23 April 2008 - April Update (Spain Birding)
After recording a strange Chiffchaff singing yesterday in THE GARRAF, I later confirmed my first ever Iberian Chiffchaff. A little fortuitous as I heard it after stopping to allow a car to pass but I got great views, with its more Willow Warbler-like leg colour.
Willow Warblers are everywhere at the moment, with groups of up to twenty in each Almond Tree. The fruit seems to be attracting the insects that in turn attract the warblers, others being Sub-alpine, singing Bonelli's, Garden and a Spectacled in the same tree for the the last four days. Common Whitethroat, Dartford Warbler and of course Sardinian Warbler are all nearby also.
A few Spotted Flycatchers began coming through on the 21st to join their Pied cousins that have been around since the beginning of the month. Black-eared Wheatear and Common Redstart, both first seen in March, continue to move through but I've yet to see a Whinchat. There were plenty of Pallid Swift mixed in with the Common and Alpine Swifts and a pair of Red-rumped Swallow are still hanging a round a site where they attempted breeding last year.
Other new arrivals yesterday were two singing Nightingale and a pair of extremely close Tawny Pipits.
My first Woodchat Shrike wasn't seen until the 10th, next to a stunning and silent Common Cuckoo - both at Cal Tet, LLOBREGAT, but there have been plenty since. The same day also brought the first eagerly-awaited Collared Pratincole and a trip on the 19th added Turtle Dove, Knot and a host of other waders including Whimbrel, Black-tailed Godwit, Turnstone and flocks of Curlew Sandpiper.
The month began however with a spectacular trip to the CAP DE CREUS that, together a brief but busy stop off at Mas Mata in the AIGUAMOLLS at the end of the day, produced 105 species! A thorough run through and some great photos can be viewed on Zac Hinchcliffe's Blog.
I'm off to The Steppes on thursday, after which I hope to get some of the month's photos online.
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31 March 2008 - Spain Birding: March 2008 Summary
These two birding tour reports pretty much have this month covered:
Spring in the Steppes, 25 March 2008
Birding in Spain Holiday, 17-23 March 2008
but other highlights included a superb Ferruginous Duck at Cal Tet, LLOBREGAT on the 10th with singing Moustached Warbler, Barn Swallows, House Martin and Garganey also present. Black-winged Stilts arrived at Cal Tet on the 12th to join a pair of Pintail whilst in the GARRAF Alpine Accentor still hung around the car parks and the odd Gannet showed off-shore.
The last day of the month saw over 90 species in just four hours of birding around LLOBREGAT including year firsts of Pallid Swift, Common Swift, Whimbrel and Red-rumped Swallow.
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25 March 2008 - Spring in The Steppes (Spain Birding)
A day tour with Sam and Jamie Durrant, who kindly supplied his photos, on their quest for Great Spotted Cuckoos.
Due to a deliberately late start, traffic problems and wind building through out the day, we had to work hard for our birds today but these two Little Bustards, one of the first to pair up and set up a territory, would have made it worthwhile on their own.
Flocks of up to one hundred Calandra Larks and a couple of dozen Lesser Short-toed Larks sent up a welcoming chorus as I wound down the car window upon our arrival in the Steppes. Unfortunately, about the same number of dust grains blasted onto my eye balls and I wound it up again, deciding I'd appreciate their song another time.
We moved on quickly to try and capitalise on what little of the morning was left and were entertained by car side Hoopoe, several Stone-curlew and a stunning Black-eared Wheatear before a Black Kite did us a favour and flushed a small flock of Pin-tailed Sandgrouse, which complained noisily as they headed off over the horizon.
A thorough scan of the surrounding fields failed to find any more but it did refill my eyes with dust thankfully just after locating four Dotterel that had been historically over-wintering in the area since december. As usual during this time they had been politely posing for photos, a habit that seemed to be catching on as a Thekla Lark followed suit a few minutes later.
A diversion to nearby Aspa provided a welcome break from the wind and dust and an even more welcome opportunity for Jamie to pick up a lifer. A short hunt ended with both male and female Black Wheatears showing well to complete the set for Spain (several migrating Northern Wheatear had already been ticked).
Blue Rock Thrush, Southern Grey Shrike, Corn Bunting, Red-billed Chough and Short-toed Eagle all delayed our arrival at a small almond orchard bordered by the all important pine trees that serve up the normally distateful caterpillars that our main target bird loves to gobble up. We spent the next twenty minutes or more, accompanied by flocks of Linnets, head-shaving Alpine Swift and yet more Stone-curlew, stalking ever-better views of around seven or eight noisy and very flighty Great Spotted Cuckoos.
