BirdingInSpain

On Friday the 20th June Gorka Gorospe, Byron Palacios and myself observed an adult Audouin’s Gull at the Laguna de Pitillas, in the east of Navarra,  in northern Spain.  According to Gorka, a local birder and the brain behind the Birding Navarra initiative, the species had never before been recorded in the region. In other words it was a first for Navarra. Congratulations, Gorka (he spotted it first!).

I should also say a thing or two about Pitillas itself. What a great birding site! It’s the largest and most important wetland site in Navarra, and just a stone’s throw from the semi-desert of the Bardenas Reales (that’s another story though). It has a reception area, a hide and marked trails and most important of all a lot of interesting birds. Apart from the Audouin’s Gull, which won’t be there when you visit, we also saw Bittern, Bearded Tit, 2 Ruddy Shelduck, Montagu’s Harrier, Red-crested Pochard, Calandra Lark, Short-toed Lark, Tawny Pipit, Little Ringed Plover, Bee-eater, Great Reed Warbler….

And with the San Fermines approaching, need I say more?

Because of rising house prices in Spain, exacerbated by last year’s mortgage crisis and the slump in the construction trade decent affordable accommodation is getting hard to find. That’s especially so in the countryside and for new arrivals attempting to make themselves a home where they can raise a family. By means of illustration take a look at this notice found hanging on an almond tree in the drylands of Bellmunt:

“Fertile adult female Roller seeking dazzling adult male Roller. Must be home owner, preferably of sizeable hole in old tree, although new nest box also accepted. Ability to catch large insects and lizards and to carry out aerial displays will also be valued, although home ownership is a pre-requisite for breeding consent. Non-territorial male Rollers, and all female Rollers, please abstain.”

Luckily Rollers can still be seen in the drylands of Bellmunt, as well as in other dryland areas around Lleida, although decent nest sites are obviously scarce. Apart from the extent of suitable habitat, this is probably the single most important factor limiting the size of the Roller populations in northeast Spain.

Birders who have visited Extremadura are probably familiar with the nest boxes located on telegraph poles by the side of the road in certain areas. These nest boxes are largely aimed at Rollers and have been very successful. Isn’t it time to follow their example and put up some nest boxes for the Rollers reaching northeast Spain every spring?

This year’s breeding season is well under way, but it’s never too late to plan ahead and prepare to set up some Roller nest boxes before the drylands get plastered with signs like the one above.

Collared Pratincole Glareola pratincola

The Collared Pratincole is a summer visitor to northeast Spain, normally present from April to September. Small numbers appear irregularly on spring passage at non-breeding sites. There is only one regular breeding site for Collared Pratincoles in the region.

Birding itineraries in northeast Spain where you can see the Collared Pratincole: Ebro delta south and north

Lammergeier Gypaetus barbatus

In Spain the Lammergeier is currently restricted to the Pyrenees and pre-Pyrenees, where it is present all year round. Double-figure gatherings may occur at certain vulture restaurants.

Birding itineraries in northeast Spain where you can observe the Lammergeier: Gistaín to Aínsa, Ordesa National Park, Hecho and Ansó valleys, Benasque, Rincón de Belagua, Selva de Iratí and Ori, Serra del Cadí, Aigüestortes west and east, Montsec range, Sierra de Guara west and east.

On the 22nd April a lucky observer found a Cream-coloured Courser among a group of 6 Dotterel in a dryland area near Lleida. The observation was not reported until the bird had gone as it was in a sensitive area where Black-bellied Sandgrouse could breed this year. After the demise of the Dupont’s Lark in Catalonia the Black-bellied Sandgrouse, along with the Lesser Grey Shrike, is probably the most endangered bird species in this part of Spain. So in my mind the observer acted responsibly: getting his priorities right and putting the welfare of a rare breeding bird before the needs of local listers.

Luckily for all the first ever Cream-coloured Courser for the Lleida area turned up a couple of winters ago in a different dryland area to the north of Lleida, and stayed in place long enough to satisfy those who drove from Barcelona or Girona to see it. Of course then the local Lleida birders were the first on the scene. Including me!

Funnily enough there are other records of Cream-coloured Coursers on mainland Spain apparently associated with small flocks of Dotterels. How does that come about I wonder?

Here is the second part of the first arrival dates for migrant birds arriving in the Lleida area this spring:

• Alpine Swift Apus melba 16-Mar
• Purple Heron Ardea purpurea 16-Mar
• Black-eared Wheatear Oenanthe hispanica 16-Mar
• Little Stint Calidris minuta 17-Mar
• Wood Sandpiper Tringa glareola 17-Mar
• Willow Warbler Phylloscopus trochilus 17-Mar
• Short-toed Lark Calandrella brachydactyla 19-Mar
• Spotted Redshank Tringa erythropus 21-Mar
• Ringed Plover Charadrius hiaticula 21-Mar
• Cuckoo 29-Mar
• Savi’s Warbler Locustella luscinoides 29-Mar
• Bonelli’s Warbler Phylloscopus bonelli 30-Mar
• Swift Apus apus 31-Mar
• Dunlin Calidris alpina 01-Apr
• Turtle Dove Streptopelia turtur 01-Apr
• Wryneck Jynx torquilla 03-Apr
• Great Reed Warbler Acr. arundinaceus 03-Apr
• Temminck’s Stint Calidris temminckii 04-Apr
• Montagu’s Harrier Circus pygargus 04-Apr
• Spectacled Warbler Sylvia conspicillata 04-Apr
• Tawny Pipit Anthus campestris 06-Apr
• Nightingale Luscinia megarhynchos 06-Apr
• Quail Coturnix coturnix 06-Apr
• Golden Oriole Oriolus oriolus 06-Apr
• Red-footed Falcon Falco vespertinus 07-Apr
• Black Tern Chlidonias niger 08-Apr
• Whiskered Tern Chlidonias hybridus 08-Apr

Of these the only bird that seems to be “offtime” is the Red-footed Falcon, which in my experience normally makes its appearance at the beginning of May, virtually a month later than the date recorded here for this species.

