2010/09/02
Birding at Empordà wetlands
 |
| European Bee-eater |
 |
| Short-toed Eagle |
You can check the full list of seen birds here.
2010/08/31
2010/08/17
Pic de la Dona - Pic de Prat de Bacivers - Pic de Bastiments
Last Sunday we had planned a long hike to Estanys de Carançà and Coma de Bacivers. However, the weather was quite unstable, so we decided to change our minds and go for an easier and shorter hike.
We arrived at Vallter 2000 Ski Resort at about 8:30h and the temperature was only 5ºC (remember, August 15th!!). After preparing the gear, we started walking. Our first goal was to reach the Portella de Mantet, a natural pass between Catalonia and France. We reached it after about 45min walking. Despite it was quite windy, we had a snack there. We continued climbing until we reached the Pic de la Dona (2704m). It is a flat peak with nice views over the Ull de Ter circus. We walked north-west to reach the Coll de la Geganta. There, we turned north until we reached the small Estany de Bacivers. We went to a small stony shelter close to the pond, where it starts the climb to the Pic de Bacivers. It was the hardest climb of the hike, as the slope was quite steep. After this climb we reached the unfrequented Pic del Prat de Bacivers. There we had a short rest before walking the ridge to the crowded Pic de Bastiments. Even if the last part of the ridge is quite steep and stony, it is a piece of cake. At 13:00h we reached the Pic de Bastiments summit. Fortunately, maybe because of the unstable weather, there was not too much people there. After chatting with some people on the summit, we started the descent to the east, following the Esquena d'Ase to the Coll de la Geganta. Before we reached the site, the fog became quite dense and we needed to use the GPS to find the way down. Once we had reached the pass, instead of going back the same trail, we turned south and reached first the Pla de la Regalèsia (Liquorice Plain) and then the Font de la Perdiu (Grouse Spring, 2435m). There we had lunch. It was quite cold and foggy, so we decided not to spend too much time there and continued walking to the car, where we arrived in about 45min.
2010/08/11
A hiking weekend at La Cerdanya
We spent the last weekend discovering some new places in the french side of La Cerdanya, enjoying its great landscapes and climbing some of its summits. We were based at Camping Pla de Barres, close to Mont-louis.
Saturday August 7th 2010
We woke up at 6:30 in the morning, and, after a brief breakfast we went to the village of Eina, where the route begins. At 8:10h we started walking. The first part of the route goes through the magnificent Vall d'Eina, with many interesting landscapes, flora and fauna. The lower part of the valley is a Scots Pine forest, turning to alpine meadows as we climbed higher. Finally, we reached the Coll d'Eina, at about 2680m. This is a classical pass to go from the Vall de Núria (Catalonia) to the french side of La Cerdanya. After reaching the pass, we started riding the ridge that surrounds the valley at its eastern side. This allowed us to climb 4 summits in a couple of hours: Pic d'Eina (2789), Torre d'Eina (2850), Serrat de les Fonts (2775m) and Pic de Cambre d'Aze (2750m). This is an easy but magnificent ridge. From the las summit, Pic de Cambre d'Aze, we turned west and descended to the bottom of the valley (no trail at all!!) to reach the trail we had walked at the early morning. Then, it took about an hour to reach the car.
Even if this is an easy route (in terms of technical difficulties), it is physically demanding, because its length (7h real time and 20km) and its elevation gain (about 1500m). In case of fog or strong wind it can be quite dangerous, so avoid it in such conditions.
Sunday August 8th 2010
We wake up a little bit late and, after breakfast and packing the tents (we had to leave the camp before noon), we headed towards the Vall de Galba and Estanys de Camporells. This was going to be a light hike, as we were tired of the previous day. This is a very nice valley at the Capcir region (France). We left the car about 1 km before the Barraca de la Jaceta picnic area, as the dirty road was quite bad. The trail was easy, we just had to follow the signposts for the Grand Tour du Capcir (yellow and red). Short after reaching the Barraca de la Llosa, the trail crosses the Galba river and starts climbing the western slope of the valley. The worst here was the heat, which was really annoying. After about 3h we reached the Estany Gran de Camporells. We decided to have a bath and lunch there. After relaxing for a couple of hours, we walked back the trail and headed home.
2010/07/23
Aneto 3404m
It's been almost a week since we climbed the Aneto, but till now I haven't had a moment to write on our climb. Aneto (3404m) is the highest Pyrenees' summit, the 2nd in the Iberian Peninsula and the 3rd in Spain.