Once one settled in the fork of a nearby almond and sat there for a long-awaited study Jamie did his customary 'lifer dance' (whilst I was looking the other way) and we were happy.
Time then for a quick stop at the dump to watch the hundreds of White Storks, Black-headed Gulls, Black Kites and Cattle Egrets (about a hundred of which rose up like the week before to float along side the car as we drove through) to fight it out over luncheon scraps. A lone Red Kite made a last gasp attempt to get the 'raptor of the day' award as it descended over the car but an amazing assault of a Merlin on a passing Barn Swallow, failing in four attempts to tuck in to a late lunch, had already won that hands down.
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24 March 2008 - Catalonia guided birding holiday (Spain Birding, 17-23 March 2008)
"Thank you for a wonderful week. Great birds, great lunches and a beautiful area."
Younga Hennesey, Edwin Mayer, USA
Here's brief highlights of a week-long birding tour of Catalonia from 17 - 23 March 2008.
17.03.08 - Llobregat, Filipines-Remolar
A few hours at Filipines, Llobregat after the hotel pick-up saw the now usual Black-winged Stilts, Garganey, Greater Flamingoes and a host of waders on the thankfully exposed muddy borders to the reserve's lagoons. A close flock of about 40 Balearic Shearwaters and a floating Audouin's Gull from Remolar beach were quite superb but a single brand-new, brightly coloured male Common Redstart near the entrance barrier took some beating.
18.03.08 - The Ebro Delta
From an early welcome by a male Peregrine as we made our way to L'Encanyissada a flood of tireless Sand Martins and Barn Swallows provided a backdrop throughout the day. Other spring arrivals included Garganey, Purple Heron, Willow Warbler and a handful of spanish Yellow Wagtail with one particularly yellow individual really standing out against a bank a dark sticky mud.
Thankfully there was enough of this stuff about to attract 16 species of waders, all in good numbers, with even a single pink Water Pipit stepping between the toes of a small gathering of Little Ringed Pover and Green and Common Sandpipers.
The light phase Booted Eagle that has stayed over winter made a few appearances during the day including hovering over Riet Vell where, for the day's highlight, two ABSOLUTELY SUPERB Little Crakes tip-toed lightly over floating vegetation for repeated viewings and photo calls.
A small flock of Lesser Short-toed Larks, the resident presumed Western Reef Heron x Little Egret and a solitary Red-breasted Merganser all provided a little excitement around La Tancada.
At Les Olles, about 40 Whiskered Tern, all in winter plumage, hawked over the lagoon with a soon-to-depart still-bluey Bluethroat making us work for a decent view in the reeds there and a singing Moustached Warbler eventually doing likewise. The nearby Golero hosted Glossy Ibis, both Slender-billed and Audouin's Gulls and a small group of very showy Caspian Tern finally settled down for a snooze.
19.03.08 - The Pyrenees (plus Garraf)
Relentless rainfall and heavy snow scuppered our chances of bagging a few Pyrenean species to add to our growing list but we did use the occasional breaks to watch the bird life around a tributary of the river Llobregat. Rock Bunting, Blackcap, Wren, Grey and White Wagtail and Willow Warbler all did their best to cheer us up but we were more than happy watching the comings and goings of no less than three (White-throated) Dippers apparently nest-building under the eaves of a bridge.
A Red Kite sailed over the car en route home to the Garraf where we enjoyed the local Red-legged Partridges and watched the Siskin and Crested Tits on the garden feeders!
20.03.08 - Garraf Massif, Llobregat Delta
The morning couldn't have started better with the year's first gleaming black-throated form of the Black-eared Wheatear perched on top of a pruned grape vine. Nearby Cirl Bunting, Spotless Starling, Rock Sparrow and a host of finches, wagtails and other passerines kept us busy until we headed off to Cal Tet, the newest addition to the chain of birding spots in the Llobregat Delta.
After being welcomed by a streaky Squacco Heron - Ed's bird of the week - we discovered that the long-staying White-fronted Goose was staying a little longer, along with two male Wigeon. A pinkish Water Pipit joined a small school of waders (Ringed Plover, Wood Sandpiper, Black-winged Stilt and a gloriously close Black-tailed Godwit) picking morsels from the water's edge.
