BirdingInSpain

Ordesa National Park was the first national Park in Spain and one of the first in Europe. It’s an area of exceptional natural beauty in the Pyrenees of Aragón and borders with France.

It is home to the most emblematic mountain birds that can be seen in the region, such as Wallcreeper, Lammergeier, Black Woodpecker, Snowfinch, Citril Finch and Alpine Accentor. But it’s not a place for car-bound birders! Get out and walk through Beech forests, Scots and Corsican Pine, fir, alpine meadows with pristine streams and rivers, scree slopes, and enjoy the exercise, the scents, the breeze, the scenery. And of course the birds.

A word of warning though: Ordesa gets very busy at the peak tourist periods (summer and easter week), so either plan your visit to avoid these times, or get up early before the crowds. Unless you like being one of the crowd!

Birding in Ordesa National Park was my very first experience of birding in Spain. I came in April with the University Bird Club and we spent a whole day bathed in beautiful spring sunshine, soaking up the natural ambience of this wonderful area. We also managed to see Black Woodpecker, Alpine Accentor, Lammergeier and Wallcreeper. I don’t think I will ever forget that Wallcreeper. My first, and hopefully not my last.

Popularity: 40%

It should be known to anyone about to come birding in Spain that the SEO reserve of Belchite is a stronghold for the prized Dupont’s lark. The two reserves of la Lomaza and el Planerón both hold enough Dupont’s Larks to sustain a healthy population, and to attract a large number of birders to this part of Spain in early spring.

But there’s more to birding in Spain than just larks, you know. There are sandgrouse too, and Stone Curlews, Little Owls, Golden Eagles, Dotterel, Lesser Short-toed Lark. Ok that’s a lark too, but there are so many around Belchite that I just had to mention it!

And then there are those early morning rises to get to the reserve before the crack of dawn, before the Dupont’s Lark bursts into song. You stand there shivering, swatting mosquitoes and wondering what you are doing here. Then slowly the sun rises and the rocky horizon glows red just as the first Dupont’s Lark starts to sing.

Yep! There’s gold in them thar hills!

Popularity: 58%

The prime wetland site on the coast of Catalonia (Catalunya), and perhaps the most sizzling birding hotspot in northeast Spain, is the Ebro Delta.

I’m sure it wouldn’t take me long to find the official statistics to inform those drawing up plans for a birding trip to the Ebro Delta, something like:

“The Ebro Delta covers an area of x km2, and has a human population of y,000. The Natural Park of the Ebro Delta includes z protected areas, totalling x hectares. y species of bird have been recorded in and around the Ebro Delta”

Very interesting, but that’s not my style anymore. However, one of the first things I would say to anyone thinking of a birding trip to the Ebro Delta would be “Do it. You won’t regret it, even though you should be prepared for a surprise or two.” And those surprises take on all kinds of forms. If you think the Ebro Delta is one giant unbroken nature reserve with turtles scuttling on the beaches and crocodiles sunning themselves on the banks of the rivers, then you are certainly in for a surprise.

The possibilities for birding offered by the Ebro Delta are never quite exhausted, as I can testify. My first visit here was in 1990, and since then I have made regular visits leading bird tours or to satisfy my own birding needs. In the early days a real danger was getting lost. Then came the realization that mosquitoes not only thrived in the summer but also seemed to survive well into the winter. In October birders have to try and bird the Ebro Delta while coexisting with hordes of hunters.

But then come the pleasant surprises: a short seawatch turns into a spectacle as you spot hundreds or even thousands of Balearic Shearwaters plying the waves at a short distance from the shore; a winter visit to the Alfacs bay produces three species of divers on mirror-like waters; you chance on a spring day where hundreds of migrant passerines are piling up in the few available bushes along the shoreline; a Short-eared Owl jumps up silently from almost under your feet; a strange gull flies over your head and you look more closely and see that it’s a Caspian Tern.

Those are the surprises that birders like best. And something similar could happen to you while birding in the Ebro Delta, in northeast Spain.

Popularity: 34%

The Spanish Pyrenees stretch from west to east from Navarra, through Aragon and on to the northeast corner of Catalonia.

