Spain Birding Report
Ken Cross
I had heard from many that the place to go birding in Europe
was Spain. There were many bird species, a great range of habitats, surprising
scenery, good food and, compared with UK to the north at least, a warm climate.
Armed with this information [and content that I had seen a few European birds
already in the UK] I organised a birding tour to Spain May 2015, to enjoy their
Spring season and birds. I’m happy to say that Spain as a destination for
birders was everything folks had claimed it to be and, if anything, it
surpassed my expectations.
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| strange people.... |
Our trip took us from the streets of their capital Madrid
west to the plains of Spain, north to high mountains – the Picos de Europa and
the Pyrenees , south again to the Steppes [literally the steps to the
mountains] and then east to the Ebros Delta before finishing in the charming
city of Barcelona. Now before I go any
further let me state the obvious; a trip does like this does not happen without
insider knowledge. That knowledge and expertise was supplied by Steve West, a
British born birder and now proud Catalan man, who runs a company – Birding in
Spain.
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| Ben Kingsley |
After a long email correspondence I met Steve in Madrid. He
arrived in a van with a Chaffinch stuck in the grill of his rented van; what a
good sign! This was a man who took seriously his pledge to bring the birds to
us. Jokes aside, Steve turned out to be an excellent guide, even if he did look
a little like Ben Kingsley in the bird-watching-related film, “A Birder’s Guide
to Everything”.
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| The real Steve West |
We arrived a few days in Madrid before the arrival of Steve
such that we could enjoy a city tour of Madrid and also to ‘get our eye in’ on
urban birds in several of the city’s parks. Needless to say we enjoyed Common
Swifts, House Martins, Barn Swallows, both House and Tree Sparrows and tits –
Great, Blue, Coal and Long-tailed. Eurasian Magpies and the large Wood Pigeons
were common and we saw our first endemic – Spotless Starling.
Not long after arriving one of our party noticed a van
speeding past with the words, ‘Bimbo’ on it. Amused at the prospect of a van
full of Bimbos he asked Steve for the real explanation. Turned out that Bimbo
was a brand of bread, however, Steve added, Bimbo also meant something for
Spanish birders; Bimbo meant lifer. Here was a Spanish word other than cervesa
that we could use. For the following two weeks a day would not pass without the
excited cry of ‘Bimbo!’
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| Bimbo - Spanish endemic - Spotless Starling |
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| Stock Dove |
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| Nightingale |
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| Olivaceous Warbler |
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| Serin |
So after a few lovely Bimbos [Serin and Short-toed
Treecreeper] in Madrid and some great views of tits we left the fair city for
the plains in Spain.
Our first birding
stop was a nearby wetland that had our first Swamphen, Coot, Gadwall, Little
Bittern, Grey and Purple Herons on or near the water while Barn and Red-rumped
Swallows plus a flotilla of Sand Martins sped around. Raptors were everywhere;
Eurasian Griffon Vultures, Marsh and Montague’s Harriers, Black and Red Kites,
Booted Eagle plus four Lesser Kestrels flew over us. White Storks were
conspicuous while, closer to the ground Crested Lark and Zitting Cisticolas
gave us something to look at while Cetti’s Warbler and various Reed Warblers
sang invisibly.
Driving and raptors continued; Black Vulture, Short-toed
Eagle and, when we stopped, Bonelli’s Eagle. This stop yielded Nightingales, Nightingales
and more Nightingales plus warblers; Melodious, Sardinian but we missed an
Orphean that had been singing also.
Before calling it a day we had one last stop for Thekla Lark, Corn
Bunting and yet another warbler, Dartford Warbler. I had missed Dartford
Warbler in the UK, over twenty years previously, and was delighted to get good
views of this bird among this Spanish vegetation, rich as it was with beautiful
wild Lavender.
The
following day we had great views of some
classic birds of the Plains; Montagu’s Harrier, Calandra Larks, Little Owl, the
amazing Hoopoe, European Roller [many taking advantage of the huge numbers of
nest boxes that adorned many, many power poles that crossed the grasslands] and
two bustards – one little the other great!
