BirdingInSpain

Red Kites flock at a site near Lleida. 

Has anybody seen a Brambling this winter? I haven’t yet, but last year I saw more than a dozen in a single tree!

The Griffon Vulture may be a carrion-feeder but it still has its beauty. And most of them stay around in the winter.

Bellmunt drylands. No Little Bustards here now!Instead we can look out for Merlin, Hen Harrier, Red Kite, Peregrine Falcon, Golden Eagle.

The Avellanes Monastery as it is rarely seen. This is the doorway to the birds of the Montsec range as well as the drylands to the north of Lleida.

Gallocanta is the place to see Cranes in northeast Spain at this time of the year, but that doesn’t mean it is the only place. Cranes make a great complement to a winter day’s birding anywhere in Spain. Here we were fortunate to encounter a flock of almost 200 birds on the steppes of Belchite.

Looking for a Dupont’s Lark in the fog was a tough job. The Cranes made it easier to bear the pressure that mounted until we finally set eyes on our target in the early afternoon. They were grey for sure but added a lot of colour to a grey day. The other birds of the day that deserve a mention are Black Wheatear, Pin-tailed Sandgrouse (a big flock of more than 300 birds),  a single Black-bellied Sandgrouse, a Merlin, and plenty of larks.

Then there was a warming cup of tea at our recommended hotel, Rincón del Cierzo, and the smiling proprietoress Olga.

Some Famous “Birding” Quotes

In case you missed them the first time round…
“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 Black-and-white Warbler 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 Lammergeier for the American Continent.

“You’ve never had it so good” Harold Macmillan addressing the British 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.

Some images from the Catalonia archives to brighten up those miserable winter days.  

 Haven’t Carrion Crows got anything better to do than to pester Golden Eagles everywhere they go?

A White Stork is suddenly and inexplicably gripped with a terrible urge to break the sound barrier.

SO you think there’s nothing tough about a Tree Sparrow? Why don’t YOU try getting through the winter on a handful of millet!

A Thekla Lark is NOT a toy.

Can you identify the flying birds in these photographs?

Photo flying birds number 1: tricky.

Photo flying birds number 2: not so tricky, but not easy.

Photo flying birds number 3: should be easy enough.

BirdingInSpain.com will give a prize to the first 3 correct answers received (all 5 species) which are accompanied with the contestant’s own mystery flight photo.

Part of the autumn maintenance of the BirdingInSpain.com website is the renovation of links to our many recommended hotels. This is the time when the professional establishments that collaborate with BirdingInSpain.com decide if they want to extend their relationship with us for another year, or to say farewell to the birding community.

It should be said that we at BirdingInSpain.com don’t just recommend any old hotel, because if we did we’d be putting our reputation on the line for a very poor return. We either select hotels that we know personally, or hotels which our clients or friends recommend to us. We also apply desirable criteria like an attractive rural setting (with good birding on the doorstep if possible), personal treatment, quality service at a reasonable price and an inclination to understanding a birder’s needs.  

These following hotels have decided to continue their relationship with BirdingInSpain.com and to welcome birders from all over the world:

Delta Hotel, Ebro Delta

Rincón Del Cierzo, Belchite

Allucant, Gallocanta

Castellsdelleida, Montsec

Monestir de les Avellanes, Montsec

Hotel Usón, Hecho Valley

Hospedería Loarre, Sierra de Guara West

Hostería Sierra de Guara, Sierra de Guara East

Hotel Roca Blanca, Aigüestortes East

Hospital de Benasque, Benasque

Hotel Mediodía, Aínsa to Gistaín

Hotel la Garbinada, Drylands of Lleida

Can Navata, Aiguamolls de l’Empordà

Mas del Joncar, Aiguamolls de l’Empordà

La Farinera, Els Ports

Hotel Santa Cruz de la Serós, Hecho Valley

Xalet de Prades, Montsant and Prades

Some others have only just joined us, and are keen to receive birders. Let’s not disappoint them: 

Les Eres, Serra del Cadí

Metsola, Irati and Roncal Valley

Hotel Secaiza, Gallocanta

Casagran, Cardó Massif

Font del Pas, Els Ports

Descendants of the British House Mouse are killing huge numbers of albatrosses, petrels and shearwaters every year in British Overseas Territories and British Protectorates. Yes, MICE! They gnaw at and eventually eat defenceless chicks on the nest.

If you are a British resident or expat then you can sign the petition requesting that the British government dedicate sufficient economic resources to overcome this macabre situation.

Click here to read and sign the petition. 

We at BirdingInSpain.com invite you to read the Birdfreak review of “Where the birds are in northeast Spain”

“…an excellent resource for birders wishing to explore an exciting part of Europe”

                                                                                           The Birdfreak Team, Jan 6th 2009

And if you haven’t read the Birder’s Library review of “Flying over the Pyrenees, standing on the plains” what are you waiting for?

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

                                                                             Grant McReary, The Birder’s Library

Sometimes I get the impression that people think that BirdingInSpain.com is about birds, and only birds. I hope that the following images will dispell that myth.

Construction in Spain has suffered a downturn as a result of the credit crunch.

Photo by Beat Rüegger

In these difficult times is the grass really greener on the other side of the Pyrenees?

Reconstruction of what many “properties in Spain” used to look like.

Who knows? Maybe every cloud has a silver lining. Rampant, uncontrollable urbanisation may have met its match at last.

Photo by Beat Rüegger

Birding is brill. Especially in the spring in northeast Spain.  But not all is birds, or so they tell me.

What else is there? Well, you could just pop in this part of Spain to see the spectacular poppy fields all over the lowlands this spring. Although don’t delay for too long, as they’re already on their way out.

Photos by Gerd Herren

Just in case you can’t make it I would like to share a couple of images of the poppy-strewn drylands of Balaguer with you all. Photos taken by my friend Gerd Herren who visited us with his wife Verónica earlier this month. Enjoy!