doing so has created two entries for the same place.
This is where we are, first a large scale map then a close up.
The lake is attractive.
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Jenowen
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I’m finding your postings absolutely fascinating, your wildlife and flower facts, your gastronomic treats and the historic info are all really great. Can you tell me where you find out about the historic sites you visit? We’ve been to many of your destinations and I don’t think we spotted many of the places you visited, neither have they appeared in the guide books we use. Thanks for info.
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We use the DK Eyewitness guides mostly.
https://www.dk.com/uk/book/9781465469045-dk-eyewitness-travel-guide-portugal
I suspect seasoned travellers look down on them but we find them very good for identifying places to see.
The other approach is simply to look at a place on the map which looks interesting - wiggly roads are a good hint - and Google it.
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Never trust the Michelin road atlas! We set out this morning to drive to Galicia but I wanted to see a bit of the Peneda-Gerês national park first so we drove north through the town of Gerês which is a Spa Town from what we could see and fairly busy too. The road we were on was the N 308-1 and just after Gerês the road character changed dramatically. In the Michelin atlas it is drawn as a straight line with an added green line to show it is a scenic route. On Google Maps it looks like this.
On paper, with a maximum altitude of less than 900m it is no Alpine pass but it was a challenging drive. We have been over a few passes which I would recommend you drive for pleasure but this is the first which I don't recommend. The problem, apart for the steep hairpin bends and rough surface on the Portuguese side is the width. Long stretches were more or less single track and we very lucky not to meet anything wide coming the other way. Until that is we almost reached the border when we met a mad Dutchman pulling a caravan! Fortunately it wasn't a big caravan and we met on a bit of road just wide enough for me to pull over onto the crumbling edge of the road to let him squeeze by. There is a bit more about the road here. It isn't a dangerous road at all but it isn't designed for MHs!
http://www.dangerousroads.org/europe/portugal/5741-n308-1.html
As soon as we crossed over into Spain the road surface improved 100% and shortly afterwards I saw what we came on this road for - another road, a Roman road and with not a bad surface either considering it was made around two thousand years ago.
The road or given its width the footpath, is the flagged strip stretching away from the camera. Off to the left of the shot was a sort of mini-Roman theatre but I suspect this site was probably some sort of temple. Just before this the old road crosses the new road and instead of being tarmacked over it has been incorporated into the present day road, no doubt with some sensitive use of concrete to keep it together.
Our stay in Spain was brief because we then drove back into Portugal before heading North to return to Spain and an aire a little north of Vigo.
We are staying at a privately owned aire close to a beach, CC 43939. First impressions are it is as good as the reviews suggest.
The only criticism I have so far is my wine glass has emptied itself.
We set out this morning to drive to Galicia but I wanted to see a bit of the Peneda-Gerês national park first so we drove north through the town of Gerês which is a Spa Town from what we could see and fairly busy too. The road we were on was the N 308-1 and just after Gerês the road character changed dramatically. In the Michelin atlas it is drawn as a straight line with an added green line to show it is a scenic route. On Google Maps it looks like this.On paper, with a maximum altitude of less than 900m it is no Alpine pass but it was a challenging drive. We have been over a few passes which I would recommend you drive for pleasure but this is the first which I don't recommend. The problem, apart for the steep hairpin bends and rough surface on the Portuguese side is the width. Long stretches were more or less single track and we very lucky not to meet anything wide coming the other way. Until that is we almost reached the border when we met a mad Dutchman pulling a caravan! Fortunately it wasn't a big caravan and we met on a bit of road just wide enough for me to pull over onto the crumbling edge of the road to let him squeeze by. There is a bit more about the road here. It isn't a dangerous road at all but it isn't designed for MHs!
http://www.dangerousroads.org/europe/portugal/5741-n308-1.html
As soon as we crossed over into Spain the road surface improved 100% and shortly afterwards I saw what we came on this road for - another road, a Roman road and with not a bad surface either considering it was made around two thousand years ago.
The road or given its width the footpath, is the flagged strip stretching away from the camera. Off to the left of the shot was a sort of mini-Roman theatre but I suspect this site was probably some sort of temple. Just before this the old road crosses the new road and instead of being tarmacked over it has been incorporated into the present day road, no doubt with some sensitive use of concrete to keep it together.
Our stay in Spain was brief because we then drove back into Portugal before heading North to return to Spain and an aire a little north of Vigo.
We are staying at a privately owned aire close to a beach, CC 43939. First impressions are it is as good as the reviews suggest.
The only criticism I have so far is my wine glass has emptied itself.
Last edited:
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We only stayed a couple of nights at the aire, seen from above in the image below, if that makes sense.
The beach was pleasant and only a few minutes walk away...
but I felt we could get closer to one.
So we drove further north up the coast to Camping A' Vouga (CC 48658 and ACSI) a few kilometres from Muros in one of the many rias (flooded valleys) which are found along the coast of Galicia.
It has a good restaurant overlooking the beach.
Where I ate a nice Sea Bream.
It was served in a sort of "spatchcocked" way but was very tasty. I would have cooked it whole but their method worked.
Charlie has enjoyed the beach here too.
The beach was pleasant and only a few minutes walk away...
but I felt we could get closer to one.
So we drove further north up the coast to Camping A' Vouga (CC 48658 and ACSI) a few kilometres from Muros in one of the many rias (flooded valleys) which are found along the coast of Galicia.
It has a good restaurant overlooking the beach.
Where I ate a nice Sea Bream.
It was served in a sort of "spatchcocked" way but was very tasty. I would have cooked it whole but their method worked.
Charlie has enjoyed the beach here too.
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