Roadtrip to Spain March / April 2018 part 1

I entered my first bird record in the book on March 12th (a coastal Peregrine nr Santander first thing in the morning as I shook myself into action after a night on the backseat of a hire car) and the last, a male Blackcap hitching a lift courtesy of Brittany Ferries, on April 3rd. Sandwiched in between a 23 day roadtrip right around Spain with my trusty old mate Mark P.

Spanish roadrip March/April 2018, sites

As you can see, lots of sites covered in those 23 days with good birds at most of them and lots of stunning scenery in between. On reflection it was a bit of a whistle stop tour, not without drama, and as ever many of the places visited could have done with more of an explore. This post covers the downward journey and the following sites

1. Marismas de Joyel / Santona Bay
2. Laguna de Pitillas
3. Huesca
4. Banyoles
5. Emporda
6. Ebro Delta
7. Alberfura
8. Petrolla Steppes
9. Apujarra Valley
10. Fuente de Piedre





So this is where it all started for me, waking up on the backseat of a Peugeot Partner (never again!) on the Northern coast of Spain at the Marismas de Joyel / Santona Bay area.

Nothing startling recorded on the birding front but nice to feel a bit of warm sun on my head after months of grim UK weather!


Having prearranged to meet up with Mark on the 16th March somewhere nr Girona, the next 4 days was just me, a hire car and a tent (how I miss having a campervan!) so it was a relatively slow drive through the Basque, Navarra & Arragon regions and then into Catalonia. Have to say the weather wasn't great and totally spoilt a photo opp of circa 35 Hawfinches on the outskirts of Irutzun but interesting all the same to note that this heavy finch's irruption this winter has extended this far.

Laguna de Pitillas

Having visited the Bardenas Real natural park before I opted to drop in to one of Navarra's few wetland areas instead, the Laguna de Pitillas and with a welcome break in the weather I was instantly rewarded with a great haul of good birds including displaying Marsh Harriers, overhead Griffon Vultures, Garganey, Bearded & Penduline Tit, dozens of passage Ruff and my first Barn Swallows😃😃

Displaying Marsh Harriers, Pitillas, 13/03/18

Displaying Marsh Harriers, Pitillas, 13/03/18

Common Redshank, Pitillas, 13/03/18

 Around Huesca and in the shadow of the Pyrenees I had an unbelievably cold night in my tent (ended up with all my clothes on plus a coat in a sleeping bag!) but was rewarded the next day with a major raptor passage in the skies above with 300+ Black Kites, 3 Red Kites, 5 Common Buzzard, 3 Short Toed Eagles and 1 Osprey, plus 30 + White Storks and 3 Golden Eagles all within 2 hours of watching the skies.

Migrating Black Kites, nr Huesca, 14/03/18

Passing Osprey, nr Huesca, 14/03/18

Griffon Vulture, nr Huesca, 14/03/18

Common Buzzard & Griffon, nr Huesca, 14/03/18

Pair of Golden Eagles, nr Huesca, 14/03/18

Pair of Golden Eagles, nr Huesca, 14/03/18

Although probably resident birds there were 3 Golden Eagles present in total, no doubt used to periodic mass passages of smaller raptors and looking after their own patch! This one came right over my head.

 Golden Eagle, nr Huesca, 14/03/18

Common Buzzard, nr Huesca, 14/03/18

Raptor watchpoint, nr Huesca

The plains and steppe land around Pamplona and Zaragoza are one of my favourite bits of Spain but its only once you get off the motorways and on to minor roads that these landscapes can be fully appreciated .. you can stop, get out of the car and take photographs for a start!

La Garbada de Monegros

I spotted these strange looking sandstone outcrops from the car and later found out that its called La Gabarda de Monegros. Looked like the kind of place they used to film spaghetti westerns and if I'd had time would have explored further but on the day it was lunch stop and photo opp. Got my one and only Merlin of trip here though, zoomed right over the car and flushed about 300 House Sparrows!