In the centre of the lagoon both Common and Red-crested Pochard dived for dinner whilst a Kingfisher did likewise from a overhanging reed on the border. A stunning golden-lined Purple Heron then landed right in front of us - with a wriggling terrapin in its bill!
At Fiilipines-Remolar a blood-red crab similarly fell victim to a Glossy Ibis which proceded to peel off its legs before gulping the rest down in one go! Meanwhile, another first for the year apparently struggled on to find a snake or two as a Short-toed Eagle hovered over almost every section of the reserve.
21.03.08 - The Steppes of Lleida and Los Monegros
Where to start? From the moment we arrived and stopped next to a Calandra lark, perched singing a few feet away, we never stopped. A few worried moments ensued after discovering the three key steppe species were not in 'their usual places' but a handful of Stone-curlew, a few small flocks of Pin-tailed Sandgrouse and a gathering of 14 Little Bustard all thrilled - at very close range! - eventually.
In the meantime we added a good number of cackling Great Spotted Cuckoo, a couple of Southern Grey Shrike, an Alpine Swift and re-located three of the wintering Dotterel in the area. A Little Owl watched on as a flock of Jackdaws saw off a Common Buzzard and nearby both forms of Black-eared Wheatear mixed it with many of their Northern cousins. After a brief chase, we even added a pair of Black Wheatear to complete the set. All the larks including Thekla and Lesser Short-toed Larks were plentiful for comparisons and, yet again, the local dump provided a theatrical display, with one Red Kite in particular refusing to give up its lunch despite the dive-bombing attentions of two of the dozens and dozens of Black Kites dispersed across the waste site.
My moment of the day though was driving through several hundred Cattle Egret that rose up simultaneously to float along side the car before a handful of Lesser Kestrels were finally found towards Los Monegros.
22.03.08 - Aiguamolls de L'Emporda
I have often called the Aiguamolls a mini-Catalunya all in itself and so it proved, with almost all habitats represented. Two steppe-land Stone-curlew stared at us from a fallow field as we arrived and, at the end of the day, a quite superb Great Spotted Cuckoo sat out in an open leafless tree.
Many species we'd seen at the other wetland sites were of course here too but El Mata, an old rice-field in the heart of the Cortalet resort, allowed us views of many wader species close enough to do without binoculars. A Red Knot trying to hide its relative bulk amongst a flock of twenty Dunlin that swooped in late in the day was the highlight. With such a good week behind us, it proved to be one of only four new species for the day, the others being Tufted Duck, Mute Swan and Cetti's Warbler (which we had only heard). Although we did find two marvellous cinerocapilla Yellow Wagtails among the parties of the local iberiae race.
Seeing everything again gave my american clients the chance for plenty of ID practice of course but even better was watching them do new things. A crab-eating Yellow-legged Gull hoarding its prize, nest-building White Storks, tap-dancing Little Ringed Plover and two immature Great Cormorants playing tug-of-war with a stick were amongst those that entertained us until the threat of rain eventually sent us packing just in time to avoid the deluge.
23.03.08 - Garraf
So few species were left on my clients' wish list after a great week that they decided to take the afternoon off but we began the morning looking for one that had avoided us, the Dartford Warbler. We were rewarded almost immediately with sunlit choristers on the bankside of the Puig d'Aliga on the edge of the Foix park.
After adding Sparrowhawk to the weeks' list, we stumbled upon a stunning male Sub-alpine Warbler making no attempt to hide amongst the brambles outside a local farm house. Nearby a usual stop produced a reliable but, on this occasion, distant Bonelli's Eagle soaring through the white clouds above the Garraf's peaks. It was close enough at least to see that it was an adult though.
Three Hoopoe, a flock of Alpine Swift and a steady flow of tits, finches and thrushes kept the morning rolling until a pair of Long-tailed Tit earned the weeks' trip a final total of 158 species.
A full list will appear soon.
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29 February 2008 - Spain Birding: February 2008 Summary
Birding in Spain in winter may not give the numbers that it does in spring but no-one would complain about the quality as we waved goodbye to the cold season with pretty much a full set of 'desirables'. Lammergeier, Wallcreeper, Great Bustard, Little Bustard, Black-bellied Sandgrouse, Pin-tailed Sandgrouse - and Dotterel!
