BirdingInSpain

FAMOUS BIRDING QUOTES

” Do be do be do ” Frank Sinatra, dumbstruck, after having stumbled across a mind-shattering rarity.

” Romeo, Romeo, wherefore art thou Romeo ? ” Juliet, desperately hoping that her boyfriend Romeo would return before the Rose Breasted Grosbeak that was hopping around in a bush only metres away (and that her loved one had trekked off 4 miles away to the headland to try and find) disappeared.

” We are not amused ” Queen Victoria on being regretfully informed that hers was not the biggest life list in the British Empire.

” We’ll find them on the beaches ” W.Churchill predicting an auk wreck on the east coast.

” I don’t remember ” R.Reagan when asked to describe the characteristics of the bird which he had claimed as the first Blue Rock Thrush for the American Continent.

” You’ve never had it so good ” Harold Macmillan addressing the nation’s birdwatchers to assert that it had been one of the best years on record for Nearctic passerines.

” To be or not to be, that is the question ” Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, deeply affected by his 15th successive dip. Wishing to avoid exposure to the ridicule of his birdwatching colleagues, he is caught up in an existentialist debate.

This January 2008 the Birdinginspain.com web site has received over 1,000 unique visitors. For the first time since its creation in late June 2007.

Most visitors by far come from the USA, second in the ranking is Spain, and then the usual third is the UK, although this month it has been surpassed by Sweden and Holland.

If you haven’t visited the page then take a look at the different sections dealing with Steve West’s birder’s books, itineraries, maps and photos dealing with birding sites in northeast Spain, free birding downloads such as checklists and trip reports, bird recordings and more.

A recently incorporated section is “Hotspot Holidays” – a product offered exclusively by Birdinginspain.com for birders and naturalists who prefer the slow travel concept. More about Hotspot holidays in a later post.

Another mid-January is upon us and the time has come for John, Hans, Pierre, Mario and scores of other birders from all over Europe to get out and count their populations of wintering waterbirds.

Every year Wetlands International co-ordinates the European mid-winter waterbird counts and publishes the results. That way we can all see what is happening to our winter water birds and possibly even our climate.

Mind you, there’s usually little need to tell the good birders of Lleida, Catalonia, what is happening to their climate, as they can usually see it for themselves: for at these dates there is almost invariably a blanket of impenetrable fog cloaking the plain between Montsec and the mountains of Tarragona! But the birders of Lleida show their resilience and resourcefulness at such times of adversity and usually end up retiring to the nearest bar and a coffee or two to wait for the fog to lift. And sometimes it does.

Fog was predicted for this weekend. On Saturday the Lleida City Council wanted me to show a small but interested public how to conduct the winter water birds census on their local patch, the municipal park of la Mitjana, riverside woodland on both banks of the River Segre. Before leaving home I checked the small change in my pocket to make sure I had enough to buy a coffee, but when I got to la Mitjana the fog had still not descended.  And neither did it for the rest of the day.

So in the end the census participants and myself had a pleasant walk around la Mitjana. The birds we saw were the usual ones: Moorhens, Coots, Little Grebes, Mallard (and 1 Gadwall), Cormorants, Grey Heron, Little Egret, Grey Wagtail, etc. For me the highlight of the day was the ever-splendid Kingfisher perched on a reedmace head. And the obvious enthusiasm of a good number of my companions.

I must admit though, by about midday I was missing the coffee!

The Dutch Birding Association have done it (but then again they always do!) and so have the UK400 club, will others follow suit? Will the Iberian Green Woodpecker, now standing as Picus viridis sharpei soon be universally accepted as different enough to become Picus sharpei, a species in its own right?

Time will tell, but if past experience is anything to go by then the Dutch are usually the first to split, while others reluctantly follow suit some years later! In practical terms this split will mean a lot more birders on the look out for a bird that previously they would have paid scant attention to. I’ve already had an enquiry or two about the distribution of this species in northeast Spain…from Dutch birders, of course.

Christmas is over

The birder’s getting fat,

So don the greasy Barber

And the silly birding hat.

If you haven’t got a Barber

Then any jacket will do

But if you have no birder’s hat

Then Gold help you!

Happy birding for 2008, and may the world be a little better for people and birds by 2009!

December isn’t over yet and already the Birdinginspain.com website has received some 45 direct-linked visits from the Swedish birdclub Värnamo Fagelklubb. It seems that they are planning a birding visit that will take in the Belchite steppes, the Ports of Tortosa and the Ebro Delta. That’s a pretty good selection, lads!

The combination of the sites and itineraries on the Birdinginspain.com website (with free downloadable maps and detailed descriptions), the quality recommended accommodation (from someone who knows a bit about decent birding sites and hotels) and the information in “Where the birds are in northeast Spain” to help you find the most interesting birds at a large number of sites, is the perfect birder’s guide to the region.