Random landscape, local cemetary & farm buildings, nr La Garbada

Volca de Santa Margarida, Garrotxa (creative commons)

The day before my rendevouz with Mark I spent a day and a night within the Garrotxa Volcanic Zone natural park, 40 or so dormant volcanoes that are now covered with forest. Here's one of them (not my pic obviously!) and although I did walk around some of the forest trails, there was very little birdlife. Interesting all the same though - more info here. 

Bullfinch, Banyoles, 15/03/18

Much more to see down in  the foothills however. I'd booked into a small hotel in Banyoles and a late afternoon stroll around the outskirts of town produced several new species for the trip including Bullfinch, Siskin and a probable Eurasian Treecreeper.

Siskin, Banyoles, 15/03/18

Even better was another Hawfinch experience. Ambling around the lake on the edge of town on a beautifully sunny evening I heard that familiar 'tic tic' and it wasn't long before I'd located at least 4 of these 'heavy finches'. Typically elusive I spent a full hour stalking them and trying to get just one cracking shot -  it was kind of fun but ultimately frustrating and had to be satisfied with a couple of record shots as the sun began to dip.

Hawfinch, Banyoles, 15/03/18

Hawfinches, Banyoles, 15/03/18

L'estany de Banyoles

Next day I met up with mate Mark at Girona airport and we headed off up to Emporda, a major wetland site on the Northeast tip of Spain. Another of my favourite Spanish haunts, the sight of that massive cylindrical bird hide never fails to thrill me! It rained later and then the sun came out again creating an altogether different vista ..the semi wild white horses they have there only added the dreamy, almost unreal light!

White horses and rainbow, El Cortalets, Emporda. 16/03/18

Redshank, Emporda, 16/03/18

Before the rains came a few explores around the reserve produced plenty of good birds - Water Pipits in abundance, not the number of wader species we expected but Spotted & Common Redshank, Greenshank, Little Stint, Dunlin, Ruff, Black Tailed Godwit, Little Ringed Plover, Green Sandpiper, Avocet and Snipe all present.

Water Pipit, Emporda, 16/03/18

The next morning brought several new birds - our first Reed Warbler, Purple Heron and House Martin plus Audouins Gull, 4 Black Throated Divers on the Med and a group of 30 or so Alpine Swifts north over the reserve.

Alpine Swift heading north, Emporda, 17/03/18

Next stop, the Ebro Delta and one of the high spots of the whole trip, not least because of the joy of going back somewhere that has been improved! Conservationists in Spain have been instrumental in the creation of  'green filters'  to clean up agricultural run off from adjacent rice fields which has led to extensive new reedbeds, saltmarsh and new wetland areas - Ille de Mar on the north side of the delta and L'Embut to the south. Spent most of the 2 days on Ebro on the northern and less visited side but gave both of these new sites a good going over.

'Green Filters' on the Ebro - more info

Wood Sandpiper, Ebro, 19/03/18

Once again, not masses of waders but as usual Ebro produced the goods with Bonellis Eagle, Wood Sandpiper, Bar Tailed Godwit, Jack Snipe (which I nearly trod upon!) and Grasshopper Warbler amongst a host of new birds added for the trip.

Bluethroat, Ebro, 18/03/18

Barn Swallow, Ebro, 18/03/18

 One of these days I'll get a gripper pic of a Red Rumped Swallow but not on this occassion!

Red Rumped Swallow, Ebro, 18/03/18

Penduline Tit, Ebro, 18/03/18

 A lifer for Mark that Penduline Tit and with a mobile hide to call upon he got a better view!

Bar Tailed Godwit, Greenshank & Redshank, Ebro, 18/03/18

 

Whiskered Tern, Ebro, 18/03/18

Purple Heron, Ebro, 18/03/18

As good as it gets usually as far as me and photographing Purple Heron's is concerned but the next day I managed to stalk this same bird and get some reasonably close shots that came out ok.