This has to be the month of the Wallcreeper, which has been extremely obliging throughout, wing-flicking and butterflying over the crags and cliffs of the GARRAF. Even the spectacle, enjoyed by rotating 180 degrees to face the sea, of Gannets diving between flotillas of gulls and admirably supported by a fringe cast of Balearic Shearwater, Audouin’s Gull and Shag (sub-species desmarestii) was relegated to ‘time-filler’ and the Black Wheatear, Alpine Accentor and mating Peregrines hardly got a look-in.
Just down the road at LLOBREGAT the long-staying vagrant Eider Duck and White-fronted Goose continued to show at CAL TET, the latter shadowing a wintering Greylag Goose as if it had imprinted at birth. The gradual withdrawal of the region's wintering Wigeon, Golden Plover, Common Snipe and Reed Bunting was as apparent as the arrival of Garganey, Glossy Ibis, Wood Sandpiper and Whiskered Tern and the sighting of the first Barn Swallow, on the 26th, is always strongly emotive even though it no longer represents the arrival of summer for me.
A brief foggy trip to THE STEPPES on the 10th confirmed the continuing presence of 5 Dotterel that I originally found on the 29th January. Clearly overwintering, and possibly a first for this area, they are almost certainly those seen by Daniel Diaz in early December. They're photographed above with a 1st winter Golden Eagle but a pair of Stone-curlew, 16 Pin-tailed Sandgrouse, a flock of 21 Little Bustard (pre-empting the hundreds locals turned up later) and a stunning male Merlin chasing larks also made an appearance before I got fogged off.
On a lagoon in THE EBRO DELTA a peregrine-like stoop from a Booted Eagle from way on high sent Northern Lapwings splashing everywhere whilst soaring Lammergeier (in THE PYRENEES) and a ghost-grey Hen Harrier flapping off into the twilight proved February is a surprisingly good time for raptors. A single day brought a full set of Great and Little Bustard and Black-bellied and Pin-tailed Sandgrouse but continuing flocks of Siskin (in the garden) and Brambling and a pair of Redwing near the house were too reminiscent of the U.K. not to earn them my personal ‘moments of the month’.
The Redwings marked the end of my involvement for this year in the census for Spain's Winter Bird Atlas, which turned up 85 species, more than 20 above the average, between 15th November and 15th February in the GARRAF alone.
Finally, until my client delivers his own trip report, a brief summary of an easygoing four-day birding break around Catalonia, visiting the Garraf, Llobregat Delta, the Pyrenees, the Steppes and the Ebro Delta can be viewed here: Catalonia guided birding break (Spain Birding, 11-15 Feb 2008).
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17 February 2008 - Catalonia guided birding break (Spain Birding, 11-15 February 2008)
"We would like to thank you for a really great trip [their second of the year] and we both hope to bird with you again in the future"
A client trip report will follow soon but meanwhile here's the nightly summaries, which included Lammergeier and both species of bustards and sandgrouse:
15th February 2008, EBRO DELTA
A half-day visit was all that we were allowed due to a pending flight but we still managed to add many to the week list including Water Pipit, Grey Wagtail, Common Sandpiper, Caspian Tern and two beautifully sunlit Hoopoe.
It was nice to see so many waders (after the high water at Llobregat caused low numbers) and the muddy fields were full of Little Stint, Dunlin, Kentish and Golden Plover and La Tancada showed off small groups of Grey Plover, Spotted and Common Redshank and Greenshank. A solitary Green Sandpiper and a car-side Curlew were added to keep the day feeling different but by far the showpiece of the whole week for me was a light-phase Booted Eagle stooping from way on high like a Peregrine and disappearing behind some tall reeds like a bullet before a shower of Lapwing splashed up and dispersed away.
14th February 2008, THE LLEIDA STEPPES and LOS MONEGROS
We came home, after some hard work, with a full set of Pin-tailed Sandgouse, over 100 seen up close in both areas, Black-bellied Sandgouse, just 8 flyovers, Great Bustard, two superb males feeding late on and a sole Little Bustard flushed out and wing-whistled away to save the day.
In the meantime, we gleaned almost a full set of larks too, in their thousands with the Calandra showing most character hover-rattling just above us, but the raptors took some beating with Red Kite, Kestrel, Buzzard, Marsh Harrier and Griffon Vulture being supplemented with a male and female Hen Harrier, the former being seen again in the twilight perched in a field and ghosting away in fading light, and several views of Merlin, the best of which was a stunningly clean-plumaged female perched in a tree nearby unperturbed. Mark even managed to see his Golden Eagle, after various obstacles confounded him of three yesterday and another this morning.