We left Girona on Friday afternoon and, after a little bit more than four hours of driving, we arrived at the Llano de Senarta (Vall de Benasque), where we camped. On Saturday, at 9:15h in the morning, we took the bus to the Puente de Coronas, at the Vall de Vallibierna. This bus goes along a 11km dirty road closed to traffic that climbs the Vall de Vallibierna, which is very scenery. After about 40min we reached the Puente de Coronas, where we started walking. The trail climbs the Vall de Coronas, and the first part of it was quite flat, until we reached the Pleta de Coronas. There we had the first view of the Aragüells (3032m) and the waterfall we had to climb. The trail climbed it on its left side, climbing some rocks. It was the first hard part of the ascent. Over the waterfall there was the Ibonet de Coronas. After that, the trail continued climbing, sometimes harder than others. The weather was getting cloudy, and we wondered if we would get wet. We continued climbing, keeping an eye on the sky and another on the ground. When we arrived to the Ibón Inferior de Coronas, at about 2600m , we saw a couple of good places to mount the tents, but we decided to continue climbing a little bit more. Finally, at about 2720m we camped, just below the Ibón Medio de Coronas. Our plans where to climb the Aragüells in the afternoon, as from the tents it was an hour and a half hike. But the weather was not very good, and it even rained a little bit, so we decided to skip it. So we spent the rest of the afternoon sleeping, chatting and meditating. After a very stressing week, it was a good choice! We also had to go to take a little bit of water to prepare the dinner. After having dinner, at about 20:00h, we went to sleep.
On Monday we wake up at 6:00h in the morning, and after a brief breakfast and preparing all the gear, we started walking at 6:40h. No too much later we saw the Ibón Medio de Coronas, half frozen, and a few minutes later the Ibón Superior de Coronas, which was frozen. We left the lagoons behind and started climbing the Coll de Coronas. The first part was a rocky area, where the trail was not clear, so it was quite demanding. Then, it became flat and, finally, hard again. To climb the last part we needed to use crampons and ice ax. We arrived just below the Coll de Coronas and, after a short rock climb, we reached it. We wore the snow gear again and, after half an hour, we reached the last step to the summit, the famous Pas de Mahoma. It is named like this because in the middle of the ridge there is a flat narrow rock which people usually cross on their kneels, as if they where praying to Allah. After a few minutes of rock climbing we reached the highest summit of the Pyrenees: Aneto (3404m). We didn't spend to much time on the summit, as many people where climbing after us and we didn't want to wait too much to cross back the Pas de Mahoma. After we had cross the ridge again, we ate something before going down. We went down fast and it took less than one hour and a half to reach the tents. We packed everything and we continued down. We were quite on a hurry, as at 16:00 we had to take the bus to the cars. But we did it, and at 15:15 we were back at Puente de Coronas. Now it comes the funny part. The bus arrived on time at 16:00, but it had not even run for 500m when it break down. We only had one choice: walk the 11km to the cars!! It was really a hard job. We arrived at the cars at 17:45 and we where at home at 22:45h.
It was an intense and tiring weekend, but very regarding, as we had a very nice climb, with good weather and great views!
2010/06/28
Clarabides Peaks
Last weekend was a four days weekend at Catalonia, so we decided to spend three of these days at the Estós Valley trying to climb some peak. We were really looking forward for good weather, as the last times we tried a climb we had to desist due to the bad weather.
We arrived at the Estós Valley parking on Friday 25th at about 15:00h. After preparing all the gear, we started the two hours and a half hike to the Estós Refuge. It was very hot and humid, and the mosquitoes where killing us. However, we really enjoyed this pleasant and relaxing hike along the Estós River. We crossed meadows, beech and pine forests, rivers, all the time surrounded by the impressive walls of the surrounding summits, most of them over 3000m. At about 18:00h we arrived at the refuge, just before it started raining. After having dinner at 19:30h, we went to sleep. The next day was going to be a long day.
