Spanish Pyrenees

 Bonelli's Warbler

 Bonelli's Warbler

 Rock Thrush

.............  again

......... and again

 Rock Thrush

 Black Redstart

Northern Wheatear

 Northern Wheatear

 Yellowhammer

 Water Pipit

 Black Redstart

We managed a couple of days birding on our drive back to the UK in the Spanish Pyrenees around the Town of Jaca.  Sadly as can happen in the Pyrenees the weather wasn't great with low cloud,  rain and snow.  The first sight we visited was the ski resort of Candanchu, followed by the nearby Astun on the Col Du Somport.  We had a great four hours birding, watching Alpine and Red billed Chough, Alpine Accentors, Black Redstart, Water Pipit, Yellowhammer, Pied Wagtails and Northern Wheatear in good numbers, other sightings included Wryneck, Red-backed Shrike, Rock Thrush, Whinchat and Firecrest 

On the second day we had about four hours birding time, as we still had to drive across France.  Wanting to make the most of the time we had, after a typically Continental breakfast, we headed to the nearby Monastery De San Juan.  The weather still wasn't playing the game, hence the reason we do our Pyrenees tour a little later on in the year.  June is more favourable weather wise and also means plenty of flowers and butterflies.  Species highlights included Griffin and Egyptian Vulture, Lammergeier, Crested Tit, Bonelli's Warbler,  Rock Bunting, Rock Sparrow and Short-toed Treecreeper 

 Roe Deer

Chamois

Homeward Bound ! Guest post by Tracy Powell

It's time to go back to the UK for Mark, Scruffy and I.  We have had a fantastic month here and have had several guests out birding with us and I even went fishing with one couple.  I caught a 2lb Carp and thought I had hit the jackpot !  I enjoyed it out in the sunshine, sat in the peace and quiet, no cars, no television, no mobile phones ringing just the sounds of the water and nature - it was lovely - catching the fish was a bonus.

This week we have had two retired gentlemen out birding with us on a 4 day Spanish visit which seems to have gone really well.  We managed to show them everything they wanted to see, and more, in the time they had with us.

We collected them from the airport on Friday morning and birded en-route to the hotel.  After booking in and dropping their bags in the rooms, we had a light lunch and headed back out.  Birded all day for the next 3 days and dropped them back at the airport for late flight home on day four - Monday.  We like this format and have decided to offer a Spanish long weekend, so that people who work need only have 2 days off work.

Mark will put a trip report and an itinerary for the Spanish long weekend together when we get back.  If you would like to read either they will be available on our website from the right hand information panel shortly.

Whilst we were out and about yesterday we saw some farm workers gathering in the crop off the fields.   One farmer was using a vehicle for transport and in the next field that farmer was using a horse and cart - what a contrast between the two and an even bigger contrast with what our farmers in the UK have at their disposal.  Both these farmers were hand balling the bales in a temperature of about 20 degrees !
Hard work in anyones eyes  !

 My favourite day of this stay has to be the day we saw the    Great/Little Bustards it was amazing !  Even as a "non-birder" or a "birder by default" !! it will take some beating.

               

Fishing trip to Crevillent Lake -Saturday 13th April 2013

For the last two days we have had a young couple out here with us who are not birders, but like the outdoors and wanted to spend a day fishing.  After our uneventful afternoon on the Segura earlier in the week, we decided to take some advice from the owner of the local tackle shop at San Fulgencio.

Armed with directions for the Crevillent Lake, plenty of liquids and factor 30, we loaded the fishing tackle into the car and set off for the 20 minute drive.

Despite its name, the "lake" is actually a reservoir approximately the size of lake Windermere in Cumbria. There are very few places to fish and access to the water is down quite a steep bank. Had we known there were limited fishing spots we may have chosen to go on a weekday,  as a lot of locals fish for food at the weekends. Luckily we had arrived early and were able to secure what turned out to be one of the best pegs of the day.

Total catch during 6 hours fishing amounted to 142 (not a typo !) small grey Mullet (average 3 to 4oz), 1 Common & 1 Mirror Carp (about 4lb) and 2 Sunfish.  All of which, to the complete dismay of the local fishermen, were returned to the water as they were caught. 

Norfolk Weekend

Our Weekend Winter trip to Norfolk was a great success.  The dry but cold weather conditions did not deter us and we saw plenty of birds (species count 105).    Two of our group are relatively new to birding so it was "raining" lifers, Simon had 28 and Alex had 15 over the two days.   A full species list and detailed write up can be seen at www.aquilabirdtours.com/trip reports.  We will be running a Spring weekend to Norfolk, with provisional dates of May 10th - May 12th.  Anyone who is interested in joining us can contact us via email at info@aquilabirdtours.com 

Some pictures below and more in the trip report. 