The moments of the day included the bussle at the dump involving thousands of birds such as White Stork, Cattle Egret, Starling, Red Kite and Black-headed Gulls. A mint-condition Rock Bunting along side the car window was also difficult to prise away from.
13th February 2008, THE PYRENEES
Most of our efforts were focussed on the main target bird of the whole trip and we were bowled over with even the single showing of an adult Lammergeier gliding overhead and banking in the Greixer Valley. But what seemed to be turning into a day of almosts - with distant views of a hundred Alpine Chough circling and breaking formation with military precision to land mountain-side, three Golden Eagles frustratingly disappearing behind all and everything and a handful of honking often-heard-but-rarely-seen Raven - was saved by close on encounters with Crossbill, Citril Finch, Rock Bunting and 8 wonderfully confiding Alpine Accentors.
12th February 2008, THE GARRAF and LLOBREGAT DELTA
We picked off a few passerines in the garden, including Crested Tit and Siskin, before a hunt for Alpine Accentor in the Garraf proved successful although with only one bird. Still you only need one and it was only 2m away and a lifer for Mark and Lorna.
Next up was a search for two more lifers at Llobregat. Three Moustached Warblers were heard singing close-by but the wind kept them at root level although we did have more success with a single Penduline Tit along the St. Climent, a stunning male that fed acrobatically on the reed heads.
Black-Necked Grebe, Spoonbill and the continued presence of the White-fronted Goose were other highlights. A Marsh Harrier gripping a large piece of bark and 'pressing' it (from a hovering position) onto a pile of twigs and sticks won the odd behaviour award.
Back into the Garraf and only Rock Bunting, mediterranean Shag, Audouin's Gull and a single Balaeric Shearwater showed at Falconera.
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16 January 2008 - The search for 100 birds (Garraf/Llobregat, 15.1.08)
I don’t know why but today I tried something I’d never attempted before: to deliberately seek out 100 species in a single day. I was inspired by the season – winter in the Garraf is a great time for mixed flocks of birds that can be elusive at other times – but to ensure I didn’t get caught up in numbers I decided upon a strategy of no counting and, as I write, I still don’t know if I succeeded. I think its close.
GARRAF
Already half-an-hour late leaving, it seemed my chances were already blown when my wife informed me I was taking her to Barcelona first - and then plugged in her hairdryer! Undaunted, and knowing the ‘five minutes’ she said it would take her meant twenty, I stuck my head out of the window.
The sound of two marbles tack-tacking together alerted my attentions to the silhouette of a Blackcap in the garden fence. A Crested Tit replied with a soft rattle from the clothesline but, perhaps distracted by the Starling flying overhead, a Blue Tit beat it to the peanut holder. Sardinian Warbler and Great Tit barged their way into the growing symphony and by the time the lights were fully up the orchestra was completed by a chinkling tree-top Serin, an invasion of unappreciative House Sparrows and a Magpie laughing on from the neighbour’s aerial. The role of conductor was shared perhaps between the baton-like tail flickings of a White Wagtail and my very own wintering Black Redstart. My wife was still drying her hair.
Just as well as there was still one potentially difficult species missing. Up to forty-four had been frequenting the garden since the turn of the year but I needed just one of them. A male Chaffinch joined a Collared Dove underneath the feeders and, not before time, twenty-three Siskin came in to rapturous applause. Well, I cheered anyway.
Thanks to a near-empty petrol tank and a tractor driver who was obviously worried about arriving somewhere early, it was already ten-thirty by the time I arrived at my re-scheduled first destination. I’d picked up Kestrel, Woodpigeon, Grey Heron and Cormorant en route and added Monk Parakeet and Yellow-legged Gull in Barcelona itself but I could already feel time slipping away.
CAL TET, Llobregat
Still, Cal Tet, a little-known wetland reserve close to the airport, promised much and, after a fallow field near the entrance yielded Pheasant, Snipe, Goldfinch, Meadow Pipit, Skylark and Crested Lark, I entered the gates breathless and eager.
However, for the next minutes I went no further than the Kingfisher perched in a spot of sunlight on a small bridge and even had time, entertained meanwhile by noisy Cetti’s and Fan-tailed Warblers, to mark the red base to its female bill.
