Catalan holiday

Just got back from a family holiday in Catalunya. We spnt a week up in the Pyrenees, then a few days in Barcelona. We met up with our good friends the Chittendens, who drove in all the way from the UK. From a family perspective, it was a perfect holiday - stunning scenery, great activities, excellent food. Brownie points secured. Especially when these family activities include encounters with Lammergeiers and Dipper.

It was enjoyable just to hang around in the garden, that was full of birds. Western Subalpine, Western Bonelli's and Melodious Warblers seem to have all bred there. Pied Flys, both redstarts, Crested Tits and Short-toed Treecreepers - quite good fun.

Western Bonelli's

Western Subalpine

Short-toed Treecreeper always being a nightmare to photograph

Crested Tit

Baby Common Redstart

The garden was buzzing with butterflies, especially the unmown sections. I was using only my 400mm/f5.6 which isn't great for butterflies...

Lang's Short-tiled Blue

Chalkhill Blue

Wall Brown on a wall

Life is good, drinking a cold cerveza while enjoying such views

My morning birding sessions were a bit challenging. Thanks to Franco and his support of the Nazis in WW2, it was dark until 7am! Therefore I had limited time for birding before the family activities began. I spent a couple of early mornings on Rasos de Peguera, the nearest ski resort. It wasn't high enough up there for proper mountain birds (1900 m), but certainly had this high-altitude feel, distinctly different from the mid-elevation village where we stayed. 

Most dominant birds up there were Crossbills - flocks were moving around noisily, some perched nicely. I enjoyed watching them in their different ages and plumages - they're not a bird I am very familiar with. In Israel they are very rare and irregular. Also in Norfolk they aren't too apparent. It was good to take in their flight calls and silhouettes.

Someone's ringing them up there - two of these random birds I photographed were ringed. 

Another quality bird (for me) up there was Citril Finch. This is another species I haven't seen many times before, and never managed to photograph. Even this photo isn't great - at least it's something.

Butterflies were abundant there too, including many Grizzled Skippers and the magnificent Cardinal.

This photo was taken by my son Uri:

Pyrenean Chamoix

Then it was down to scorching-hot Barcelona. I acted like a stupid tourist for a bit, however typically while admiring the Segrada Familia I was more interested in the Peregrine flying above.

View of the city from Parc Güell at 40 degrees

The little birding I did in Barcelona was half productive. Annoyingly, Delta del Llobregat doesn't open up before 9am (!), when the heat was already unbearable. I did spend a relaxed and muy fun morning with my close friends Rafa and Alejandra (Rafa - it's A-Le-Jand-Ra, OK?). Birding was nice, nothing too especial.

Audouin's Gull 8M95

Even though I don't really do Category C birds, It would have been rude not to look for the small population of Black-rumped Waxbills that have taken up residence in Parc del Turó del Putxet. So I did, to maintain the checklist streak. And Mitred Parakeets were abundant.

Thanks to my family and to the Chittendens for all the fun we had together!

Monfragüe spectacles

Before heading back home to the UK, we made time for a cheeky visit to the spectacular Monfragüe National Park. I must admit that after spending 6 weeks in grassy plains, I was ready for a change of scenery. We had little time there but made the best of it. We had a few target species to catch up with, but also just enjoyed good birding and breathtaking scenery. Our first target was White-rumped Swift. After seeing them in Alangefrom a mile away a couple of weeks ago,  I was hoping for a more intimate encounter with them. So to the top of the castle we climbed, and indeed the sifts played ball. This pair of White-rumped Swifts breed inside the castle, and we enjoyed brilliant views of them zooming around. They are so quick and sadly my camera is almost dead, so I failed to photo them properly. Dan nailed them alright. But they are super quality birds and I couldn’t have asked for better views. 

The scenery off the top of the castle is mui espectacular. Vultures and other raptors pass at eye-level, three other swift species joined the party, Rock Buntings, Blue Rock Thrushes – the full experience.

Our second target was Spanish Imperial Eagle. Again, I saw them twice before this season but from a huge distance and no photos. And Dan needed them. The stakeout for them is the stunning viewpoint of Portilla de Tietar, overlooking a huge cliff wall. A pair of eagles bred nearby but sadly their chick died a few weeks ago, and since then they are more mobile. However we did enjoy a great performance by an adult, circling above us for a long period, interacting with griffons and other raptors passing by. Incredible bird and the views were brilliant. Not the best conditions for photography as it was very high most of the time, and my camera kept under-performing, but I cannot complain.

  

The best I could get of its upperparts when it banked

Here with a diminutive Short-toed Eagle

Target number three: Cirl Bunting. I saw one briefly a few weeks ago in the Hornachos, but that observation was completely unsatisfactory. And Dan needed them too… In Monfragüe they are common enough, and we encountered our first individuals pretty quickly. We got our photo opps just east of Tietar, along the road. Cracking bird.

Nearby Re'a found a breeding pair of Lesser Spotted Woodpeckers, sweet.

Target number four – especially for Dan. Crested Tit. I have seen many around Europe, but actually had never photographed them before. In Monfragüe they are found in conifer groves. Following the advice of Martin, we searched for them at the pass aboveCasas de Miravete. We found them rather quickly. They were extremely mobile and didn’t exactly play ball, but they are sure sweet little gems. This image does not show the red eye properly:

This one does:

Other birds there included quite a few Western Subalpine Warblers and surprising a trip bimbo – Common Redstart. Boom.

Western Subalpine Warbler

 Common Redstart

A change in vegetation and soil produced a couple of new butterflies too, including this Black-veined White:

Our last morning was spent outside of the park – more on that in the next post.