BirdingInSpain

Els agents rurals (“forestals”) de les 4 provincies de Catalunya van assistir a un curset a Salou els dies 12, 13 i 14 d’abril. “Identificació d’aus del litoral català”.

En total vam passar unes 20 hores junts, incloent-hi un dia sencer en el camp, tot posant en pràctica els coneixements adquirits a l’aula. La reserva de Remolar-Filipines (Delta del Llobregat) va donar molt de si (a més d’una sorpresa molt agradable en forma d’un Rascletó Porzana parva). Hi havia també un gran nombre d’ànecs i de limicoles, el Xarrasclet, un Territ de Temminck, Tètols, Becplaners, …

Desprès del nostre picnic a la platja vam pujar al massís de Garraf, on l’única cosa que es movia era una parella d’Aguila Cuabarrada. Al poble del mateix nom vam caminar al peu dels penya-segats. Aquí vam veure Merla Blava, Còlit Negre, Falcó Pelegrí, Tallareta Vulgar, Cotxa Cua-roja entre altres.

Participants en el curset. Tots contents perque ningú va suspendre l’evaluació final!

We’ve really splashed out here at BirdinginSpain and have just had 100 unique T-shirts printed with the BirdingInSpain.com logo. The logo is on a white background and the size range includes S, M, L, XL and XXL.

These T-shirts will not be available to the general public I’m afraid. Only to BirdingInSpain.com clients, and on request.

By the way, I must admit I got a bit of a shock when Florinda politely observed that my size was more of an XL than an L or even an M!

This last season our Lammergeier hides have been used by no fewer than 33 bird and wildlife photographers. Not one of them returned home without a good number of photographs of Lammergeier, Black Vulture and Griffon Vulture. The later visitors also had Egyptian Vulture.

Access to the Lammergeier hides for photography is now closed until October. In that time we are planning to make a series of important and interesting improvements, which will mean greater comfort, more photographic possibilities and more convenient logistical arrangements for our demanding clients!

We will keep you informed. For the moment we would like to issue a huge THANK YOU to all of our clients who deposited a great deal of trust in us. And another one to all of them who graciously shared some of their hard-earned fruits with the rest of the bird photography community. One such person is Jonny Verheyden, who has kindly given us permission to reproduce one of his superb Lammergeier photos on this blog.

Lammergeier in flight by Jonny Verheyden.

We can’t thank you enough for such a great trip! It was wonderful, and made us hungry for more.

Ann

I’ve finally gotten my lists more or less in order and find I have more than thirty life birds, but finding new birds didn’t mean as much as the wonder of the days—clouds of swifts above and carpets of poppies below.

John

The two days I spent with you both, showing you the birds and the landscapes around my home in Lleida were a pleasure for me too. Thank you John and Ann, and may you have many more marvellous birding experiences!

Favorite birds of the SPAIN TOUR,
conducted 15-27 April 2010, as voted upon by the 11 participants & 2 leaders.

Rank Species   Points  Votes  First place votes

1 LAMMERGEIER    105     12    7
2 Great Bustard           60      9
3 Wallcreeper               57      6     4
4 Collared Pratincole   39      8
5 Firecrest                    35      6     1
6 Ring Ouzel                 32      7     1
7 Black Wheatear        32      6
8 Dartford Warbler     28      6
9 Little Bustard           28      5
10 Pin-tailed Sandgrouse    22      5
11 Azure-winged Magpie    18      4
12 Wryneck      18      3
13 Spanish Imperial Eagle    15      3
14 Little Bittern     15      3
15 Red Kite       15      2
16 Garganey     14      2
17 Crested Tit   13      2
18 Montagu’s Harrier     9      1
19 Audouin’s Gull      8      3
20 Snowfinch      8      1

The Lammergeier strikes again!

Lammergeier, Gypaetus barbatus. Reproduced with kind permission of wildlife photographer Jonny Verheyden.

For tour participants there is now a story behind all of these names. And each story will have its own personal touch.

The best of Spanish greetings to Bob and Nancy at Birdtreks and to the Westchester Bird Club members who participated in this unforgettable tour!

The following is a series of photos taken by Dutch bird photographer Frank Dröge on Thursday 18th March at our Lammergeier feeding station and photography site in the Pre-Pyrenees of Catalonia, Spain.

Probable juvenile Spanish Imperial Eagle Aquila adalberti. All photographs copyright of Frank Dröge.

They show what is obviously a juvenile Aquila eagle, but one which is not a Golden Eagle Aquila chrysaetos, the only Aquila eagle that could be expected in the region. The combination of the pale, milky-brown coloration, the general lack of streaking, the all dark tail, the degree of contrast on the outer and inner halves of the outer primaries and the deep, heavy bill have led us to conclude that it is a juvenile Spanish Imperial Eagle Aquila adalberti.

