Great Bustards on CdM

[J2j]

For those on the Camino de Madrid I saw Great Bustards near, and between, Santervás de Campos and Grajal de Campos April 15 & 16. Magnificent birds.

 

[Bradypus]

For those on the Camino de Madrid I saw Great Bustards near, and between, Santervás de Campos and Grajal de Campos April 15 & 16. Magnificent birds.

I am green with envy! Hope the rest of your journey has surprises like that. Ultreia!

 

[kenwilltravel]

Amazing luck for you! My wife and I were just in Portugal's Alentejo region last week and failed to see any. They tend to hide in the wheat fields and are hard to detect.

 

[mazzarina]

Fabulous!
Listening to the call of the great bustard should be prescribed for good health

 

[Derekbarff]

Any chance of seeing Bustards along the Camino Frances ?

 

[Bradypus]

Any chance of seeing Bustards along the Camino Frances ?

I don't know of any regular residents but some turned up on the route a few years back.
Thread 'Bustards galore!' https://www.caminodesantiago.me/community/threads/bustards-galore.30093/

 

[stevepjq]

Jeez! I had to look up what a bustard is. I thought for a moment you had a typo and you were referring to my brother-in-law!!

 

[J2j]

Any chance of seeing Bustards along the Camino Frances ?

Yes. I was told by folks at the Sahagún tourism office they can be found between Sahagún and Bericanos del Real Camino with a high likelihood of active leks. The distance between the two towns is 10km. So, tomorrow I’ll have a short day of walking but a long day of birding

 

[VNwalking]

For those on the Camino de Madrid I saw Great Bustards near, and between, Santervás de Campos and Grajal de Campos April 15 & 16. Magnificent birds.

Wow. How wonderful! One more tick in the plus column for the Madrid.
(And on the Frances too??)

 

[Laurie Sanantone]

I saw a flock of them today (25 May) coming into Santervas!

 

[VNwalking]

Wonderful!
How far away were they, Laurie?

 

[Laurie Sanantone]

Maybe 400-500 yards? And I’m afraid the photo doesn’t really do them justice.

 

[VNwalking]

Yes it does. It shows how huge they are!

 

[Laurie Sanantone]

Yes it does. It shows how huge they are!

I had been seeing their poop on the trail, and wondered what bird made it – – it looked big like duck poop! So when I saw the flock, it made sense.