Approaching from the Bay of Biscay the Pyrenees rise gently but steadily in Navarra to Orhi, the first 2,000 m peak near the region’s eastern border with Aragón. Navarra’s beechwoods and mixed forests are home to White-backed Woodpecker and Black Woodpecker, while the high sierras and mountain passes are the migratory flyways of birds of prey, cranes and other species. Navarra also has some spectacular gorges and the westernmost populations of Lammergeier, Snow Finch and Citril Finch in the Pyrenees.

Aragón is the wildest and perhaps most spectacular part of the Spanish Pyrenees. It can lay claim to Spain’s first and one of its finest National Parks, Ordesa, and many unspoilt tracts of high mountain. Birding the Pyrenees of Aragon is a delight for the large numbers of birds of prey, especially Lammergeier, Egyptian Vulture, Golden Eagle and Booted Eagle, and for it having some of the more accessible areas with high mountain species like Alpine Accentor, Wallcreeper and Snow Finch.

Capercaillie, Ptarmigan, Tengmalm’s Owl, Citril Finch, and Black Woodpecker are all species that can be less difficult to see when birding in the Pyrenees of Catalonia than in those further west. Catalonia also has its National Park, Aigüestortes, a land of lakes, peaks and black pine forests. The natural park of Cadí-Moixeró is one of the easternmost points of interest for the visiting birder, who with some luck can find a good variety of the mountain specialities, perhaps even a Wallcreeper.

Popularity: 38%

Recently I went to els Ports (Beseit/Tortosa) in Catalonia to do a Common Bird Census which I have been doing for the last 5 years or so for the Institut Català d’Ornitologia. It’s a wonderfully scenic 3 km transect following the course of a river gorge. Birds are not that abundant in the gorge itself although the surrounding olive groves and pine woods make up for that. Usual species include Firecrest (also Goldcrest in the winter), Coal Tit, Bonelli’s Warbler (summer), Sardinian Warbler, Blue Rock Thrush and more. For the last two transects I’ve seen a Peregrine Falcon sitting in exactly the same place, the ever-radiant Kingfisher and a dozen or so Griffon Vultures.

What I haven’t seen for the last couple of years is the Bonelli’s Eagle. Now that’s a surprise and a shame because a territorial pair has one of its known nests in view of my transect, and 2 years ago these birds used to offer wonderful views of synchronised flying in the breeding season. Last year I scanned the area around their nest but only saw two Griffon Vultures. The same happened yesterday.

It’s a known fact that the recent recovery of Griffon Vultures has been to the detriment of Bonelli’s Eagles in some places where the two species coincide. The Griffon Vultures oust the Bonelli’s Eagles and take over their nests. Apparently the same has happened, for example in Extremadura, with Golden Eagles ousting the Bonelli’s Eagles too.

This is not meant as a harangue against Griffon Vultures. Bonelli’s Eagles (less than 750 pairs in Spain of 1,000 in all of Europe) are under threat from other sources which have a greater impact on their populations than competition from other birds of prey: electrocution, habitat fragmentation and loss, shooting and disturbance.

But it does annoy me that I can no longer enjoy the double treat of the scenery of els Ports and the spectacle of Bonelli’s Eagles.

Popularity: 50%

Birding in Catalonia – Part 1

Catalonia, or Catalunya, in the north-east corner of Spain, is the main overland gateway into the Iberian Peninsula from the rest of Europe. A glance at the statistics will tell us that around 7 million people inhabit its 32,091 km², at an average density of 190 persons per km², and that it is an industrialised region with a coastline largely developed to accommodate mass tourism.
Not precisely a beacon for the foreign birder, or so it would seem. But then there are the other statistics: the new breeding bird Atlas of Catalonia reveals 232 species of breeding birds - more than any other region of a comparable size anywhere else in Spain - inhabiting its numerous and varied biotopes, including wetlands of International importance, high mountains, Mediterranean type sierras & lowlands, rocky coasts & headlands, and steppes.
Catalonia`s Mediterranean coastline, for example, has 3 very interesting wetland areas, the most important of which is undoubtedly the Ebro Delta. This must be the star attraction for any visiting birder wanting to see gulls and terns, including the rare Slender-billed and Audouin`s Gulls, Gull-billed and Caspian Terns, along with a wide variety of herons, ducks and waders such as Squacco Heron, Little Bittern, Glossy Ibis, Great White Egret, Red-crested Pochard, Collared Pratincole, Kentish Plover, migrating Marsh Sandpipers and Temminck`s Stints and a few miscellaneous items such as Purple Gallinule, Greater Flamingo and Savi`s Warbler. Furthermore, its impressive list of wintering and migratory birds means that it`s not to be forsaken at any time of the year.

