The weather was fair if a trifle nippy first thing this morning, but the birds were in full chorus and the surroundings sublime. The only reasonable thing to do in such circumstances was - I deemed - to brave the chill, seize the day, and have a spin out on the bike down the canal towpath.
Once underway, it was great to hear more cuckoos, as well as dozens of more melodious songsters, As a bonus to the splendid bird experience, I also had a really good sighting of a mink. I didn't think much of it at the time but have since done a bit of reading and see that some of the very last examples of the native Eurasian species are known in the area. The American mink, as is the case in the UK, has - over the years - escaped from fur farms and is now thoroughly naturalised and threatening the last vestiges of the native population. I have no clue whether I saw a Eurasian or American animal but would have been enormously lucky were the animal a native.
Post ride and thaw-out I decided to have a fairly short day's drive so headed for a spot I've been to before, and which is right in the middle of plains country. At first sight there appears to be little to see in the vast, open landscapes here (apart from agriculture, trains and my camp access track - pic), but with a little patience and some decent optics the vistas burst into life.
I didn't have to try too hard to spot lesser kestrel, marsh harrier, hen harrier, dozens of kites, corn buntings, linnets, and the best sighting of the day in the form of about 20 great bustards. At one point I also saw about a dozen on the wing. A splendid sight, indeed.
Come late evening I was even treated to a raucous amphibian chorus. In at least three locations surrounding the truck, dozens if not hundreds of frogs congregated in what seemed to be improbably ephemeral water bodies (one such water body can be seen in the pic) and very noisily began to do - and continue even now to do - whatever it is they need to do to successfully pass on their genes.
Topping things off, as I type I'm looking at one of the clearest and darkest star-filled skies I've seen in a very long time.
Kudos to the sparsely inhabited (by people) Salamanca plains.
This post was composed at 22:00 on Wednesday 26th March from my intended overnighting spot N 41.14369°, W 05.17165° / http://maps.google.com/maps?q=loc:41.14369%2C-05.17165