Wildlife on the Camino

We had read that there was not much wildlife to be found on the Camino and to an extent that is true, however we have been presently surprised by the amount of birdlife we have seen or heard each day.

A day hasn't passed where we haven't heard a Cuckoo and almost every village has Storks nesting on the church steeple.  Ten days ago when we were trudging along a muddy track in cold drizzling rain between Los Arcos and Viana, I was lagging a bit behind the others when two beautiful birds appeared beside me on the roadside.  They were black, white and yellow, similar to our New holland honeyeater in Australia.  They flew from side to side across the track just in front of me for about 50 metres, stopping occasionally to perch on a rock or shrub to trill and sing, as if encouraging me to push on. 

Today we walked 21km from Boadilla Del Camino to Villalcazar de Sirga, which included a lovely 10km stretch walking beside the Rio Ucieza.  The river bank was treed and we walked to the sound of croaking frogs and birdsong all the way.  We spotted a really lovely bird in the rushes which we later identified from a bird guide notice board as a Pito real.  From this board we were able to identify some of the other birds we had seen such as the pretty yellow breasted Carbonera comun and the cute little black and white Agateador comun.  Even when walking along the flat streches of the Meseta where lush green wheat fields stretch to the horizon, with barely a tree to be seen, birds can be heard but rarely sighted as they go about their business amongst the crop.

Apart from birds, wildlife sightings had been almost non existant, until yesterday when we spotted an amazing bright green lizard run across the road in front of us then into a ditch on the side of the road.  He stayed long enough for us to get a really good look and a photo before disappearing into a burrow in the embankment.

As for domestic animals, we had read that pilgrims should be wary of unrestrained, vicious farm dogs, however we have encountered none.  All dogs in the towns and villages have been on a lead, and all the farm dogs we have come across have either been tied up or in a kennel, all seemed pretty friendly, and every village has several resident cats.  A few days ago we came across a farmer driving a herd of sheep along the road with the help of several sheep dogs.  It was quite a large herd of a hundred or more and we had to stand on the edge of the road as all the sheep walked closely around us.  It was great to watch the dogs working the sheep, moving them forward whilst keeping them from straying.  Many sheep had bells on and it took several minutes for them to pass.  This was just the sort of rural  Spain we had hoped to see.

Apart from perigrinos on foot and perigrinos on bicycles, there are a few perigrinos travelling with donkeys.  We have seen three sets so far.  Apparently the donkeys can be hired and then collected at the end of tne trek, a bit like a hire car.  The donkeys are not generally ridden but used as pack animals, although we did encounter a family where mum and dad were walking and their little girl rode on the donkey in a saddle.