On saturday we had a birding day at Lleida drylands, to try to get some new ticks for the annual 2009 Catalonia birdlist. We did a good job, getting 17 new spices for the list, some of them (Little Bustard Calandra Lark or Pin-tailed Sandgrouse) are hard to find anywhere else.
We left Girona at 04:30 in the morning and, after a brief coffee at La Curullada service station (where we met our colleagues from Barcelona) we arrived at the starting point at 7:00h. We started some kilometres north of Alfés village, at the crossroad bertween the C-12 and the dirty road that leads to Alfés aerodrome. We followed the dirty road. There we saw our first Calandra Larks and a Mallard in a very small pond beside the road. Before crossing the highway, there is a ruined house on the left side (a little bit far away), where it's easy to see the Little Owl, and so we did. The cereal was pretty developed, so it was hard to see anything unless it was flying! We saw some Red-legged Partridge and a couple of Stone Curlew. The general area is frequented by Little Bustard, Pin-tailed Sandgrouse or Roller. After crossing the highway, the road climbs a small elevation where the aerodrome is. We parked the car beside the aerodrome buildings and had a walk around the plain. We had great views of the Calandra Lark, and a female Little Bustard flew over our heads. The roads that cross the plain are very good to see some of the birds that are usually hidden in the vegetation. In these roads we saw the Greater Short-toed Lark. We also saw three Pin-tailed Sandgrouses flying over our heads. and some Lesser Kestrels. It's worth approaching the edges of the plateau and scan the nearby cereal fields, where we saw a couple (male and female) of Little Bustards and two male Rollers. After having exlored the area, we moved down to explore the woods around the Canal d'Urgell. This area is good for Red-necked Nightjar and, some years, the Lesser Grey Shrike. We had no luck and we saw none of them. However, we could see two Great Spotted Cuckoos, some Melodious Warblers and two Penduline Tits. After exploring the woods, we turn right before crossing the Canal d'Urgell and followed a road that first skirts the Aerodrome and then goes parallel to the motorway before crossing it with a bridge. After the motorway, we followed what seemed to be the main road that lead us to the Artesa de Lleida-Aspa road (LV-7021). Before reaching the road we saw a female Montagu's Harrier, a Short-toed Eagle and a Western Marsh Harrier. On the LV-7021 we turn right and, just before the road descends to the Riu Set, we turned right to take a dirty road. This road goes to the Aspa-Castelldans road, where we turned right and followed that road for a few kilometers. This area is known as Mas de Melons, and there we saw Great Southern Shrike, Roller, Black-eared Wheatear, Bee-eater, Stonechat,... After having explored that road, we turned back to Aspa. This road descends to the level of the Riu Set. We parked the car there (beware: few parking place!!) and walked along the road. The rocky slopes there are the home of the Black Wheatear. We saw a single one of them, plus a nice male Black-eared Wheatear. Other interesting spices seen here were Thekla Lark, Sardinian Warbler, Golden Oriole, Melodiuos Warbler or Cirl Bunting. We crossed the road and followed direction to Alfés. On the drylands there we saw a couple (male and female) Montagu's Harrier, probably breeding on the nearby cereal fields. Once we reached Alfés, we went to the Bellmunt drylands, near Balaguer.
The Bellmunt drylands are one of the best areas for Montagu's Harrier and Little Bustard. The whole area was at risk of being converted to irrigated land, meaning the disappearance of Rollers, Little Bustards, Montagu's Harriers and the like. The area is crossed by a track that goes from La Sentiu de Sió to Montgai. However, there are many other tracks that can be explored by car depending on the ground conditions. Beware that most of the area is private land, so don't disturbe it. In this area we saw two Little Bustard (probably there were more, but hidden within the cereal fields), many Montagu's Harrier, two male Hobby, Rollers, Great Spotted Cuckoo and others.
Once finished there, we moved to the Estany d'Ivars-Vilasana. This is a lagoon that was dried on 1950s and it has been recently restored. Nowadays, is one of the important wet areaswithin the Lleida drylands. The we saw some waterfowl and some surprises. We had a Little Bittern, two adult Mediterrarean Gulls, three Whiskered Tern and three Black Terns. This was a very nice end for a great birding day at the Lleida drylands.
