Michiel from the Netherlands had been with us before, the first time almost 10 years ago! This time he came to Lleida for five days with 2 friends.
We spent one day on the nearby plains of Huesca, one day in the Ebro Delta, one day in the Pre-Pyrenees, one day around Lleida, and one day at and around Belchite.
174 species in all, here are the highlights of each day:
1. Black Stork, Egyptian Vulture, Golden Eagle, Lesser Kestrel, Stone Curlew, Alpine Swift, Hoopoe, Iberian Green Woodpecker, Calandra Lark, Black-eared Wheatear, Black Wheatear, Blue Rock Thrush, Rock Sparrow, Penduline Tit, Iberian Grey Shrike
2. Garganey, Little Bittern, Purple Heron, Spoonbill, Goshawk, Osprey, waders, Slender-billed Gull, Audouin’s Gull, Caspian Tern, Black Tern, Gull-billed Tern, Whiskered Tern, Water Pipit, Whinchat, Savi’s Warbler, Western Subalpine Warbler, Spotted Crake
3. Lammergeier, Black Vulture, Short-toed Eagle, Dipper, Rock Bunting, Firecrest, Crested Tit, Cirl Bunting.
4. Pallid Harrier, Booted Eagle, Bonelli’s Eagle, Merlin, Little Bustard, Great Spotted Cuckoo, Dupont’s Lark (h), Pin-tailed Sandgrouse (h), Red-rumped Swallow, Hawfinch.
5. Golden Eagle, Black-bellied Sandgrouse, Pin-tailed Sandgrouse, Dupont’s Lark, Mediterranean Short-toed Lark, Greater Short-toed Lark, Wryneck, Lesser Spotted Woodpecker, Golden Eagle, Hen Harrier, Little Bustard, Stone Curlew, Great Spotted Cuckoo, Spectacled Warbler, Dartford Warbler.
Birding with lots of birds, good company and good weather. What more could you ask for?