However, to get here we had to consider several candidates, including Eastern Imperial Eagle Aquila heliaca, the fulvescens form of the Greater Spotted Eagle Aquila clanga, and even the Tawny Eagle Aquila rapax.

The main obstacle to 100% confidence in Spanish Imperial Eagle is the pale coloration, much paler than the few juveniles that Frank and I have seen between us. Could this be due to wear or bleaching?

We would be glad to hear any comments that can shed light on this matter.

Last Monday’s snowfall in Catalonia made the records. It must be said that Barcelona doesn’t usually get knee-high in snow in early March.

But the snow wasn’t just in Barcelona you know. The mountains of the Pyrenees and pre-Pyrenees had a very good helping of the stuff too. On Monday the roads were blocked, but on Tuesday I took 3 photographers up to the site to photograph the Lammergeier through 30cm of snow. The landscape was a delight, the sky was a perfect sky blue and the odd gust of wind blew glittering powdered snow around trees and rocks.

We had to shovel snow and push the car through snow drifts. It took us 2 and a half hours to get to the feeding station when normally it only takes 25 minutes. But we had our reward. Unforgettable. The birds, the light, the landscape. The experience.   

BirdingInSpain.com, getting you to places where nobody else would even try.

A snow-capped Villa Hide

There’snow problem!

¡Este año sí!

¡Vamos a Bulgaria!

El año pasado nosotros en BirdingInSpain.com lanzamos una propuesta ornitológica al público español que pensábamos iba a ser ideal, ganadora, atractiva y, además, iba a contribuir directamente a la conservación del patrimonio del país que planeabamos visitar: Bulgaria.  

Pensábamos que, después de leer la oferta, ver el precio super asequible, leer el potencial ornitológico de Bulgaria a través del enlace al “trip report” de un viaje que hicimos en el año 2005: 

http://www.birdinginspain.com/free-downloads/bulgaria.pdf

 …pensábamos que iba a ser un éxito inmediato. Pensábamos que, a pesar de la crisis, los ornitólogos españoles reconocerían el valor de la oportunidad de hacer un viaje ornitológico excelente, al mismo tiempo que contribuirian con el 10% del coste del viaje a la conservación del águila imperial oriental Aquila heliaca.

¡Tanto pensar nos hizo mal! Por las razones que sean, no hubo respuesta suficiente para seguir con el viaje y, muy a pesar nuestro, tuvimos que cancelarlo.

Pero este año hemos vuelto, y hemos resucitado el viaje a Bulgaria, gracias sobretodo al interés demostrado por un contingente importante de ornitólogos del norte (Miradas Cantábricas). ¡Ya tenemos viaje a Bulgaria!

Así, que vengan los Pelícanos Ceñudos, los Gavilanes Griegos, las Águilas Imperiales Orientales, los Pitos Canos y Siriacos, y un largo etc. ¡Estaremos preparados! Y con el guiaje de Neophron Tours , guias nativos de Bulgaria, profesionales y expertos en las aves de su país, tenemos garantizadas las mejores posibilidades de encontrar las especies más interesantes.

Y, como último, una contribución de 94.5 euros por persona, total = 756 EUR para  ayudar al águila imperial oriental. Un pequeño bálsamo para nuestras conciencias ecologistas.

The southern part of Mallorca offers beautiful beaches, sea views and some very good birding

At this stage you really should know that Mallorca is more than just a sun and beach holiday destination. Especially if you are a birder. But if you are still in some doubt just check out the birding itineraries in the Mallorca section of the main BirdingInSpain.com website.

The spectacular Formentor peninsula is home to Eleonora’s Falcons, Balearic Warblers and much more.

Places like s’Albufera, Ses Salines, the Tramuntana range, the Formentor peninsula, the Artà peninsula, are all places that the birder cannot afford to miss if he or she spends any time on this rich and varied island in the Western Mediterranean.

Black Vulture, one of the specialities of Mallorca, can be seen in the Tramuntana range

Birds you’d want to look out for include the endemic Balearic Warbler, Balearic Shearwater, Eleonora’s Falcon, Black Vulture, Audouin’s Gull….

Red-crested Pochards can be seen at the S’Albufera Natural Park

The good news is we are working with a number of top quality hotels on this splendid island. Take a look at the itinerary, click on the “Recommended accommodation” link and see for yourself what your travel agent hasn’t told you. You’ll find hotels of different kinds and styles but with something in common: they welcome birders and their families and have excellent birding opportunities nearby, often on the very doorstep.  

Scops Owl can be detected in the grounds of some of our recommended hotels

S’Albufera Natural Park – try Iberostar Playa de Muro

Tramuntana range – try Can Torna or Mallorca4seasons

Boquer Valley and Formentor peninsula – try Grupotel Molins

Ses Salines and Salines des Salobrar – try Finca Son Guardiola or Can Canals

Artà peninsula – try Grupotel Cala Ratjada or Grupotel Gran Vista and spa

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.