Spring has been around here in Lleida for some time now. According to weather reports from the UK it’s difficult to echo that statement further north.

So just for a bit of fun, let’s compare notes. The good (native and naturalized) birders from the general area around Lleida have been collecting observations of first spring arrivals of migratory bird species for the last few years. And rather than keeping them to ourselves, I thought “Why not share them with the international birding community?”. Someone out there might find this information useful or at least interesting.

Of course observations of first arrivals of migratory birds are not much use for scientifc purposes. Personally I think that such records should be extended to at least second and third observations, mostly in order to help to iron out anomalies, either in the bird world or in their human recorders.

But let’s be content with what there is, rather than gripe on about what there isn’t.

Below then are the first arrival dates for the migratory birds recorded in the Lleida area (northeast Spain) up until the 15th March. Birds recorded on later dates to follow.

SPECIES                                                                     DATE
Black Stork Ciconia nigra 19-Feb
Little Ringed Plover Charadrius dubius 19-Feb
Great Spotted Cuckoo Clamator glandarius 21-Feb
House Martin Delichon urbicum 23-Feb
Barn Swallow Hirundo rustica 23-Feb
Garganey Anas querquedula 27-Feb
Black Kite Milvus migrans 01-Mar
Red-rumped Swallow Hirundo daurica 01-Mar
Ruff Philomaxus pugnax 02-Mar
Egyptian Vulture Neophron percnopterus 04-Mar
Short-toed Eagle Circaetus gallicus 06-Mar
Lesser Kestrel Falco naumanni 08-Mar
Ring Ouzel Turdus torquatus 09-Mar
Sand Martin Riparia riparia 09-Mar
Osprey Pandion haliaetus 12-Mar
Black-winged Stilt Himantopus himantopus 13-Mar
Reed Warbler Acrocephalus scirpaceus 13-Mar
Booted Eagle Hieraaetus pennatus 13-Mar
Yellow Wagtail Motacilla flava 13-Mar
Tree Pipit Anthus trivialis 13-Mar
Redstart Phoenicurus phoenicurus 14-Mar
Whinchat Saxicola rubetra 14-Mar

Just a quick note of the “first” arrivals that I have had the fortune to encounter over the last week or so:

3 Short-toed Eagles (together, and screaming like gulls, weird)

Several Garganey, both male and female

Willow Warbler singing

A horde of Swallows and Sand Martins

Little Ringed Plover, Wood Sandpiper, Black-tailed Godwit and Black-winged Stilt as the wader representation

2 Egyptian Vultures and a few Black Kites in the Pre-Pyrenees

Tree Pipits calling, small parties of Yellow Wagtails

What I haven’t seen, despite looking:

Spectacled Warbler, Montagu’s Harrier (or even a flukey Pallid Harrier), House Martin

All the more reason to get out and about!

Bonelli’s Eagle   Hieraaetus fasciatus

The Bonelli’s Eagle is a resident species with juvenile dispersal to non-breeding areas with abundant prey items. The Bonelli’s Eagle is undergoing a serious decline throughout its range, which in Spain is mostly due to electrocution, illegal shooting and habitat fragmentation. Nevertheless, Spain holds around 70% of the European population of this marvellous species of bird. The healthiest populations of Bonelli’s Eagle in northeast Spain are found in the sierras of Tarragona in Catalonia.

Some birding itineraries in northeast Spain where the Bonelli’s Eagle can be seen: Els Ports, Cardó massif, Prades and Montsant ranges, Garraf, Montgrí massif, Cap de Creus, Montsec range.

Out with my friend Manel birding on the drylands of Bellmunt, Lleida. A quick visit on the way home from Mont-roig (I know! I was there last week too, but it’s such a great place for birding!), mainly to see if any Little Bustards were marking territories. Nope, none.

But there we stood, listening to the melodic song (ehem!) of the Southern Grey Shrike, while watching a good number and variety of raptors sailing on the morning’s thermals: a handful of Griffon Vultures, a Golden Eagle, 2 Red Kites, a Hen Harrier and a Marsh Harrier too.

We drove on a little and then Manel stopped. I’d signalled for him to do so because I had seen a black bird in a short grassy field (barley actually but being young and green it looked like grass) but I couldn’t tell what it was.

“A starling” said Manel. I was looking at an angle through the windscreen, and you know how that distorts, but starling didn’t seem right.

“A blackbird?” I suggested. “Or perhaps a Ring Ouzel?” even more tentatively.

“A Ring Ouzel?” repeated Manel, with an inquisitorial tone, which made me sincerely hope that the bird was not in fact a starling after all. The bird then hopped, flew a little closer to us, and helpfully turned towards us, showing a gleaming white half-moon.

“Oh! It is a Ring Ouzel!” exclaimed Manel, “Isn’t that strange!”

Well, strange no, because birds have wings and they use them to migrate. Furthermore early March is the peak season for Ring Ouzel migration in this part of Spain. Nevertheless, it was only the second Ring Ouzel I had seen near Lleida in the 20 years that I have lived here. So “strange” maybe not, but stimulating certainly.

The Ring Ouzel that breeds in the Spanish Pyrenees is of the race alpestris, while the Bellmunt bird was obviously a male of the nominate race torquatus. So if any of you more northern European residents happen to see a Ring Ouzel in your garden in the next week or so think that there’s just a tiny possibility that Manel and I had been watching that same creature on the drylands of Bellmunt, northeast Spain.