I always make my way to the shores of Ca L’arana with urgent expectation regardless of today’s quest and so make no excuses for skipping past Little Grebe, Little Egret, Coot, Moorhen, Chiffchaff and Blackbird. But a flock of Crag Martin scything through the mist of tiny insects just above the reeds did delay me and I wavered for some time over a pair of Sandwich Tern over the river, laughing mockingly at the attempts of the Black-headed Gulls to show off.
Once at the beach I scanned it with anticipation picking out Mediterranean Gull and Shelduck but only a single Kentish Plover and a Dunlin represented the waders. I was disappointed but it proved short-lived as a series of careful scans through the rise and fall of the water at the mouth of the river revealed a solitary Eider Duck, the same one I believe that we found on a trip in November and a great tick for the region.
But the best was yet to come. On the way back, past the somewhat odd sight of a Buzzard perched next to a Stonechat, I was suddenly smothered in shadow and looked up to confront the possibility of a Great Bittern landing on my head. The colour of this bird, with a yellow-green hue not at all appreciated from books, is so unique that the only reason you don’t shout Bittern! the very moment you see it is that you somehow need that moment to let your luck sink in. Beautiful.
Unphased by our close-encounter, it flew up and off, paddling over the tree-tops of la pineda towards the shore. By the time I’d climbed the tower to track it, it had disappeared and I was left with the Wren that had been calling since I arrived at the spot.
Then I noticed that it was calling AT something. And then I noticed that that something was a Moustached Warbler. With a partner! Now, I really didn’t care how many birds I saw, there was no way I was moving from here first and, like a game of ‘stare challenge’, I fixed my gaze onto them lest I should lose them for a second. I love this bird and I watched them systematically sift their way through a thin line of reeds along a ditch towards me, picking off morsels from each and every stem like dust-obsessed librarians. Taking turns to overtake each other, they also hopped past a Robin and a half-dozen Reed Buntings before flicking off into cover.
Astonishingly, the very next bird I saw upon entering the Cal Tet hide, bar a Marsh Harrier teasing an unknown something the other side of it, was another Moustached Warbler, scaling and leaping across the cut reed bases just below the lip of the window.
The lake itself was awash with Mallard, Gadwall, Shovelor and a single Tufted Duck with Teal and a handful of Purple Swamphen making use of the boundaries. The long-staying White-fronted Goose made a lazy appearance, waddling out of some long grass for a sip and a snooze.
The outward-bound walk donated nothing new save a bunch of twurping Greenfinch, a Cattle Egret and another Great Bittern flying lazily over head. I said the plumage was unique but of course there is one other thing that matches its colour exactly – the seasonal spectrum of shades and shade found in a reed bed itself.
Thinking I’d had my lot for this site, I was driving the long way out ‘just in case’ when another stunning heron almost flew in to me, or the car. And this time I did shout. ‘£@k m€ a Little Bittern!’ This was truly outstanding. As a rule they don’t over winter, of course, but following the trend of many of its cousins across Europe it shouldn’t really be a surprise. It settled and stilled itself on the opposite side of a channel and this time, eventually, I was the first to move.
REMOLAR-FILIPINES, Llobregat
I’d had a fantastic time already and so decided on a short stop off for lunch at the REMOLAR-FILIPINES reserve before heading off for a change of scenery back in THE GARRAF.
So I ate my way through additional Night Heron, about thirty of them, four Spoonbill, Greylag Goose, Wigeon, Lapwing, Feral Pigeon, Coal Tit, Tree Sparrow and, again only a lone wader, a Spotted Redhank. An irresistible quick stop-off at the beach though was worthwhile with a few distant Gannet taking the plunge and a small group of Balaeric Shearwater landing not far from the shore.
GARRAF
Still undecided about which route to take as I approached the roundabout my hands did the thinking and yanked me right, sending me inland and leaving the coast for later. As I reached the summit of the steep road taking me into The Garraf, having seen Blue Rock Thrush but failed to find Alpine Accentor along the way, a ringtail Hen Harrier became the third bird of the day to nearly hit me. Thankfully it braked before I did, fully exposed me its under parts and fled.
A good omen I thought but more than half an hour later, speeding away from the Carxol Valley without the expected Bonelli’s Eagle or Thekla Lark, I had ‘only’ Song Thrush, Southern Grey Shrike and two coveys of Red-legged Partridge to show for my trouble. A Dartford Warbler tail-bounced over my bonnet to complete the full set of winter warblers.