On Saturday 26th we had breakfast and some minutes before 7:00 we started climbing. The first serious problem was to cross the Barranco de Gías (Gías Ravine). Because of the snow thawing, there was a lot of water, and crossing it was not easy. After the ravine crossing, the trail became more steep to overcome a rocky area. Once you overcome the ravine, the trail continued climbing overcoming rock terraces and snow patches until we arrived to the Ibón de Gías (Gías Pond). There we had a snack before continuing climbing. The last 200m before to Puerto de Gías (Gías Pass) we walked along a snow patch which was a little steep and, worst of all, the snow was thawing, making it difficult to walk. Once we reached the pass, it took a few minutes to reach the Eastern Clarabide (3014m). Then, we arrived to the higher Central Clarabide (3024m), where we relaxed and had a snack. Then we wanted to reach the lowest Western Clarabide (3010m), but a narrow ridge with snow made us desist. We didn't either climb the nearby Gías Peak as the weather was getting worse. After having a snack and taking the required pictures we started the descent. The weather was getting quite bad, so we decided not to relax or have lunch and try to get to the refuge as soon as possible. We went down as fast as we could and, after seven and a half hours after we had left the refuge, we were back again. Just before it started raining. We spent the rest of the afternoon playing domino, cards and enjoying the rain and the thunders.
On Sunday 27th we decided to go down through a longer trail instead of taking the direct one. We crossed the Estós River and then we started climbing to the Ibonet the Batiselles (Batiselles Small Pond). This is a great trail that goes through the opposite side of the direct trail. After about one hour and a half we reached the beautiful Ibonet de Batiselles. Then, the trail starts going down until it joins the direct trail. Finally, at about 11:00 we arrived to the car.
2010/06/08
Ebre Delta Natural Park Birding
We spent the last weekend birding at the Ebre Delta Natural Park. On Friday, at about 20:30h, we arrived at Els Eucaliptus Campsite. We mounted the tents and, while having dinner, we heard the only Scops Owl of the weekend. On Saturday we woke up at 6:00h and we started birding after a brief breakfast. Our first stop was at Erms de la Tancada. There we saw a Richard's Pipit (very late!!), a couple of Greater Short-toed Lark, Skylarks and a Woodchat Shrike. Then we moved to Barra del Trabucador and Punta de la Banya, to avoid the crowd. We stopped at the very beginning of the Barra del Trabucador, where we saw 3 Oystercatchers and an Eurasian Spoonbill. Then we moved towards the Punta de la Banya. The last piece of track was very affected by the storms, and they had arranged a new road close (too close) to a Audouin's Gull. This allowed us to take some nice pics. The road to reach the Punta de la Banya Lookout was very bad, so we decided not to go further and moved to Sant Antoni Saltpans. There were some nice birds, such as 2 Oystercatchers, Little Terns, Avocets and others. Our next stop was the Embut Lookout, at the L'Encanyissada lagoon. The area around the lookout was full of Black-crowned Night Herons, and we found a breeding colony on a fig tree. At the lookout we found many good birds, such as Great and Little Bitterns, Reed, Great Reed and Savi's Warbler, Little, Common, Caspian, Whiskered and Black Terns, Red-crested Pochards, ... Then we stopped at the Caseta de Fusta (the park's visitor's center) to eat some smoked eel before going to the Pont de Través Lookout, at L'Encanyissada Lagoon as well. There we saw almost the same birds as at the L'Embut Lookout, but I could take some nice pics of the Little Bittern. We had lunch at the campsite, and at the afternoon we went to Riet Vell before crossing the Ebre River to go to El Garxal. Then we meet a colleague who arrived on Saturday afternoon. After having met him, we went to end the day at L'Aufacada Lagoon and Gola de Migjorn. Some new birds where seen there, such as Glossy Ibis or Black-tailed Godwit.
On Saturday we started at 6:00h and, after having breakfast and pack everything, we started birding. During the first half of the morning we visited some of the places we had visited the previous day. The only new bird there was a Eurasian Curlew. Then, we crossed the Ebre River and went to El Garxal. There we saw many Flamingoes, Little Bitterns, Great White Egrets, Little Terns and other. After having lunch at Can Figueres, and before going home, we had a visit at Lo Goleró, which produces very few birds.
Summarizing, it was a very nice weekend, but the overall impression was that everything was very quite, and very few birds (in terms of quantity) were seen. You can check the full bird list here.
2010/06/01
Carlit: failed climb
On Sunday we wanted to climb the Carlit summit (2921m), the highest mountain of the Oriental Pyrenees. We started walking at 8:45 at Estany de Passet. After a first hard rise, the trail continues climbing slowly along the valley following the GR7, over the beautiful Estany de Font Viva. We crossed the stream under the Estany de Lanós dam and, short after, we left the GR7 and turned east to continue along the Alta Ruta Pirenaica (ARP, Pyenees High Trail). At about 12:30h we reached the Estany dels Forats. There was an hour left to the summit and the weather was getting worst, so we decided to give up. We had a brief lunch at the frozen pond and started going down. It didn't take too long to start snowing and, as we went further down, raining. It was a good decision to give up!
