Hotspot birding: pre-lockdown

February was a quiet month,

and I must admit I failed dismally in seeing any of my more “remotely possible” target birds I had set for the month – things like Yellowhammer, Crossbill, Jack Snipe…

Nevertheless, there was a good show of migrating Common Cranes, including a flock or two migrating over our dwelling in Lleida as night fell. Red Crested Pochard was the only noteworthy new species until the arrival of March saw a change of pace. First of all I made a local “twitch” to see a male Ferruginous Duck on the extreme western edge of the Hotspot, and on the same day went to check on the Moustached Warblers, to see if they were singing – and they were.

Red-crested Pochard

Red-crested Pochard photo by Beat Rüegger

My first Zitting Cisticola of the year made me wait until the 8th March, and then the next day I was out on the job, guiding Vreni, a nice lady from Switzerland, around my home patch. That meant I was able to rake in many of the early migrants – swallows, house martins and the like – as well as a single Black-tailed Godwit at the Estany d’Ivars.

Egyptian Vulture

Egyptian Vulture, photo by Beat Rüegger

On the 11th March, again with Vreni we had a good run on the plains, with singing Dupont’s Lark, and at least 6 Lesser Short-toed Larks, 2 sprightly and entertaining Great Spotted Cuckoos and a Short-toed Eagle. The next day, and the last for Vreni, the Hotspot list grew with 2 more species: Garganey and Egyptian Vulture. With the total now at 148 things were going smoothly, and then, well then the world changed for us all with the lockdown announcement…

we had a good run on the plains, with singing Dupont’s Lark, and at least 6 Lesser Short-toed Larks

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