Spain Trip Oct 2023 - Part 2 Monfrague National Park, Extremadura

As we were walking down towards the medieval bridge shown in the previous post, we spotted a hind and fawn. We later learned that they were Red Deer and that a female Red Deer is called a hind, not a doe. They must be used to people around as we were able to walk towards them slowly and get better shots as we got closer. Eventually they moved to the other side of the road, jumped the low wall and disappeared off.

The following three photos are Keith's, taken with his 800mm lens.

My shot - I can fit the whole animal in my viewfinder on my max zoom at 400mm!

Keith suddenly hushed me and pointed to something. Can you see it?

No? OK, look to the right of his head...... I've cropped the image to make it easier.

It's a male, but a young one as the antlers are still small. He wasn't bothered by us, as we were quiet and moved slowly past him. By the way, do you like K's shirt? 😀

After looking at the bridge, we drove around to Salto del Gitano (Gypsy's Leap), which is the main vulture viewing area. We only saw Griffon Vultures which was a bit of a shame, as this area is known for having Black and Egyptian Vultures too. However there were masses of Griffons to make up for it. Maybe when we revisit during breeding season we may see more variety.

These are typical rocks that Griffon Vultures like to perch on (though none in this photo).

Whilst in this place above, suddenly a vulture flew towards us, and landed on a rock below us, relatively close for a vulture sighting. I managed the shot below, just as it was taking off, my best vulture shot so far.

Whereas Keith, with his mega lens, caught this amazing shot! You can really see each feather and its eye clearly and sharply if you click on the picture.

Griffons nest on the rocks and in the middle of this photo below there are the remains of one of their nests, just a small pile of twigs.

Monfrague castle, overlooking Gypsy's Leap.

The plant below was everywhere in the park and growing all through the Dehesa too. It's a species of Broom, Retama sphaerocarpa (or possibly Retama monosperma). Unlike the pea shaped seedpods of most Broom species, the seeds of both these species are not growing together in pods, but appear individually on the plant. It will be magnificent to see them flowering in the spring. From what I've seen on the internet, they can be white as well as yellow.

Next we will move a bit further south, but still in Extremadura.