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Routes & Birdwatching Sites

Routes & Birdwatching Sites

Campillos – Sierra de Yeguas

Some other birds that we can find here are: Mallard, Red-legged Partridge, Quail, Greater Flamingo, Common Buzzard, Kestrel, Lesser Kestrel, Moorhen, Black-headed Gull, Gull-billed Tern, Collared Dove, Cuckoo, Little Owl, Swift, Alpine Swift, Hoopoe, Crested Lark, Calandra Lark, Barn Swallow, Red-rumped Swallow, House Martin, Yellow Wagtail, Stonechat, Sardinian Warbler, Zitting Cisticola, Cetti’s Warbler, Iberian Grey Shrike, Woodchat Shrike, Raven, Spotless Starling, House Sparrow, Linnet, Goldfinch, Greenfinch, Serin and Corn Bunting.

The Montagu’s Harrier

The Montagu’s Harriers arrive from Africa during March to breed in our cereal fields. They are very beneficial for farmers as they feed from grain consumers like insects, mice and songbirds.

They face two serious threats here. On one hand, the dramatic reduction of surface devoted to cereals in favour of the olive grove; on the other, the use of cereal varieties that ripen earlier and earlier not leaving enough time for the harriers to raise their chicks before the combine harvester destroys the nest place.

This is why a campaign is carried out by volunteers and rangers every year to locate the nests and negotiate with farmers the best possible way to save the broods.

The Little Bustard

The Little Bustard is also affected by the reduced grain-producing sub-steppe environment. Nevertheless, they are resident in our fields and lay the eggs on their ground nests earlier than harriers which, together with the fact that their chicks are nidifugous, save them by now from the combined harvester blades.

They are very difficult to spot when lying down in the grass or furrows, but males stand up calling defending their territories during the breeding season, providing us with an opportunity to notice them in the fields.

The Stone Curlew

Despite we do not see much of it in wet environments, the Stone Curlew is actually a wader.

They are birds of twilit habits, so they spend most of the day resting on stony grounds, among the furrows of arable land or near the trunk of the olive trees in search for shade when the temperature goes up. This, together with their camouflage skills, makes it very difficult to spot them in the field. It is usually their big yellow eyes what betrays them in a dull background.

If you are not familiar with their crepuscular calls, you might find them a bit scary!

Itinerary

The farmlands between Campillos and Sierra de Yeguas, at the north end of Guadalteba District, are mostly devoted to grow olive trees, cereals and legumes. They can be considered as a sub-steppe environment where we can find such interesting species as Little Bustard and Stone Curlew.

But the reason we are coming here in April is the arrival from Africa and display of the Montagu’s Harrier, a very elegant and slender bird of prey whose survival is more and more difficult every year.