BirdingInSpain

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?

Does anybody know where the photo below was taken?

I suspect not, so I’ll provide some clues:

It’s part of a natural birding hotspot with more than 120 species of breeding bird in a 25 kilometre radius.

The highest peak reaches up to 1668 metres. It is not in the Pyrenees.

Within the hotspot there are drylands with breeding Lesser Kestrels, Little Bustards, Black-bellied Sandgrouse, etc.

There are also birds of wetland areas such as Purple Heron, Little Bittern, Penduline Tit…

In the mountains there are Bonelli’s Eagles, Lammergeiers and Griffon Vultures.

It’s somewhere in Catalonia.

Any guesses? Why not send me an e-mail and see if you’re right?

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!

For the third year running Naturetrek are offering their excellent and well-researched trip to the Catalan Pyrenees. How could it be otherwise, seeing that they are relying on the intimate knowledge and expertise of BirdinginSpain.com to show their clients the very best of the region?

Highlights of the May 2007 tour are rather too numerous to describe here, but can be seen in detail in the trip report which is accessible at the following link:

Catalonia

We aim to repeat everything that made it a winning formula: the hotels, the sites and itineraries, and some wonderful encounters with an incredibly varied birdlife. Hopefully good weather will also be the name of the day!

For more details and the trip report click on the link above.

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!

There are times when one must acknowledge, however reluctantly, that there’s more to life than birds and birding. There are also butterflies, orchids, flowers…even bats. Yes, bats. Those cute flying rodents that fly around when most birds have tucked down for the night. Just imagine if you were able to see in the dark, and had as much interest in watching bats as you do in watching birds. Then you’d have a perfect excuse for staying out all day and all night!

Wouldn’t that make the other half really happy!

Seriously though, bats are really fascinating creatures, and although I’ve seen quite a few here in Catalunya I’ve never got very far with their identification. I’ve been roaming around the web a bit and just found this very comprehensive site dedicated exclusively to bats. Basically it’s the fatbirder equivalent site for bats and incorporates all the links that the author, Jim Buzbee, has found relating to his personal passion for those widely misunderstood fluffy beings.

Follow this link to find out much more about bats.

Introduce a new angle to those exhausting 24 hour bird marathons.

It could be said that the village of Faió is twice hidden. Once when the construction of the Riba-Roja reservoir flooded the old village, which was relocated on higher ground nearby. And twice, even now in the 21st Century, when the solitude of the village is pierced more by the River Ebro than by the winding roads that lead to it.

This is a part of northeast Spain that is ideal for those who like birding at their own pace. Stop now and then to admire the lonely hermitages, bee-eaters, rocky crags perhaps inhabited by the Blue Rock Thrush or a shy pair of Black Wheatears.

Stroll among the scented pinewoods listening to Bonelli’s Warblers, Sardinian Warblers and Crested Tits, stand on top of a breezy hill to watch for the Short-toed Eagle, the Griffon Vulture, and maybe even a Golden Eagle. Then approach vertical riverside cliffs, domain of Peregrine Falcons, Alpine Swifts, Egyptian Vultures and more.

This was a site of intense fighting during the Spanish Civil War. Faió was an important piece of the aptly named Battle of the Ebro. It’s hard to believe that such a tranquil setting could have had such a turbulent 20th Century.

The Monegros, Ebro Valley. The most arid part of northern Spain.

This is still one of the best birding areas in northeast Spain for dryland, or steppeland, birds. Calandra larks, Lesser Short Toed larks, Short Toed larks, Lesser kestrels, Black-bellied Sandgrouse, Little Bustard and even a relict population of Great Bustard inhabit this seemingly barren landscape.

Alas, apart from birders and a handful of naturalists, the Monegros are unloved. Most decision-makers would rather see thousands of hectares of transgenic maize, or better still, something like “Las VegasII” – a 2,000 ha leisure complex  with 32 hotels, golf courses, all in the middle of the semi-desert.

And they say the wildlife won’t be affected.