Rob and Sarah Whiteman: Castro Verde bird reserve and campsite

We have now moved north again to Castro Verde and caught up with our pals Max and Marion who we met during the winter at Espiche. Max is a keen photographer and he and Marion had arranged a guided tour of the reserve. We had an early morning start at 7.00am and the weather was beautiful. Max lent me a 35mm digital camera with a 400mm telephoto lens which weighed a ton and off we went with our guide. The four of us plus our guide Hugo set off on the tracks across the moorland in search of the Great Bustard and other species.

Hugo was terrific and soon found our first birds of the day. During our seven hour trip we saw Great Bustard, Little Bustard,Red Kite,Imperial Eagle,Stone Curlew,Chough, Jackdaw,Black bellied Sandgrouse ,Calandra lark Little Owl, Montague s Harrier and Southern Blackeared Wheatear. This coupled with the day before with Griffon Vulture, Back Vulture and Golden Eagle, Long legged Buzzard and Lesser Kestrel, just about blew our minds. Wonderful day and great company. Thank you Max and Marion and of course our guide Hugo from the centre.

Golden Eagle