BirdingInSpain

“Blah!” is the name of a new category in the BirdingInSpain.com web scene.

Everybody knows that “Blah, blah, blah” means someone is talking too much. So “Blah!” is mostly images, and just a few words.

The first “Blah!” post:

Birds in the Monegros?

Water in the Monegros used to be a precious thing. In the long hot summer it would look something like the above – a drinking pool.

Oh, look! A sandgrouse track! But what’s that next to it? A euro? Perhaps we can follow its trail around the Monegros.

3 million euros. Not bad for a start….

There’s 12 million euros. That’s more like it!

And there’s 22 million euros. Those pesky dryland birds won’t know what hit them!

Thanks guys! Couldn’t do any of this without you!

Sure signs that this is a humanitary mission. And that all those euros are being well spent.

Now don’t get me wrong, I like nature. Flowers and birds are very pretty. But no-one’s going to get rich by trying to make sure that sandgrouse and bustards don’t go extinct, are they? Just how much money do you think you can scrounge off the European Union for biodiversity conservation? Be serious!

One day all the Monegros will be like this.

(Part 2)

We traveled west to the Belchite area.  The land was clearly more arid and olive tree groves gave way to grasslands and other low vegetation.  We sought out the El Planerón refuge outside of Belchite.  Using directions from the website, we traveled the refuge roads for short distances and found Booted Eagles.  At the trail site, in good lark habitat, we walked around a bit and heard at least 2 Dupont’s Larks calling and later picked up one.  Two flocks of Black-bellied Sandgrouse flew nearby; we tallied 20.  In addition, the arid habitat produced Greater and Lesser Short-toed, Crested and Thekla Larks. Along the main road we found a pair of Lesser Kestrels. We also found a Southern Gray Shrike near the Lesser Kestrel area. After lunch we visited the ruins of old Belchite – the original town that was destroyed by Franco.  It is a must see location.

Dupont’s Lark, Belchite, Spain

Before crossing the Ebro River near Quinto, we stopped at a riparian area next to planted fields and found a Hobby, a few Common Buzzards, Purple Heron, Kingfishers and various passerines, including Hoopoe and Corn Bunting.  At Lleida, we headed north to our destination where we stayed at Montsonís, near the Montsec Range.  This was a wonderful, very picturesque rural valley with a small castle. Breakfast the next morning at our accommodation was fantastic!  Here we got lucky and encountered Steve West (who was meeting a client) and he kindly gave us a Montsec Birding Trail map and a few pointers. Thanks Steve!

Montsonís near the Montsec Range

The next morning we followed Lleida birding routes near Balaguer followed by a trip to the Alfés drylands, both suggested by the web site, and we were not disappointed. We quickly found a flock of 55 Stone Curlews and near by were 20 Red-legged Partridges. Another location yielded up two Honey Buzzards and two beautiful Black-winged Kites. Also noted were our first Red Kite, a few Bee-eaters hawking insects over the forest, Short-toed Eagle (the latter near Aspa), more Green Woodpeckers, our only Tawny Pipit for the trip, our only Black Wheatear, Reed Warbler, Lesser Gray Shrike (ID by plumage and call note), and Woodchat Shrike.

Bee-eater

We headed north to the Pyrenees.  Our next stop was a small hotel in a small village known as Arseguel which is about 10 km east of La Seu d’Urgell.  Upon arrival, we saw our first Cirl and Rock Buntings, Citril Finch and Orphean Warbler and heard a calling juvenile Scops Owl at night after dinner. The food at our hotel was amazing – with yet more excellent vino tinto.  We stayed two nights.

After visiting a few locations, we headed up to the Coll de Pal outside of Baga hoping for a few alpine species late in the afternoon. We were not disappointed!  The alpine meadows near the rock wall produced an Alpine Accentor, and two Lammergeiers!  The latter are amazing birds with huge wingspans – over 8 feet – are quite long – almost 4 feet – and have foot-long tails.  Beautiful!

Our last day was short for birding as we needed to depart for the Barcelona airport. We packed our bags and loaded the car and we were off. The most noteworthy thing was the slow traffic through Barcelona.

This trip was better than originally envisioned, although several common species were never found.  This was mainly due to a time deficit – we did not have time to visit several great sites for birds like Blue Rock Thrush or Bonelli’s Eagle or Slender-billed Gull.  But, since we would like to return, I can only say that next time we will get them!

Barcelona‘s Llobregat Delta theatre kicked off the month of October with a gala performance. Lesser Whitethroat, Marsh Sandpiper and the Temminck’s Stint twins were the special guest stars, with quite a select supporting cast including the likes of Spoonbill, Booted Eagle, Goshawk, Osprey and much more.