Purple Heron, Ebro, 19/03/18

Purple Heron, Ebro, 19/03/18

 The tower hide at Ille de Buda on the north side provides an excellent vantage point for views over the whole of the Ebro Delta as well as fly by birds like these Greater Flamingoes, just 3 of the hundreds present on the reserve.

Greater Flamingoes, Ebro, 18/03/18

Juv Bonellis Eagle, Ebro, 19/03/18

The Bonellis Eagle was a bit of a surprise in a predominently wet and flat landscape and we surmised it to be a youngster seeking out a territory. It certainly made an impression and was harried away by a local Common Buzzard.

Juv Bonellis Eagle and Common Buzzard, Ebro, 19/03/18

A few Ebro seascape / landscapes and odds n sods before we move on then.....

Flamingoes and fishing activity at dusk, Ebro, 17/03/18

Living on the job! Fishing Ebro-style

Yellow Legged Gull, Ebro, 18/03/18

Just a Yellow Legged Gull but a useful test for the lens. Taken from the tower hide on the other side of the river

Mediterranean Gull, Ebro, 19/03/18

A section of the northern part of the Ebro, from the tower hide

Don't be fooled by the warmth that seems radiate out of these couple of landscapes as we neared Albacete and the Petrolla Steppes.

En route to Petrolla

En route to Petrolla

Ruff, Petrolla, 20/03/18

The weather up there was brutal with a strong and biting northerly wind, so cold it was hardly worth getting out of the van. A ringtail Hen Harrier over the lagoon at Petrolla kept us interested for a while and then we were convinced we had a rare wader in amongst 10 or so Ruff that were braving the elements but it turned out to be just a much smaller female Ruff or a Reeve to be precise! We've only been birding for 40 years but you can maybe see why we got so excited.

Ruff at Petrolla with a confusingly small female, 20/03/18

The unseasonably cold weather and persistent northerly winds stayed with us as we headed further south and west. Through the Sierra Alcaraz we experienced tricky driving conditions with heavy snow preventing any thought of an overnight and a further explore. Little Bustard was a lucky spot from the van nr Albacete and other 'en route' birds included a Montagues Harrier nr Jaen and small numbers of Black Kite, Marsh Harriers and Pallid Swifts, all giving a sense of light passage.

Woodchat Shrike with bug, Orgiva, 22/03/18

Into the Sierra Nevada and the mountains were full of snow. We had no time to go up high and look for alpine species but did enjoy the relative warmth in nearby Alpujarra Valley and stayed at a campsite at Orgiva. Warbler of of the day was without a doubt Blackcap with 50+ around the campsite with Woodchat Shrike, Siskin and Lesser Short Toed Lark amongst other notables





From Orgiva it was south and west into Andalusia and the well known reserve of Fuente de Piedre. Most famous for its huge population of Flamingoes this is the largest inland wetland area in Andalusia. I lost count after 800 Flamingoes, many many pink blobs stretching way into the distance, but apart from a passing Golden Eagle and nice summer plumage Whiskered Tern, nothing we hadn't had before, some nice early evening landscapes though.

Whiskered Tern, Fuente de Piedre, 22/03/18

Fuente de Piedre

Fuente de Piedre

Bad weather with rain and strong winds descended upon us once again the next day and the day after that, all very unseasonal and frustrating but hey we'd travelled almost to the southern tip of Spain just 5 days after departing from Emporda in the far north east, so it was 'job done' in a way. Southern Spain is one of the best places to be at this time of year if you're into bird migration, raptor passage can be outstanding sometimes and, as the storms began to ease off, we found ourselves in the right place, right time for a bit of major passage - that will kick off part 2 of the trip, but here's a taster, 1 of many passing Booted Eagles moving north over Jimenez de la Frontera.

Booted Eagle, migrating north, Jimenez de la Frontera, 24/03/18