The Llobregat delta, on the very edge of Barcelona airport, also presents itself, although on a much smaller scale, as an interesting proposition for a 2 or 3 hour visit, with excellent hides overlooking scrapes which never fail to turn out rarities year after year. Last but not least there is the Aiguamolls de l`Empordà in the north of the region, intensively managed to enhance its wildlife interest and well placed to receive those more easterly migrants which rarely make landfall elsewhere along the coast. It`s also something of a Mecca for spring crake hunters (Spotted, Little and Baillon`s).

to be continued….

Popularity: 38%

The Aigüestortes National Park was declared as such just over 50 years ago, and became Catalonia’s first and only National park. It’s a marvellous place for trekking among the most breathtaking high mountain scenery in the central Pyrenees: dozens of lakes, rugged peaks, pine clad valleys and slopes and gushing rivers.

There are two main entrances into this National Park: one is via the Boí valley in the west, with its World Heritage Romanic churches, and the other is via the village of Espot in the east. Last year Birdinginspain.com led a group for Naturetrek to the Aigüestortes NP.
We stayed at Roca Blanca, Espot. And what a great time we had!

Black Woodpecker, Lammergeier, Capercaillie, Citril Finch, Ring Ouzel, Scops Owl (calling outside the hotel!), Dipper, Golden Eagle, Crested Tit, Crossbill, and even an Iberian Chiffchaff (the first possible breeding record for Catalonia!). And then there were the non-birds like Apollo Butterfly, Camberwell Beauty, Alpine Marmot and Chamois, and buckets of fresh air!

But don’t take my word for it: look at the itinerary on the Birdinginspain.com website and read the Naturetrek Catalonia Trip Report for 2007 for yourself.

Popularity: 45%

Does anybody know where the photo below was taken?

I suspect not, so I’ll provide some clues:

It’s part of a natural birding hotspot with more than 120 species of breeding bird in a 25 kilometre radius.

The highest peak reaches up to 1668 metres. It is not in the Pyrenees.

Within the hotspot there are drylands with breeding Lesser Kestrels, Little Bustards, Black-bellied Sandgrouse, etc.

There are also birds of wetland areas such as Purple Heron, Little Bittern, Penduline Tit…

In the mountains there are Bonelli’s Eagles, Lammergeiers and Griffon Vultures.

It’s somewhere in Catalonia.

Any guesses? Why not send me an e-mail and see if you’re right?

Popularity: 57%

It could be said that the village of Faió is twice hidden. Once when the construction of the Riba-Roja reservoir flooded the old village, which was relocated on higher ground nearby. And twice, even now in the 21st Century, when the solitude of the village is pierced more by the River Ebro than by the winding roads that lead to it.

This is a part of northeast Spain that is ideal for those who like birding at their own pace. Stop now and then to admire the lonely hermitages, bee-eaters, rocky crags perhaps inhabited by the Blue Rock Thrush or a shy pair of Black Wheatears.

Stroll among the scented pinewoods listening to Bonelli’s Warblers, Sardinian Warblers and Crested Tits, stand on top of a breezy hill to watch for the Short-toed Eagle, the Griffon Vulture, and maybe even a Golden Eagle. Then approach vertical riverside cliffs, domain of Peregrine Falcons, Alpine Swifts, Egyptian Vultures and more.

This was a site of intense fighting during the Spanish Civil War. Faió was an important piece of the aptly named Battle of the Ebro. It’s hard to believe that such a tranquil setting could have had such a turbulent 20th Century.

Popularity: 53%

The Monegros, Ebro Valley. The most arid part of northern Spain.

This is still one of the best birding areas in northeast Spain for dryland, or steppeland, birds. Calandra larks, Lesser Short Toed larks, Short Toed larks, Lesser kestrels, Black-bellied Sandgrouse, Little Bustard and even a relict population of Great Bustard inhabit this seemingly barren landscape.

Alas, apart from birders and a handful of naturalists, the Monegros are unloved. Most decision-makers would rather see thousands of hectares of transgenic maize, or better still, something like “Las VegasII” - a 2,000 ha leisure complex  with 32 hotels, golf courses, all in the middle of the semi-desert.

And they say the wildlife won’t be affected.

Popularity: 49%