Even if we didn't reach the summit, we had a good time at the mountain, while discovering a new area unknown for most of us.
2010/05/25
Red-necked Nightjar
Yesterday we had a great birding evening. With some friends we went close to home to look for the Red-necked Nightjar. As usual, we brought our dinner and ate it at the ringing station while hearing many nightingales. At about 21:00 we were at the appropriate place for the nightjar. The first interesting bird was a nice male Hobby, and then we heard some scops owl. It took a while to hear the first nightjars. At about 21:15 we heard an European Nightjar, and short after we saw it. At about 9:20 we heard the first Red-necked Nightjar and a few minutes later we saw it. Finally, we saw 2 Red-necked Nightjar and 3 European Nightjar. As usual, the spot didn't disappoint anybody and we had a great birding evening.
2010/05/17
Wind
On Saturday we had a windy birding day at Empordà Marshes Natural Park. We visited a few areas: El Matà, Estany del Tec, Estany d'en Pericus and La Gallinera. Despite the strong wind, I managed to see some new birds for the year, such as Curlew Sandpiper or Spoonbill, and I even added a new bird to the Catalan life list: Pallid Harrier! It was a young male moulting to 1st summer plumage which showed great and we could enjoy it very much.
You can check the full bird list here.
2010/05/11
Collet de Barraques
Last Saturday I led a morning birding outing at Collet de Barraques, one of the best spots close to Girona for mountain birds.
We met at 8:00 at Sant Joan de les Abadesses, and at 9:00 we were already at the mountain. The day wasn't very promising: cold and cloudy. Moreover, due to the snowfalls during the last week, there was a lot of snow. We started walking up, hearing and seeing Common Crossbills, Citrl Finches, Coal Tits, Wood Larks and Firecrest. After a while, we saw a juvenile Golden Eagle (we saw it again) and, not too late, the surprise of the day: a Cinereous Vulture! It had a wing mark at the right wing secondary feathers. We continued climbing until we reached the alpine meadows. It was very cold and quite quite, and we just saw a couple of Water Pipits. We started going down and, not too late, we saw a great adult Lammergeier flying around our heads. We had lunch at Corral Blanc refuge and we finished at El Molí Petit (Sant Joan de les Abadesses), seeing the Marsh Tits, Nuthatches, ...
It wasn't a bad day, considering the conditions. At least it didn't rain! Moreover, we saw most of the expected species. You can check the full list here.
2010/05/04
Weekend at the Ebre Drylands
Last weekend I led a tour of my birding club at the Ebre Drylands. These are the closest drylands we have, and may be divided into two parts: Monegros Drylands and Lleida Drylands. We explored both of them.
We left Girona on Friday April 30th afternoon. The weather forecast wasn't very promising, as rain was expected all the weekend. Further west we went, worst was the weather. When we arrived to El Planerón Ornithologic Reserve it was raining heavily. However, first we had to go to Belchite, as some of us were sleeping at a hostel there. The others were bivouacking at the heart of El Planerón Ornithologic Reserve. When we had left the people at the hostel it had almost stopped raining, and when we arrived at the bivouac place it had stopped raining. While having dinner the last of us arrived. Then, we heard our first Dupont's Lark calling. After dinner, I had to take the last person to the hostel, which gave me the chance to inspect the area with the flashlight. When I came back to the bivouac, we went to sleep. It was quite a crazy night, with lightning and calls of Dupont's Lark, Stone Curlew and some Little Owls. Fortunatelly, it didn't rain. At 5:00 the alarm clock wake us, and the people from the hostel arrived. Then it started the Dupont's Lark hunt. From about 5:15 to 6:15 there were many calls of Dupont's Lark, some of them really close, but we didn't manage to see any. As the sun rose, the Calandra abd Greater Short-toed Larks started calling as well At the tamarisks close to the lagoon we heard a Savi's Warbler. It is interesting to see how migrating birds take chance of any tree or bush during their migrations. At about 7:00 the sunrise was completed and the Dupon't Lark had already stopped calling, so we decided to have breakfast. Then, we explored another area, signposted as "Itinerario 2", which goes through a very good area for the Dupont's Lark. There we had very nice views of Calandra and Greater-short Toed Larks, Black-eared Wheatear and, after hard searching, we saw 2 Dupont's Lark flying. Great! They were my 2nd ever! We were quite happy. We explored this area a little bit more, trying to see some warbler or some Stone Curlew, but without luck. Then, we moved to the western area of the reserve, which is cultivated with cereals, making it very good for sandgrouses. But the weather was getting worse and windy, and we saw few birds there. The best birds there were a couple of Great Southern Shrikes. Then, it started raining and we decided to go away not to get sticked in the mud with the car. But it didn't rain too much, and when we arrived to the "Itinerario 1" it had already stopped. We walked the path, and we saw some good birds, including a Great Southern Shrike, Griffon Vultures, an Egyptian Vulture, 1 Osprey, 1 Booted Eagle pale morph and a Honey Buzzard. We had lunch at the lookout there and, after having lunch, we moved to the Bujaraloz Drylands.