 Wigeon (Buckenham Marshes)

 Shellduck (Cley Marshes)

 Teal (Cley Marshes)

 Wildfowl including Pintail/Shoveller/Teal (Titchwell RSPB)

 Kestrel (Buckenham Marshes) 

 Turnstone (Seahouses)

 Avocet (Titchewell RSPB)

 Spotted Redshank & Redshank - good comparison (Titchwell RSPB)

 Fulmar (Hunstanton Cliffs)

 Sanderling (Hunstanton)

 Water Rail ((Titchwell RSPB)

 Redshank (Titchwell RSPB)

 Redpoll (Titchwell RSPB)

Grey Partridge (Choseley)

3 day Introduction to the birds of the Costa Blanca

Over the last 3 days we have had 2 Swedish guests out with us who are relatively new to birding.  They have been visiting this part of Spain for a number of years but have never ventured very far from Quesada where they share a holiday home.

A chance meeting whilst we were at El Hondo Visitor Centre, got us talking and they asked us to take them out for a few days this week to show them as many birds and locations as we could.  A nice change for us really, as usually our guests want to see the rarer, migrant or harder to locate species.

As this is our last week here in Spain until the weather cools down later in the year we are just going to show a few pictures of some of the birds we have seen over the last 3 days.  Next week we will post a full trip report on our website covering the locations and sightings more extensively.

Hopefully we will get another blog in this week, although most of our spare time is being spent preparing for the long weekend tour across the Spanish Pyrenees. We will leave Alicante on Thursday 31st May and arrive at the French border, ready to cross back into the UK, in the very early hours of Tuesday 5th June.

 Black-crowned Night Heron

 Black-crowned Night Heron 

 Great Spotted Cuckoo

 Purple Swamphen

 Stone Curlew

Little Grebe 

Day Tours (Option 6) - Red-necked Nightjar

Last night - Wednesday 9th May - we headed over to our regular site for the Red-necked Nightjar.  It was a lovely warm evening with very little breeze and we arrived just as the light was beginning to fade.

Despite the noise from the firework display in the distance, we could hear the Nightjars as soon as we got out of the car.  The fireworks were heralding the end of the 1st day of a 4 day fiesta in Torrevieja, which is being held to celebrate the traditions & culture of Spain.  Not to be outshone in either the noise or the display stakes, the Nightjars performed brilliantly.  The distinctive churring call got louder and louder until the first bird flew straight across the road only a couple of metres from our heads.

Without doubt this is the best view of Red-necked Nightjar I have seen here in Spain.
(Author - Tracy Powell)

Day Tour (Option 3) - Murcian River Valley

Option 3 of our day tours is a popular choice amongst birders and photographers of all levels.  This versatile natural environment is just an hours drive away.  It's diversity of habitats provides us with the opportunity to see waders, raptors, larks and warblers as well as the breeding highlights depending on when we visit.  April and May are the best times to see the beautiful and graceful Bee-eaters and Rollers as they display in the air and in the valley where they breed. 

Below are some of the photographs we took today in the 5 hours (including lunch) we were on site.  If you would like to join us for a days birding, click here to be re-directed to our website where you can see what day tours we offer.  (A full list of the species seen today is below the photos),

Bee-eater in flight 

And another ........

And another ........

.......... having a well earned rest on the fence 

Roller

Roller in flight  x 4

Red-rumped Swallow x 3

Little Ringed Plover 

Black-bellied Sandgrouse

Black-bellied Sandgrouse

Species List 

Roller (15+) / Bee-eater (30+) / Magpie (15) / Black-bellied Sandgrouse (7) / Southern Grey Shrike / Woodchat Shrike / Swallow / Red-rumped Swallow / Swift / Pallid Swift / Nightingale (5) / Spotless Starling / Corn Bunting / Jackdaw / Great Spotted Cuckoo (2) / Quail / Hoopoe  / Turtle Dove / Tree Sparrow / House Sparrow / Greenfinch / Serin / Yellow Wagtail / White Wagtail / Little Owl / Moorhen / Coot / Stonechat /  Red Legged Partridge / Sardinian Warbler / Spectacled Warbler / Whitethroat / Black-winged Stilt / Common Sandpiper / Little Ringed Plover / Little Grebe / Calandra Lark / Short-toed Lark / Crested Lark / Thekla Lark / Kestrel / Montagu's Harrier / Golden Eagle