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| The Corn Bunting |
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Little Bustard
|
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| Hoopoe |
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| Montague's Harrier |
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| White Storks |
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| Great Bustards |
After
lunch as per the itinerary we visited the ‘picturesque Trujillo with its large
breeding colony of Lesser Kestrels and perhaps a Pallid Swift or two.’ Trujillo
is best described by stealing a chunk of text from Wikipedia; 'The
old town contains many medieval and renaissance buildings. Many of these were
built or enriched by the conquistadors born in the city. These include, the
conquerors of Peru, Francisco Pizarro and his brothers, Francisco de Orellana
and Hernando de Alarcón. Pizarro's equestrian statue stands in the main square,
the Plaza Mayor. The most important monuments are the castle (old Arab
fortress), the church of Santa María (thirteenth century), and the church of
San Francisco'.
Beautiful White Cranes were
nesting on many of the taller buildings and both Common and Pallid Swifts
streaked around the square. Lesser Kestrels, too, were floating over the centre
of town although we saw them better when we visited the Trujillo Bull fighting
Ring where they were nesting.
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| Lesser Kestrels |
Monfrague National Park, our next main site, is an area of
dramatic scenery, and is regarded by raptor watchers as one of the most
outstanding sites to see birds of prey in Europe. It is also an excellent place to see not only
raptor watchers but birders generally. Nowhere that I have travelled to in the
world has had such a high concentration of birders. At our hotel there were
several groups and everywhere we stopped in the park there were birders and
their accompaniments; binoculars, scopes, huge lenses and the occasional spouse.
There were birders from Spain, yes, but there many from England, Holland, USA,
and judging from the sandals and socks, other European nations.
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| Alpine Acciter |
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| Snow Finch |
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| Steve West of the Mountains |
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| Lammergeier |
Monfrague National Park is justly famous for its vultures.
Huge Eurasian Griffon Vultures in huge numbers circle each rock pinnacle and nest within the
folded and faulted rocks. Rock Buntings and Blue Rock Thrushes were other
specials here.
I should
mention other raptors. Perhaps obviously the bird that many were here to see
was a breeding Spanish endemic, The Spanish Imperial Eagle. We saw the birds
flying, quite distant but close enough to see their diagnostic features. We
also found their nest and a moving pale blob within that was their chick.
Booted Eagle, Black Kites, Black Vultures, Common Buzzard plus Falcons,
Peregrine and Common Kestrel were seen soaring also.
And then on
to the next destination the Picos de Europa. These European Peaks were so named
because from the perspective of the earliest sailors returning from the new
world these peaks, emerging over a watery horizon, were the first sign of their
European home. A cable car ride to the snow line allowed us to enjoy Red-billed
and Alpine Choughs, Snow Finch, Alpine Accentor and Lammergeier!
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| Blue Rock Thrush |
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| Griffon Vulture |
Mountains
followed Mountains and we travelled next to the Pyrenees. Here we learned that
whoever said that the rain in Spain falls mainly on the plain was, pretty much,
a bloody liar because here the heavens opened up! The weather allowed a little
birding however we lost opportunities for a few sought after species, for
example, Black Woodpecker. We did see Red-backed Shrike, Citril and Dipper!
After dipping on dippers earlier it was a great Bimbo to get.
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| Dipper |
The last
major area visited was the Spanish Steppes. This location was like being on
multiple spaghetti western sets. Here were larks, sandgrouse, wheatears and
others. It was great fun playing spot the lark, as they sang high in the sky,
rising invisibly against the blue.
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| Pin tailed Sandgrouse |
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| Common or Eurasian Kingfisher |
Finally we
went to the coast – the Ebros Delta for a fix of waterbirds, sea gulls and
waders. It, too, was an excellent birding location. We even allowed time for a
circa 100km excursion to the north where we went for a little pelagic trip for
a few shearwaters, gulls and even a Storm-petrel! Out two week [or so] tour
ended in Barcelona. We allowed ourselves another half day tour which included
the [seriously must visit] Basillica de
la Sagrada Familia.
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| Great Flamingoes at the Ebros Delta |
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| Red footed Falcon |
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| Zitting Cisticola |
If you would like to be informed about my occasional birding adventures or to join one please contact me on friarbird43@bigpond.com for more details.
Ken Cross
http://scbab.blogspot.com.au/2016/03/a-madagascar-adventure-by-steve-carol.html
- a report on a birding tour to Madagascar by two members; Steve and Carol
Popple
