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Monday 3 July 2017

Watching Wolves in Spain

The sky had started to turn into a beautiful vermillion glow. It was getting late, and it was time to leave our road and rest for the night.
We were in the North of Castilla y León and very close to our destination; this is where we would start our search for the Iberian Wolf.


Rested and ready, the new day unfolded before us; our lesser-travelled road took us through stunning countryside. We pass underneath massive concrete pillars holding Spain's impressive motorway system high above us (business as usual), but down here, it is like a forgotten World, unchanged with time; people still take the time to see who is passing as they toil in their plots, perhaps they worry about the coming change! Like us passing through!


A stone and slate bridge crosses a meandering river, the water level low for the time of year, and there has been no rain for some time. Interestingly, it's March, and we should have expected colder weather, not the 23 degrees plus; maybe everything is changing; it certainly causes conversations with the local people.


High on our vantage point, we can see for miles! With our telescope, we scan the countryside; others are doing the same a little further along the track.


Beautiful Dartford Warblers perch in the surrounding trees with their brazen song; they are so untroubled in this environment; other than a few of us hoping to see an Iberian Wolf, there is nothing but peace.


Nuthatches seek insects in a small group of trees, already feeding their first broods.
Spring has come early this year.

To understand the Iberian Wolf, we visited the excellent interpretation centre at Robledo, south of Puebla De Sanabria in Zamora province.






Behind the heather, a Watching Wolf.


What a beautiful creature


Iberian Wolf (Canis lupus signatus)  stands proudly on the hillside.



https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iberian_wolf

Once again, it is time for us to move on; the road from here is the beginning of our journey home; what will tomorrow's travel bring?