Monfrague National Park, after the rains

Description

I was advised to find tame Iberian Magpies in Principe Park in Caceres by Martin Kelsey and whilst sketching these I was approached by another resident birder who told me Monfrague National Park is very much the destination for birders visiting this region.  This is how one birdy thing leads to another!  So here we are in the park.  It is characterised by an impressive castle on the ridge overlooking the lakes and from there you can look at the vultures eyeball to eyeball.  For me though I was still after landscapes and found this view back to the castle past rolling hills and a glimpse of the lake.  After rains there was green on the ground as well as the pink bedrocks.  With their strong root-holds in the rocks the trees are not impelled to grow upwards as in most forests but can grow out on tough stems at pretty much any angle they prefer and this seems to be a personal choice although I guess they are maximising their light by facing their canopies as much as possible towards the light.  As I sketched there were Red Deer rutting and moaning below from the trees.  The park is packed with animals, the roads are good, you can stop from them and absorb this natural wonder, so I really felt as much as is possible in Europe, that I was in a game reserve almost like Africa.  Like the parks in southern Africa they have been allowing hunting in Monfrague and this is why they know that Iberian Lynx occur here, when one was treed by hounds.  But there was an outcry about this and the public are doing their best to keep hunting out of the park.