The light threatening to fade, and reminding my self that this was not Llobregat and that birds had to be worked for, I re-planned and re-routed to an old masia in a lush estate that always held a few passerines and was immediately rewarded with a Jay and a fleeing, screaming Green Woodpecker. And then suddenly, in yet another of those ‘made my day’ moments, I came across a female Brambling – my first for Spain! – in the midst of all the other finches and tits. Unfortunately, it didn’t hang around for long so I took its cue, leaving a sulky Dunnock and a Short-toed Treecreeper to whisper about me as I got back in the car.
Now I had to make some decisions and, as I definitely wanted to check out the incredible La Falconera, I had to abandon a couple of sites and drive straight there – in the full knowledge of course that driving straight there would be impossible.
And so it proved, with roadside stops absolutely unavoidable due to a flock of Rock Bunting flushed to nearby bushes from a tiny field of vines (also Mistle Thrush), a Sparrowhawk emerging from another dispersing flock of passerines before landing nearby and, finally, my Bonelli’s Eagle!
When I saw a speck round a mid-distant hill I jammed the brakes on (action that is essential with specks if you’re not to lose them in the fineries of the Highway Code). Job done, I simply had to track it, a stunning adult bird, as it flew in a direct line across the fields in front of me and flapped on towards the coast.
I always note the time when I see a raptor and, at 16.18, I knew I had barely an hour of proper daylight left – but I still had to go through the farmland at Campdescens. There was no other course of action available to me as I scrapped my intention to walk it and naughtily drove down the farmer’s tractor track. Well, he wouldn’t mind.
As I exited, escorted from in front by an extremely slow tractor, I had the strangest feeling I’d seen the driver somewhere before. A pair of Raven sky-strolled overhead, honk-honking their disapproval. But, in the meantime, I had witnessed a wonderful view of a field full of White Wagtail and Woodlarks at eye level (as the track dropped below the boundary wall), as well as ticking off Rock Sparrow, Linnet, a couple of Corn Bunting, a few Spotless Starling and a dozen Cirl Bunting in one bush!
With the sun setting bright and blocking my view north-westward along the cliffs toward Sitges, I finally arrived at La Falconera a little disappointed that the mornings events had robbed me of the time to give the place justice. But never let it be said that the impossible isn’t possible or that wives shouldn’t be given a beautiful big beautiful kiss for needing to blow-set every hair in place.
As I raised my binoculars in a laughable attempt to find my resident Wallcreeper, it flew straight across my field of view, landed on a small peak posturing and I spent the next fifteen to twenty minutes having some of the most peaceful views of this species I’d ever had. To the soundtrack of twilight Blue Rock Thrush and the breaking waves I watched its grey, white, red and black butterfly from rock to crack to peak and back again in an attempt to reap the day’s final reward.
As regards to mine, I’m tempted even now not to count. But I’m going to. Although I mustn’t forget to add that Peregrine Falcon patrolling the cliff tops of Falconera.
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11 January 2008 - Winter in the Ebro Delta (Spain Birding), 10.01.08
I’d waited patiently for the Three Kings to deliver their gifts, worked out how the hell the tree went back into its box and now I was drooling as, allowed out for the first time, I crossed the bridge over the River Ebre. I’m not one for counting particularly but less than twenty on my year list was painful. A sympathetic Hoopoe rowed over the bonnet. Thanks mate.
As I drove into the rice fields out of St. Jaume, a ring of mist masked the horizon in all directions, creating a comforting circle into which no-one else seemed to venture. Common Buzzards marshalled the perimeter, posted in each leafless tree, motionless and morose like leftover Christmas tree decorations. The sparklingly clean black and grey under-wings of a male Marsh Harrier spirited into view flying along side the driver’s window, tilting left and right to show off its glorious roast-chestnut chest and, rather topically if a little late, guided me like the star of Bethlehem to my first stop of the day.
I’d never stopped here before but I was immediately presented with two dark shapes in the middle of a reed-edged field and, for twenty minutes, a pair of Water Rails strutted and pecked their way ever-closer. A flock of Reed Buntings gleaning the horsetails and a rather unusual foraging partnership between a Moorhen and a Blackbird only proved minor distractions until I was able to put my binoculars down and marvel at the absolute marvellousness of both the rails by the car door.
