This tour started as soon as we left Madrid Airport. Well, after a two-hour drive as we crossed the border into Extremadura with Castille y Mancha. We stopped at a couple of sites around Embalse de Valdecañas where we picked up the first of the Eurasian Griffon and Cinereous Vultures, Booted Eagles, Lesser Kestrels, White Storks and Gull-billed Terns that would punctuate the remainder of this Spanish adventure. Next, we dropped in Embalse de Arrocampo for a scooch around. This venue, after the world famous Monfragüe National Park, is the site most visited by birders and has had a host of rarities found there over the years. Our visit concluded with views of Western Swamphen, Little Bittern, Purple Herons, Black Kites, Eurasian Spoonbills and more Gullbilled Terns. We were also lucky to hear a reeling Savi’s Warbler. When we neared Cáceres, our base for the next three nights, we stopped off at the Embalse de Guadiloba where we scored Thekla’s, Crested and Calandra Larks plus at least eight Great Bustards. The next few days in the Cáceres Province was spectacular with multiple sightings of all the eagles – Golden, Spanish Imperial, Booted, Short-toed and the rarer Bonelli’s Eagles. Western Marsh Harriers, Eurasian Hoopoes, Iberian Grey and Woodchat Shrikes, Greater Short-toed Larks, European Bee-eaters, European Red-rumped Swallows, Pallid Swifts and Corn Buntings were all regularly seen with a supporting cast of European Rollers, Black-winged Kites, Blackbellied Sandgrouse, daily Great Bustards, the odd Montagu’s Harrier plus Black Storks, Egyptian Vultures, Stone Curlews, Eurasian Golden Orioles and a migrant male Pied Flycatcher. The second part of the holiday was spent in southern part of Extremadura in the Badajoz Province which is scarcely visited by most other bird tour companies. We spent four nights based in Extremadura’s regional capital, Mérida. The most famous birding spot in this province is from the Roman Bridge in the capital city. We saw nothing new for the list from the actual bridge apart from performing Alpine Swifts, that along with attendant Pallid Swifts, were swooping very close to us as they came to and from their nests beneath our feet in the arches of the ancient bridge. Plus, along the river we discovered a Penduline Tit nest that was being tended to by a male. Nearby the bridge we also caught up with the region’s one and only Monk Parakeet squawking away! Our subsequent time in this little birded region was well rewarded. Several sightings of all the eagle species plus more Black-winged Kites (including a pair displaying), an unexpected additional singing Savi’s Warbler, more Eurasian Golden Orioles, both shrikes, Short-toed Treecreepers, Red-billed Choughs, Tawny Pipit and some unexpected Whimbrel flocks.