The Bujaraloz Drylands is our closest area for Great Bustard. Other interesting birds there include Black-bellied and Pin-tailed Sandgrouse, Greater Short-toed and Calandra Larks, Stone Curlews, ... Before getting there, we stopped at the Meandros de Sástago, a good area for Black Wheatear and Rock Sparrow, but we didn't see any. The good drylands area starts a few kilometers after Sástago on the road to Bujaraloz. We explored all the road, including a loop through dirty roads around La Playa and Pito Lagoons. There were very few birds there, and everything was very slow. The best birds there were 12 Pin-tailed Sandgrouses, a Spotted Flycatcher, a couple of Spectacled and Dartford Warblers and many Tawny Pipits. We ended the day at Candasnos Lagoon. We discovered this lagoon some years ago and it turned to be a great spot in the middle of the drylands. This short visit produced some breeding pairs of Marsh Harriers, Black-winged Stilts, Common and Red Crested Pochards, Reed Warbler, Black Tern, ...
On Sunday we started exploring the Alfés Drylands. Our first area was a dirty road that leads to the Alfes Aerodrome, which produced a couple of flying males Little Bustard. Then we explored the area around the Alfés Aerodrome, which is a 100ha of schrubland dominated by Thyme (Thymus vulgaris). This was the last breeding area for the Duponts Lark in Catalonia, extinct since 2006. Of course, we didn't see the lark there, but we saw other interesting species such as Greater Short-toed and Calandra Lark, Tawny Pipit, Great Spotted Cuckoo, White Stork, Little Bustard, ... At the riparian forests surrounding the Canal d'Urgell we saw Penduline Tit, Melodious and Willow Warblers, Golden Oriole, Eurasian Tree Sparrow, Green Woodpecker, ... It was too early in the season for the Lesser Grey Shrike, it arrives by late May. We continued to Mas de Melons crossing a cerealistic area, which produced a few more Little Bustards and a male Montagu's Harrier. At Mas de Melons we saw a very nice Eurasian Roller, probably just arrived, as it was very shy. We continued to Set River Canyon, where we saw a couple of Black Wheatears, a Rock Sparrow, Golden Orioles, Cirl Buntings, Rock Martins, ... We missed the Red-umped Swallow there. We explored the road between Aspa and Alfés, which is good for Montagu's Harrier and (this year) for Black-winged Kite, but we saw none of them. We went to have lunch to La Sentiu de Sió before exploring the Bellmunt Drylands.
Bellmunt Drylands are very good for Montagu's Harrier and Little Bustard. However, it was very quite, and it produces few birds, including a female Montagu's Harrier, 1 female and 2 males Little Bustard, 2 Little Owls, a Hobby and others. We decided to end the trip, as usual when visiting the Lleida Drylands, at the Ivars Lagoon. The we saw a bunch of birds, including 2 Collared Pratincoles, Oystercatcher (1st record for the area), Black-winged Stilts, Whiskered and Black Terns, Black-headed Gulls, ...
We saw about 107 species, which is not too bad considering that we spent most of the time at the drylands and that we had quite a bad weather most of the Saturday. Moreover, we were very surprised by the low number of birds, specially insectivorous birds. Does it bear some relationship with the abuse of pesticides and the switch from dryland to irrigated land in many areas? You can check the bird list here.
2010/04/26
The best birding day of the year?
Last Saturday I had a fantastic spring birding day. It was really long, but it produced 130 species and 22 new species for the year (NSY).