They were sent scurrying by an unknown force and I moved on - only to stop a few metres along the road to marvel some more; this time at a light-phase Booted Eagle perched in one of its favourite spots.
Still early when I reached the beach, only a solitary Kentish Plover quick-stepped its way over the dewy sand. The sea was calm but empty. Groups of Purple Swamphen began tempting themselves out of the reed beds with nervous contact calls and another unknown threat put up a huge gathering of ducks on a distant lagoon. It may as well have been wielding a knife as the massive blanket of wings was ripped into species portions of, amongst others, Wigeon, Gadwall and Pintail before circling and returning to knit themselves back together on the water’s surface.
Via Greylag Geese, Glossy Ibis and Common Kingfishers on every post, I made my way back and searched the strangely wriggling surface of a paddy field around a masia on the Illa de Riu. The responsibility was mostly down to several hundred Little Stint and numerous Ringed Plover but, forewarned by the word on the cyber street, I managed to pick out the lone Pectoral Sandpiper.
Several more Hoopoe, a curious Dartford Warbler and a rather bolshy Bluethroat, skipping from bush to bush as I passed, were picks of the bunches of passerines smothering every reed and cabbage plant and the rafts of Golden Plover and Lapwing to be found in the delta’s fields was a spectacle hard to beat.
But beaten it was. A Great Bittern at Riet Vell; Richard’s Pipit, Southern Grey Shrike and a Peregrine locking claws with a Marsh Harrier on my way from Eucaliptus to La Tancada; a flock of about twenty Lesser Short-toed Larks when I got there that were close enough to touch until my mobile rang! Take your pick.
My own choice would be the sight of Red-throated Diver, Red-breasted Merganser and Black-necked Grebe diving in the same binocular field of view but I also basked in the sheer numbers of Greenshank, Grey Plover, Dunlin and, in particular, Sanderling and Little Stint sifting through the pools of La Tancada. A little sifting myself pulled out morsels of Turnstone, Common and Spotted Redshank and both Common and Green Sandpiper.
By now the sun had gone almost full circle and the light promised little more than an hour before bedtime but even so a quick dash through the stretch to L’Encanyissada produced the resident (and presumed) hybrid Little Egret x Western Reef Heron opposite the watchtower at l’Embut, masses of Common and Red-crested Pochard on El Clot and, for the second visit running, a Red-nobbed (Crested) Coot at Pont de Traves.
Finally, in the small pond next to the Casa de Fusta as I was leaving, yet another Water Rail, feeding out in the open and confident enough to resist fleeing despite me jamming on the breaks!
As I said, I don’t count. (!). But I was gifted well over 80 species in a short mid-winter day and I missed a few too. It amazed me how the pressure of finding food in the colder months makes birds occupy every single niche possible, from the expanse of lagoons and reed beds harbouring Greater Flamingos and Chiffchaffs respectively to a few teasels on the edge of a rice field fleetingly playing host to a party of Goldfinch.
Other species seen:
Little Grebe, Great Crested Grebe, Great Cormorant, Cattle Egret, Little Egret, Great Egret, Grey Heron, Shelduck, Mallard, Shovelor, Kestrel, Coot, Common Snipe, Mediterranean Gull, Yellow-legged Gull, Lesser Black-backed Gull, Audouin’s Gull, Black-headed Gull, Slender-billed Gull, Sandwich Tern, Feral Pigeon, Collared Dove, Crested lark, Skylark, Meadow Pipit, Water Pipit, Grey Wagtail, White Wagtail, Robin, Black Redstart, Stonechat, Cettis Warbler, Fan-tailed Warbler, Blackcap, Sardinian Warbler, Magpie, Starling, Spotless Starling, House Sparrow, Tree Sparrow, Chaffinch, Greenfinch, Linnet.
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About Me
I now spend my life birding in Spain, taking every opportunity to head out on my own even when not working as a professional bird guide.
Most of the birding trip reports and photos will be from my local patch, The Garraf Massif and Llobregat Delta around Barcelona, but I also visit The Ebro Delta, The Steppes of Lleida, Los Monegros, The Pyrenees, Cap de Creus and Aiguamolls de L'Emporda.
Please e-mail me if you would like to be placed on the mailing list for this blog and I'd be happy to help with information if you're planning a bit of Spain birding your self.
If you're looking for birding holidays, short breaks and day tours in Catalonia, for families and serious birders, details can be found at www.catalanbirdtours.com.
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