You can check the list of the seen birds here.
We left Girona at 04:30 in the morning and, after a brief coffee at La Curullada service station (where we met our colleagues from Barcelona) we arrived at the starting point at 7:00h. We started some kilometres north of Alfés village, at the crossroad bertween the C-12 and the dirty road that leads to Alfés aerodrome. We followed the dirty road. There we saw our first Calandra Larks and a Mallard in a very small pond beside the road. Before crossing the highway, there is a ruined house on the left side (a little bit far away), where it's easy to see the Little Owl, and so we did. The cereal was pretty developed, so it was hard to see anything unless it was flying! We saw some Red-legged Partridge and a couple of Stone Curlew. The general area is frequented by Little Bustard, Pin-tailed Sandgrouse or Roller. After crossing the highway, the road climbs a small elevation where the aerodrome is. We parked the car beside the aerodrome buildings and had a walk around the plain. We had great views of the Calandra Lark, and a female Little Bustard flew over our heads. The roads that cross the plain are very good to see some of the birds that are usually hidden in the vegetation. In these roads we saw the Greater Short-toed Lark. We also saw three Pin-tailed Sandgrouses flying over our heads. and some Lesser Kestrels. It's worth approaching the edges of the plateau and scan the nearby cereal fields, where we saw a couple (male and female) of Little Bustards and two male Rollers. After having exlored the area, we moved down to explore the woods around the Canal d'Urgell. This area is good for Red-necked Nightjar and, some years, the Lesser Grey Shrike. We had no luck and we saw none of them. However, we could see two Great Spotted Cuckoos, some Melodious Warblers and two Penduline Tits. After exploring the woods, we turn right before crossing the Canal d'Urgell and followed a road that first skirts the Aerodrome and then goes parallel to the motorway before crossing it with a bridge. After the motorway, we followed what seemed to be the main road that lead us to the Artesa de Lleida-Aspa road (LV-7021). Before reaching the road we saw a female Montagu's Harrier, a Short-toed Eagle and a Western Marsh Harrier. On the LV-7021 we turn right and, just before the road descends to the Riu Set, we turned right to take a dirty road. This road goes to the Aspa-Castelldans road, where we turned right and followed that road for a few kilometers. This area is known as Mas de Melons, and there we saw Great Southern Shrike, Roller, Black-eared Wheatear, Bee-eater, Stonechat,... After having explored that road, we turned back to Aspa. This road descends to the level of the Riu Set. We parked the car there (beware: few parking place!!) and walked along the road. The rocky slopes there are the home of the Black Wheatear. We saw a single one of them, plus a nice male Black-eared Wheatear. Other interesting spices seen here were Thekla Lark, Sardinian Warbler, Golden Oriole, Melodiuos Warbler or Cirl Bunting. We crossed the road and followed direction to Alfés. On the drylands there we saw a couple (male and female) Montagu's Harrier, probably breeding on the nearby cereal fields. Once we reached Alfés, we went to the Bellmunt drylands, near Balaguer.
The Bellmunt drylands are one of the best areas for Montagu's Harrier and Little Bustard. The whole area was at risk of being converted to irrigated land, meaning the disappearance of Rollers, Little Bustards, Montagu's Harriers and the like. The area is crossed by a track that goes from La Sentiu de Sió to Montgai. However, there are many other tracks that can be explored by car depending on the ground conditions. Beware that most of the area is private land, so don't disturbe it. In this area we saw two Little Bustard (probably there were more, but hidden within the cereal fields), many Montagu's Harrier, two male Hobby, Rollers, Great Spotted Cuckoo and others.
Once finished there, we moved to the Estany d'Ivars-Vilasana. This is a lagoon that was dried on 1950s and it has been recently restored. Nowadays, is one of the important wet areaswithin the Lleida drylands. The we saw some waterfowl and some surprises. We had a Little Bittern, two adult Mediterrarean Gulls, three Whiskered Tern and three Black Terns. This was a very nice end for a great birding day at the Lleida drylands.
You can check the list of the seen birds here.
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