At 6:30 I was already at the Punta del Cap de Creus, Cap de Creus Natural Park (PNCC). I had to wake up really early in the morning, but it was worth the effort! There I saw quite a lot of species, including Little and Great Egrett, Gray Heron, Caspian, Common and Sandwich Terns (the first two were NSY), 2 Oystercatchers (NSY), 1 Whimbrel, 2 Razorbills (the lasts of the season?), 1 Great Skua, 1 Arctic Skua and others. After a couple of hours of seawatching, I went to my favourite spot at the PNCC: Mas Bufadors. It is an elevated area close to the sea, with open shrublands and some rocks. This is the easiest area to see the Spectacled Warbler (NSY), and as I was doing a particular birding marathon, I had to go there! When I arrived there, the air was full of the Corn Buntings songs. It didn't take too long before I saw the Spectacled Warblers. I saw a pair just after I got off the car. But they were not the only birds I needed, so I had a walk around the area, which produced Western Orphean (NSY), Dartford and Sardinian Warblers, Thekla Lark, Stonechats, a Tawny Pipit (NSY), a Melodious Warbler (NSY), a Hobby (NSY), Short-toed and Bonelli's Eagle, and some other birds. I also scanned the ruins of the old house for the Rufous-tailed Rock Thrush, which sometimes is seen here, but I didn't see it. After some birding there I went to Serra Verdera. I went to my favorite place there, Sant Onofre. My targets there were Ortolan Bunting and Rufous-tailed Rock Thrush, but I saw none of them. It was around noon, the worst hour of the day, and the best bird there was a Rock Bunting. After hanging around there for a while, I went to Barranc de l'Infern. There is a very good area for the Western Orphean Warbler on the road that climbs to Sant Pere de Roda between Barranc the l'Infern and the dirty road that
leads to Montperdut. I wanted to take some pictures of these birds, but, even if I saw a couple of them, they were very shy and I couldn't approach the. Too many people around! I continued my marathon going to Delfià to see the Lesser Kestrel colony there. I saw them plus a Whinchat. My next spot was the Pedret sewage pond. Sometimes this spot produces some good birds and, as it was just a little roundup to my next area, I went there. The pond produced nothing but some Black Kites (NSY). I went to have lunch to Estany de Vilaüt, which is already at the Empordà Marshes Natural Park (PNAE). On the trail that leads from the parking place to the lagoon, I had one of the best birds of the day: a couple of Ortolan Buntings (NSY). There I could also hear a couple of Quails. While having lunch in the shadow of a cork oak I scanned the wires to see some Eurasian Rollers, but I think they had not arrived yet, as I saw none. Also, there were few birds at the lagoon, so I went to Estany de Palau. The best birds there were a Moustached and a Sedge Warbler (NSY). Moreover, I saw heard Woodlarks (NSY) and I saw a couple of Purple Herons. Then I headed to La Gallinera rice fields, which were completely dry and produced almost nothing, so I went to Estany del Cortalet. There I saw some Greenshanks, Spotted Redshanks, some Spotted Redshanks and a Marsh Sandpiper (NSY). Then I moved to El Matà, which produced some waders, such as Dunlin, Little Stint, Wood, Green and Common
Sandpipers, Kentish Ringed and Great Ringed Plovers, an Audouin's Gull and a few other birds. I decided to finish the day at Mig de Dos Rius Nature Reserve. There, I managed to see a Lesser Spotted Woodpecker and 2 Black-crowned Night Herons (NSY) perching at Illa de Caramany.
As I said before, It was a long hard birding day. But it was worth the effort, as it produced a long list and I really enjoyed the birds. You can check the birdlist here.
2010/04/11
Great birding spring day
Yesterday was a great birding day at the Empordà. We started with a seabird survey at Punta del Cap de Creus (Cap de Creus Natural Park) from 7:00 to 12:00. It produced very good species, such as Great, Pomarine and Parasitic Skuas, 2 Atlantic Puffins, a Razorbill, 2 Arctic Loons, migrating Herons (Great Egrett, Gray Heron and Little Egrett), a Black Tern, 14 Greater Flamingoes, about 200 Little Gulls and at least 2000 shearwater including about 20 Balearic Shearwaters. Moreover, we saw a group of Stripped Dolphins (Stenella coeruleoalba) and another group of Bottlenose Dolphins (Tursiops truncatus). When moving to the Empordà Marshes Natural Park, we stopped to see a Bonelli's Eagle nest. The Empordà Marshes produced some good species, such as Booted Eagle, Collared Pratincole, 2 Audouin's Gull or a single Red-throated Pipit. Unfortunatelly, short after we left El Matà meadows there was seen a Citrine Wagtail. A very nice day which produced 110 species. You can check the full list here.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)