I sincerely hope that Värnamo Fageklubb have a great time birding in northeast Spain, and that they will make the most of our advice to get the very best out of this excellent birding area.

Happy Birding!

A band of Dotterels have been hanging around near the Alfés aerodrome this December. Now the place is not unusual, it’s a site well described for passage Dotterel in “Where the birds are in northeast Spain”, but the time of year most certainly is. The latest in the year that I have ever seen Dotterel in this part of Spain is in mid October. I also know of a record of a very large group in the nearby Monegros in early November. But this December record is at least a month later than any other in the region.

A sign of the times? A freak occurence, one of those that we birders are so fond of? Perhaps both.

When I came to live in Lleida in early 1989 there was just one pair of White Storks breeding in the city, on the cathedral. And that pair used to vacate the region in the winter. Now there are scores of storks nests, with around 20 nests on the cathedral alone. And most of those birds choose to stay here during the winter rather than set out on a long and hazardous migration to Africa.

Since I have been living here Red-rumped Swallows have colonized a number of areas in the vicinty of Lleida city. Black-winged Kites have also bred intermittently since their first recorded breeding in Catalonia in 1997.

Human migrations have also undergone dramatic changes.

We live in a rapidly changing world. Do you think the birds haven’t noticed?

As of December 2007 the Birdinginspain.com website has incorporated a range of wonderful natural sounds to many of its most outstanding birding itineraries of northeast Spain. Thanks to a generous understanding with Eloïsa Matheu, the creator of Alosa – Sonidos de la Naturaleza, you can now read the birding itineraries, and look at the maps and photos while you listen to real sounds of nature.

The different ambients reproduced are representative of high mountain, Mediterranean scrubland, rocky gorges, coastal wetlands, woodland and steppes. Gallocanta has its own particular sound. We suggest that you go to the Birdinginspain.com website and listen to them now, and that you then visit the Alosa website to find out more about these recordings and the many others that are on offer.

There’s nothing like a bit of self-promotion for inviting the critics to have their say. Especially those who have never had to lift a finger for themselves.

Well, all you indolent nit-pickers, now’s your chance, as I’m going to mention two independent reviews that treat my last book “Flying over the Pyrenees, standing on the plains” in a most favourable light.

First of all is the Birder’s Library:

“…along the way we get glimpses into the author’s past, insight into our shared pastime, and information about Spanish birds, history, and culture.”

“…much of what he shares will resonate with all birders, no matter how old they are, or where they are from.”

To summarise all the good things that Grant McCreary says about “Flying over the Pyrenees…”

“Simply put, this book was a delight.”

“This is highly recommended to anyone who can get their hands on a copy.”

The original article can be seen at this link.

Colin Wright from Subbuteo Natural History Books reviewed the book in August and liked it so much that “Flying over the Pyrenees, standing on the plains” was made their “book of the month” in September 2007. Here is how Colin concludes his appraisal:

“This is an ideal book for the bedside, a wet day on holiday or whilst travelling, especially if you are heading for Spain. …Steve’s infectious enthusiasm for the birds will draw you towards this sometimes overlooked part of Spain.”

If you want to see Colin Wright’s full review follow this link.

Details about the book in question can be seen in the books section of the Birdinginspain.com website, or at it’s own special website http://www.flyingoverthepyrenees.info

Get it in time for Christmas!

This is a call from Birdinginspain.com to all fellow birders who may be planning a birding trip to Spain, not just northeast Spain, but anywhere in this bird-rich country.

Go birding and be seen. Bird and be proud, and in so doing give native Spaniards a little insight as to why you are in their country. “I’m here for the birds” is a valid statement, above all when they can see that you are a paying guest. And that the country’s natural heritage has value and pulling power.

If hoteliers, hire companies, shopkeepers and farmers can see you enjoying wildlife and in a way that may bring them some benefit without doing any harm to the environment, then your visit will have had a positive impact. Some of them may start to regard the steppes, mountains and wetlands that you visit as positive assets, as something worth protecting.

That doesn’t mean that you should blow trumpets when you arrive. Or wave huge flags from your hotel balcony. There are other more subtle but effective ways of being seen birding:

(i) Carry binoculars with you to hotel receptions, shops, restaurants etc.

(ii) If approached by curious onlookers, be polite. Explain what you are doing with the bird guide, gestures and even a little Spanish (or Catalan if in Catalonia).

“I’m watching birds”

= Spanish: “Estoy mirando pájaros” (es-toy-meer-an-do-pa-har-ohs)

= Catalan: “Estic mirant ocells” (es-tick-meer-an-oh-seylls)

(iii) Take some bird-related stickers with you and give them to hoteliers and the like. Or stick them on your car (not on rental cars though!)

(iv) If going to a very bird-oriented destination, such as a hotel near Belchite or the Ebro Delta you could even try to establish a birder’s logbook in the hotel. Take one or two with you and try it out.

Happy Birding!