BIRDING IN SPAIN... el blog de Spainbirds

Del Atlántico a los Pirineos (un viaje organizado para VENT), 25 Abril - 11 Mayo / Parte III
From the Atlantic Ocean to the high Pyrenees (a tour for VENT), 25 April - 11 May / Part III

Our first mountains were the Gredos; accordingly, we loaded up on new birds. Red Crossbills, Coal and Crested tits, European Pied Flycatcher, Goldcrest, Firecrest, Ortolan Bunting, European Robin (a charmer in the garden), and Black Redstart all put in appearances. Hiking up the old Roman road early one morning yielded many new alpine birds like Rufous-tailed Rock-Thrush, Northern Wheatear, Skylark, White-throated Dipper, Rock Bunting, and Dunnock. The star of the show on this glorious morning was the Bluethroat, which sang and kept popping up on Pyrenean Brooms closer and closer to us until Santi and I were grinning from ear to ear, sharing our photos! We also saw the Spanish Ibex for which the Gredos are famous. No trip to the Gredos is complete until you’ve enjoyed a few meals from Alfonso at Hostal Almanzor; the pastry appetizer with roasted veggies and cheese was a hit.

Text by Brian Gibbons (Victor Emanuel Nature Tours)

Photos: Santi Villa (Spainbirds Nature Tours)

Pechiazul / Bluethroat

Roquero rojo / Rufous-tailed Rock Thrush

Alondra común / Skylark

Polygonia C-album / Comma Butterfly

Reyezuelo listado / Firecrest

Papamoscas cerrojillo / (Iberian) Pied Flycatcher

Reyezuelo sencillo / Goldcrest

Lagarto ocelado / Ocellated Lizard

Del Atlántico a los Pirineos (un viaje organizado para VENT), 25 Abril - 11 Mayo / Parte II
From the Atlantic Ocean to the high Pyrenees (a tour for VENT), 25 April - 11 May / Part II

Leaving this bird-rich country behind was tough, but new birds awaited in Extremadura. On the wide-open grazing and farming lands of the Caceres Plains we saw Eurasian Thick-knees, Great and Little bustards displaying, Calandra Larks skylarking, Pin-tailed and Black-bellied Sandgrouse, and our first Red-legged Partridges. In Trujillo we wandered the streets where Pizarro was born and explored the cobblestone alleys up to the castillo. In Monfragüe National Park raptors were our major target. At the large nesting cliffs in the park we tallied Eurasian Griffon, Cinereous Vulture, Peregrine Falcon, exceptional views of Spanish Eagle, Black Kite, Booted Eagle, Eurasian Eagle-Owl with a chick, and even a few Black Storks mixed in. Some of us got to witness raw nature. We first noticed a large Free-tailed Bat flying around the rocks midmorning; when it slithered into the rocks to roost, a Short-tailed Weasel was hot on its tail and soon enough emerged with the deceased bat in its mouth, then disappeared to feast. In the cork oak dehesa we found several new birds: Mistle Thrush, Iberian Magpie, Rock Sparrow, Short-toed Treecreeper, Eurasian Nuthatch, Common Cuckoo, and a very skittish Western Orphean Warbler.

Text by Brian Gibbons (Victor Emanuel Nature Tours)

Photos: Santi Villa (Spainbirds Nature Tours)

Vencejo real / Alpine Swift

Alange

Cogujada montesina / Thekla Lark

Comadreja capturando un murciélago rabudo / Weasel hunting an European Free-tailed Bat

Búho real / Eurasian Eagle Owl

Nutria / Otter

Águila imperial ibérica / Spanish Imperial Eagle

Zorro común / Red Fox

Jilguero / Goldfinch

Perdiz roja / Red-legged Partridge

Ganga ibérica / Pin-tailed Sandgrouse

Calandria común / Calandra Lark

Avutarda / Great Bustard

Abubilla / Eurasian Hoopoe

Águila real / Golden Eagle

Carracas / European Rollers

Cernícalo primilla / Lesser Kestrel

Cigüeña blanca en Trujillo / White Stork in Trujillo

Tarabilla común / European Stone Chat

Roquero solitario / Blue Rock Thrush

Cigüeña Negra / Black Stork

Águila calzada / Booted Eagle

Alimoche común / Egytian Vulture

Collalba rubia / Black-eared Wheatear

Del Atlántico a los Pirineos (un viaje organizado para VENT), 25 Abril - 11 Mayo / Parte I
From the Atlantic Ocean to the high Pyrenees (a tour for VENT), 25 April - 11 May / Part I

Our explorations of the Iberian Peninsula began in the southwest part of Spain at Doñana National Park. Here the marshes, ponds, and fields teemed with waterfowl, shorebirds, and waders. The wide-open spaces of the Caceres Plains of Extremadura gave us bustards, sandgrouse, and larks. The mountains of Gredos, Picos de Europa, and the Pyrenees yielded amazing vistas and birds of the alpine and forest zones. We ate and drank our way across Spain in style, covering more than 3,000 kilometers, a few coffee breaks, and who knows how many calories. We also touched on a thousand years of Spanish history, visiting villages, churches, and monasteries that have stood for centuries, and we even traipsed across a Roman road.

Traveling from Sevilla to Doñana National Park we observed our first Mediterranean landscapes, sandy red hills with lines of ancient olive groves and vineyards stretching to the horizon. Whitewashed villages and livestock dotted the countryside. The charming El Rocio, with its sandy streets and horse carriages, harkens a different era. The town is bordered by Madre de las Marismas, a lagoon that was covered with birds: Whiskered Terns, Eurasian Spoonbills, Greater Flamingos, pochards of two kinds, stilts, avocets, and shorebirds. This was our first proper birding during our two-week traverse of this amazing country. Over the next couple of days we saw Red-knobbed Coots, Marbled Teal, displaying White-headed Ducks, Flamingos, Slender-billed and Audouin’s gulls, Little and Whiskered terns, Squacco and Purple herons, Little Bittern, and a Rufous Bush Chat, a decidedly Mediterranean passerine. We also noted a variety of raptors: Booted and Short-toed eagles, Black Kites, Eurasian and Lesser kestrels, and Common Buzzard. The Acebron Palace added a number of woodland birds with Hawfinch, Lesser Spotted Woodpecker, Eurasian Wryneck, and European Bee-eaters.

Text by Brian Gibbons (Victor Emanuel Nature Tours)

Photos: Santi Villa (Spainbirds Nature Tours)