Meanwhile at Cal Tet it was work as usual for Penduline Tit, Audouin’s Gull, Black-necked Grebe, Garganey and the regular crowd, although the Great Bittern was conspicuous by its absence. Rumours are that the Bittern is on a strict work to rule regime in protest at the noise from overflying aircraft. Nevertheless Common Waxbill and even Eider put in extra time just to keep birders ticking.

The Black Wheatear and Blue Rock Thrush will be upholding the tradition by hopping on their rocks at Garraf throughout the month. Mediterranean Shags will be on the coast too, although we regret to inform the public that after being requested by the authorities to “clean up” their act they will no longer regurgitate half-digested fish on request. After last winter’s unexpected visit by the Wallcreeper hard-pressed Garraf theatre management have assured the birding public that the Wallcreeper will return, adding that “although it might not be this winter, it will certainly be before the return of Halley’s Comet”.

On the provincial scene the Bonelli’s Eagle will be touring the massifs, with regular appearances at the Garraf Natural Park. Sharing the billing, although not the lights, will be the regal Eagle Owl. The staff at the Garraf Natural Park have managed to negotiate a number of open door rehearsals in preparation for Eagle Owl duetting which, weather permitting, will start in earnest next month. Lastly, Honey Buzzards will be passing through until the end of the month, but according to the Garraf Natural Park hygiene technicians “better get ‘ere quick before they take off for good”.

For more details of birding theatres and open air shows around Barcelona see the Llobregat Delta and Garraf itinerary

This page was brought to you in collaboration with Rural Verd  and Ca l’Helena .

The places to stay when birding around Barcelona.

The above is a message to all migratory birds.

The small island of Malta, between Sicily and Tunisia, happens to be located on a major European flyway of migratory birds. In civilized Europe such a fact would be a cause for at least some celebration, and would have enough pulling power to attract foreign birders to witness part of this exciting natural phenomenon.

In Malta, however, things work differently, despite its recent adhesion to the European Union. There bird migration is celebrated by the a crazed shooting spree, with a large number of the island’s hunters shooting at any bird that comes within their sights. This is in direct contravention to the European Union’s Birds Directive, among others.

Have a quick look at theRSPB article for more information and read the recent thread on Bird forum.

Fortunately, there are some voices on the island that dare to speak out against this slaughter. See the Birdlife Malta page to see what this brave group are up against and what they are doing for the birds of Malta.

If you are unmoved, then do nothing. Alternatively you could sign the online petition against this Maltese madness.

Above is a photo of the participants of the birding famtrip to Catalonia organized by the Catalan Tourist Board. Participants included bird tour operators and the birding press from the UK and Finland. I’m in there too somewhere.

Why are they smiling? I’ve interpreted their smiles in my own words:

We’ve just seen a flock of 18 Dotterel on the drylands of Lleida.

I have a feeling that we’re going to come across a Lammergeier before we leave.

What superb views of Bonelli’s Eagles we had at Mont…Mont…Montsec!

I’ve just found out that ther are some very good rural hotels around here – much better than the ones I’ve been using until now.

We thrashed them at table football!

It’s my birthday.

That picnic site is just right for us: tables, drinking water, impressive scenery and even a Lammergeier or two!

I’m so glad the fog lifted so that we could enjoy the splendid scenery.

That was nice wine we had last night, I wonder what we’ll get this evening.

These Catalans are a friendly and professional bunch.

Marbled Duck and Pectoral Sandpiper in the Ebro Delta in addition to all the usual stuff, and we even won the mini bird race!

Thanks to all those who participated in this year’s famtrip, and to the Catalonia tourism team and Keith Betton for making it work. Happy Birding!

The price of petrel has soared so that even spendthrifts quail at the thought of filling the tank.
At the same time high mortgages are forcing many to sell their residence in the house mart in the local paper.
Everyone knows we’re in for a ruff time. It’s so tempting to snipe at banks and investors for causing this crisis, but that is knot really going to help things much.
So before your life takes a serious tern and you start robin’ other people’s possessions, try following this simple advice:

·    Do by all means have a good grouse about the world economy if that makes you feel better
·    In practical terms it’s best to swallow hard, go to the pub, have a nightjar or two, followed by a good, long P.aristotelis.
·    And remember one essential thing: birding is for life, so never even think about ditching your hobby.

Can you spot the 14 birds in this text and its title?

Montsonís is a tiny village in Montsec, Lleida, Spain, painstakingly and tastefully rebuilt from the depopulated ruins that existed no less than 30 years ago. Ramon and Carme, the directors of Castellsdelleida.com are the driving force that literally raised this village from its ruins.

