Mark and I were in Extremadura in April 2012 and the weather was typically variable with a lot of cloud and some rain on this day so we were driving around looking for steppe birds when this gorgeous Roller flew across the road and landed on this beautiful rock complete with protruding thistle. It was not close but the flat light and the mix of steppe colours in the pastel backdrop combined with the striking bird on the scenic rock make it one of my images of the trip.

Canon 1D4 with Canon 300 2.8 lens and 1.4x converter

1/800th second at f5 and ISO 400