If you think “bustard” is a misspelled curse, a “kite” is only something you flew as a kid, or a “tit” is an inappropriate word, then you are as ornithologically challenged as I am. But, like me, you may find enjoyment in the serenades of chirping, singing birds as you commune with nature, spot wildlife, or are mesmerized by the ever-changing sky as the sun rises and sets.
The birds around the small farm where I live provide the orchestra for my appreciation of nature, but, sadly, I really don’t know each musician. I appreciate their concertos, but lack the knowledge to admire them except for the annual arrival of the swallows at the barn or the flock of turkey vultures that sometimes sit all in a row on our fence posts, wings spread to six feet, enjoying the sun.
This all changed when a trip to Spain transformed my two-dimensional world into three… and I was soon to learn that a Great Bustard, a Black-Shouldered Kite, and a Great Tit were all birds to be admired.
Extremadura scenes. Photo: Extremadura, Spain Tourism
Birding Trip as a Lark
My birding education came somewhat as a lark, so to speak. While planning a trip to Spain and deciding where to go and what to do off the beaten track, I became intrigued by the region of Extremadura. Like many travelers to Spain, I had already visited Madrid. This time I decided a road trip beyond the cities might be a good way to really get to know the country and learn more about its landscapes, culture, food, and history. Rather than just drive around, I decided to pick a new theme that seemed quite popular in Spain: Birding.
Of the 17 contrasting Spanish regions, it was hard to choose just one. However, Extremadura, southwest of Madrid, snuggled next to Portugal and just north of Andalusia, called to me. It seemed to offer all of the wonderful things I hoped for in a travel experience off the beaten path: special regional cuisine and wine, history, and culture—and, of course, birding.
Photos: Extremadura Tourism
Bird watching? A trip around watching birds?
I headed off for five days to see what the fascination with birdwatching was all about.
Extremadura is roughly a three-hour drive southwest of Madrid, easily traveled along well-maintained highways. You quickly leave the city by car and are surrounded by stunning countryside at every turn.
The meaning of “Extremadura” is not known, but some speculate the etymology might stem from the extreme, or other side, of a river—the Duero—north of the region. Folklore has it that shepherds brought their sheep there during the winter to find lush pastures. About the size of Denmark, Extremadura is a region of Spain that has changed little in a very long time. If the explorer Hernando de Soto, the first European to explore what is now the United States, returned to this region where he was born today, the landscape would look quite similar.
Birding in Extremadura. Martin Kelsey describing the birds we saw. Photos: C. Worthington
Finding the Right Guide
As a non-birder, I knew I would be lost without a guide. I was fortunate to explore birding in Extremadura with professional birder and guide Martin Kelsey. Non-birders typically view bird watchers as bespectacled people dressed in baggy clothes, floppy hats, and carrying ubiquitous binoculars. My image was soon shattered when I met Martin and a group of experienced birders who were athletic, highly technological—with several-thousand-dollar scopes—well-traveled, and very fun.
Martin, who bears a strong resemblance to an older Harry Potter with his round glasses and command of proper English, is virtually a walking, talking Google resource for ornithology. Like Potter, he is a wizard at making the act of watching feathered creatures genuinely exciting.
He began birding as a child at his home in Essex, England. His passion led him to study ecology at the University of East Anglia and at the Edward Grey Institute for Field Ornithology in Oxford, where he completed a doctorate on the ecology of Marsh Warblers. He then spent three years studying birds in the Amazon rainforest with the British Ornithologists’ Union, where he met Claudia, who later became his wife.
“We met on the banks of the River Amazon, where I was studying birds in the national park, and Claudia was completing her studies in tourism, helping to set up a visitors’ center there,” Martin told me.
Returning to the UK, he worked for BirdLife International for five years before joining Save the Children UK, spending four years in Colombia and four in India, plus a brief stint in Ethiopia. Their son, Patrick, was born in India.
The passion for living and working in a paradise for birds drew the family to Extremadura. They operate a country guesthouse for birders and have painstakingly restored a traditional old house typical of the region. Located at the edge of a small village beside the gentle hills of the Sierra de los Lagares, just 10 minutes from the medieval town of Trujillo, Casa Rural El Recuerdo is an ideal base from which to explore Extremadura.
To watch birds with Martin is like taking a gastronomic tour of Paris with Jacques Pépin or Alain Ducasse by your side. Not only does he have a wealth of knowledge, he willingly shares it in an easy-to-understand way. With an ever-present smile, he tackles even the silliest questions.
“I am not the kind of bird watcher who likes to check off lists of birds I have seen,” Martin said. “I prefer to learn about the birds, their history, and their migration routes.” With his skill, he may or may not be fun to watch a movie with … He can spot a bird error instantly, like the one in the British Mary Poppins “Spoonful of Sugar” scene where a robin appears. “I immediately recognized the error,” he said, the robin here has a brighter orange chest. That was an American Robin!”
With Martin’s guidance—through high-powered scopes, standing in fields, marshes, and mountaintops—I began to really see how exciting the details of birds can be. Whether you are a seasoned birder or a newbie, Extremadura, with its endless variety of species, is definitely the place to immerse yourself.
Extremadura scenes. Photos: Extremadura Tourism
Plenty to See and Do in Extremadura
As a group, we saw well over a hundred bird species on the trip. Some of my favorites were spotted at Monfragüe National Park. Griffon and Black Vultures soared overhead, catching thermals before gliding off in search of food. We saw migratory Egyptian Vultures arriving alongside the smaller Peña Falcon with its striking black-and-white tail. Golden, Spanish, and Imperial Eagles—along with Bonelli Eagles—were just arriving across the Strait of Gibraltar after wintering in Africa.
There actually is an annual census of cranes in Extremadura, with numbers often exceeding 115,000, and we were lucky enough to see some of them.
Once you start zoning in on watching for birds, you become more aware of them everywhere. Of course, some were hard to miss, like the storks that set up nests seemingly wherever they pleased and sometimes in the most unusual places. They nested on church steeples and even construction scaffolding. And then there were the four-foot-tall pink flamingos that had migrated just that day from the south and were feeding in a lagoon at a government nature center.
You can’t help but be swept up by the enthusiasm of a birder who has just seen a “hoopoe” with its magnificent crown of feathers, a flock of meadow pipits, or a fan-tailed warbler making its distinctive zit-zit-zit sound. And that, as Martin would say, is a “jolly good” day.
I returned to our farm in Pennsylvania determined to better appreciate the calls and coloring of the robins, swallows, cardinals, hawks, buzzards, and woodpeckers that sing and flit about the property. Certainly, here in Pennsylvania, we have a fine sampling of American birds—but nowhere near the variety and species of one very special place: Spain’s Extremadura.
Where to Stay & Eat in Extremadura
Reliable bases for birding, culture, and road-tripping
Places to Stay
- Hotel Palacio Carvajal Girón – Restored 16th-century palace near Trujillo’s Plaza Mayor.
- Hotel Izán Trujillo – Former sixteenth-century convent with gardens; quiet and good value.
- Hotel Parque de Monfragüe – Birding-friendly hotel close to Monfragüe National Park.
- Parador de Mérida – Historic convent near Roman ruins.
Where to Eat
- Restaurante Alberca (Trujillo) – Traditional Extremaduran cuisine featuring Iberian pork, lamb, and local cheeses.
- El Corral del Rey (Trujillo) – Contemporary interpretations of regional ingredients.
- El Paraíso de los Sentidos (Hotel Parque de Monfragüe) – Reliable on-site dining near the park entrance.
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