Two birders from Washington state were booked in with me at Montsonís for a day’s guided birding around Montsec, but some confusion reigned momentarily, as no fewer than 6 birders, all from the USA, presented themselves at the same time! As it turned out the extra 4 were from the eastern seaboard, and had arrived at Montsonís by following my recommendations in “Where the birds are in northeast Spain”.

I turned up at 8 in the morning as the “Easterners” were tucking into a hearty breakfast. They briefly informed me that they had already been to Belchite and seen the Dupont’s Lark, and that their objective of the day was Little Bustard, before reaching the high Pyrenees that same evening.

My two “Westerners” on the other hand were taking things more slowly, and were keen to walk and bird in the general area. In the usual manner of this birding business we “missed” some possible bird species while being surprised by a number of unexpected observations.

In the first category our initial walk failed to reveal Bonelli’s Eagle (they’ve been playing hide and seek with me throughout the course of this year, “now you see me, now you don’t”). The surprises went a long way to make up for the misses though: a melanistic Montagu’s Harrier (the last of the year) out on the plains, along with a solitary Little Bustard which in theory should have been elsewhere. 4 Honey Buzzards circling over Mont-roig and then surely the same 4 over the plains a little later. Bee-eaters and an old male Marsh Harrier on migration through the high passes. A large flock of Rock Sparrows in the fields and none in their usual breeding haunts.

And Green and Great Spotted Woodpeckers (try to imagine your first visit to North America and how you would feel about seeing a Flicker or two).

We had great weather and a couple of fine walks. It would be nice to know what our “Easterners” managed to find that day.

In response to the growing demand for the answers to the first raptor silhouettes poster there is now a new special feature in the free downloads section of the BirdingInSpain.com website. More raptor silhouettes! Are you up to the challenge? Try your hand, but don’t expect any clues or answers just yet.

Something for readers of Spanish:

Agosto. Tiempo de las vacaciones y la dispersión ciudadana. 5 compañeros, todos aficionados alocados a la observación de las aves, decidimos por una aventura marina, alquilamos un barco con capitán incluido y nos lanzamos mar adentro desde el puerto de Gijón, rumbo al norte.

Era un día soleado, con poca brisa y un mar muy calmado, como lo había visto muy pocas veces antes nuestro experimentado capitán, Miguel. Ahí fuera esperaban un mar de satisfacciones: paíños europeos, alcatraces atlánticos, pardelas cenicientas, pichonetas, sombrías y mediterráneas, los págalos grande y pomarino, incluso dos jóvenes charranes rosados.

A las 25 millas de la costa girábamos para el cabo de Peñas y justo en aquel momento, a los límites de nuestra incursión en el golfo de Vizcaya, 3 figuras, 3 fascinantes fantasmas, aparecieron de la nada y siguieron acercándose silenciosamente a nuestra barca. Momentos…y entonces un grito de emoción llenó el aire y nos devolvió la respiración “¡Sabini! ¡Son Sabini!”. Era cierto.  3 inmaculados gaviotas de Sabine, todos adultos, acababan de sobrevolar nuestras afortunadas cabezas antes de desdibujarse en el azul de mar y cielo. Ellas inmutas, sin prisas con todo el océano por delante y por detrás; nosotros llenos del momento, regalados con un recuerdo indeleble.

Creo que siempre recordaré el 18 de agosto de 1997, el día en el cual observamos estas 3 figuras, la vanguardia de una migración que toma lugar año tras año lejos del ruido mundano, allá entre los páramos silenciosos del océano.

A couple of Short-toed Eagles, 2 Pallid Swifts, lots of Alpine Swifts, a Golden Oriole, several Bee-eaters and lots of Hooded Crows is about the balance of 10 days casual birding while on a family holiday on the Dalmatian coast of Croatia, from Dubrovnik up to Paklenica National Park.

Fair’s fair – I wasn’t on a birding trip, and probably spent more time in the sea looking down on fish than in the countryside looking for birds. But compared to the birds I could have seen in northeast Spain, even casually, it seems a pretty poor tally. Maybe that goes to show that you have to go away to really appreciate what you have at home.

That seems to be particularly true about birds of prey. In Spain it’s relatively easy to see 10 or more raptor species in a single day. In the part of Croatia that we visited raptors were very thin on the ground. Likewise, last year I was birding in Morocco and the most common flying objects were not birds of prey but rather black plastic bags.

From now on then I’m going to try not to take raptors for granted – not even Griffon Vultures!