Northwards to the coast

Left Albarracin and drove via outskirts of Zaragoza to Sos Rey de Catolico one of the Cinca Villas southeast of Pamplona. Along the course of the Ebro river which was in full spate having caused flooding further down the plains in recent days. Weather very wet in the Pyrenees.
Stayed at the Parador in Sos Rey which was in a beautiful setting with wonderful views from the terrace out over the surrounding countryside towards the distant mountains. Had late lunch then relaxed and read, explored the town later when temperature cooler.....more winding streets ! Slept well and after a leisurely breakfast set off for Bilbao.
Arrived about 2pm and found the Ibis hotel after a wrong turning to start with off A8 trying to follow not very good Google directions. Checked in and then caught bus into city centre for a stroll around and a visit to the Guggenheim gallery. Were  impressed by the building both outside and in but not much art inside for the space available. Hope they get Picasso's Guernica eventually as it would sit well there.
Today spent in Castro Urdiales just up the coast sampling pinchos and vino blanco whilst the rain came down.
Catching the boat in the morning for trip back to Portsmouth and home.


were pleased with all our accomodation choices
Hotel San Roque      Reinosa
Hotel Recoletos        Salamanca     on the outskirts so good parking and easy walk into town
La casa rural de las canteras   Trujillo      great place for a birding group to stay
Hospederia Real Monasterio      Guadalupe      lovely historic building
La Renta                      Cuenca       on  edge of town but easy drive in
Hotel Albarran            Albarracin   secure, shaded parking
Parador Sos de Rey Catolico
Ibis Barakaldo                              Bilbao    handy for the ferry port and bus into the city

cultural highlights

Loved Salamanca for it's gentle sandstone colours and fabulous Plaza Major. On to Trujillo, as visited before ,still wonderful sitting in the main square surrounded by mansions of the conquistadors and looking at the storks nesting on the church and the kestrels sweeping by.
Guadalupe, fantastic art treasures in the monastery would probably go some way to paying off the national debt !
Cuenca cathedral suggested a modest building from the outside but once inside is a huge place with gothic pillars and various chapels dating from 13th to 16th centuries. Very good audio guide for thre visit. Great views over the Jucar river gorge and I managed to walk the footbridge linking the Parador with the town to get good view of the hanging houses.
Then a wonderful drive through the mountains on empty roads to Albarracin which proved to be the icing on the cake. An atmospheric town of winding streets and enclosed alleyways, lovingly restored in the middle of nowhere surrounded by limestone cliffs and pastures. Visit soon before it becomes "big" on the tourist trail.
Had a meal and bottle of wine in one of the winding streets whilst choughs and swifts flew overhead.

Somewhere in the hills

Those hoping for some cultural insights will be disappointed as Cath is busy reading so it is time for a bird catch up after the technical glitches at Guadalupe and the backwater which is Cuenca. Still managing to add birds to the list despite bypassing known birding hotspots. Managed a couple of Golden Eagles on route, the one outside Cuenca was quite low and showed well enough to see it was about a year old. Again in Cuenca had a bit of a tit fest on a walk before the evening meal and then two birds of the night afterwards. Long-tailed, Coal and Crested were the former and Scop's and European Nightjar the latter. Amazingly yesterday's family party of Robins was the first of the trip; a bit more exotic were the Cirl Bunting and the Short-toed Treecreeper.
Today en route to Abbaracin managed a couple of Northern Wheatears and this lizard stayed still long enough to take it's portrait despite the wing mirror being in the way!

The limestone scenery on today's journey has been stunning; hopefully there wont be too much to see in the town and we can do some walking in the hills tomorrow.

Last Last Day

With Ken sitting on 49 lifers for the trip it would have been churlish not trying to find him another new bird to add to the list. A quick trip round the back of Arrocampo failed to locate a Black-shouldered Kite so back to the marsh alongside the road. The Great White Egrets were flying over the road as were the other egrets, a lucky few saw a male Little Bittern flying over the reeds((but not Ken) but then the singing Savi's was seen clearly at the top of a reed so Ken was made up!! Next task was to get them all to the airport, on time which I'm fairly sure I did.
On the way back Cath and I managed to equal Pete's claim of Ring-necked Parakeet from the M25 when 5 flew over the road just outside Madrid. To put some icing on the cake just outside Navalmoral a Black-shouldered Kite hovered alongside the motorway and then just up the road a make Golden Oriole flew over the road dfrom one wood to another. Was it luck or just good timing, you decide.

One of the many roadside Black Kites

One of the Azure-winged Magpies finishing off Lesley's biscuits.

If anyone is thinking of visiting this area, which i highly recommend, then you'd be hard pressed to get better value accommodation than we enjoyed at Casa Las Canteras; just see their website. 

Last full day

Cool, windy with the threat of rain not what you might expect at this time in Spain. In fact it was much like a normal summer's bird watching in England. We set off for the Castille and vulture crag and despite the occasional rain drop the little birds performed well while the vultures dried off before they set out for their food search. We had great views of Black Redstarts, Blue Rock Thrushes and for the first time this week Rock Sparrow and Rock Bunting. A coffee stop whilst the heavens opened and then back to the birding. Persuaded Lesley to part with some biscuits and 4 Azure-winged Magpies came in for a feast. Then spent time trying to persuade Golden Oriole and Turtle Dove to come into view, succeeded with the latter quite splendidly but failed with the former and also with Firecrest who could not be brought down from the tree tops.
The last stop was at the 'Eagle Owl' crags which are totally misnamed BUT we did see Red Kites harrying a Spanish Imperial Eagle, Egyptian Vultures mating and then one still feeling frisky chasing off a Short-toed Eagle. Quite a way to finish off the week; we are dropping off the seven amigos at Madrid airport tomorrow and then we start our week trip around the south of Madrid and up to Bilbao. Hopefully more to follow as we make progress; plus some photos.

Too many good birds

It comes to something when the cdry from the back of the bus is for 'just another Roller'!! Woodchats, Hoopoes and Azure-winged Magpies are hardly mentioned. Today's trip was to the rice fields and with a bit of advice from a fellow guest found the fields with a nesting group of Collared Pratincoles who duly put on a spectacular show of chasing insects to take back to the nest.The Gull-billed Terns were nowhere near as acrobatic. In nearby hedges we found the foreign interlopers, Waxbill and Red Avadavats who provided a gaudy sideshow. This evening went looking for Nightjars who were calling but not sitting on the roads due to the cool day, 22C. In the town beforehand finally got the group to differentiate between Pallid and Common Swifts. It is late so I'll finish this and my nightcap and get to bed.

Another hot day in the field

After breakfast and tearing ourselves away fom the local Great Grey Shrikes, Hoopoes, Larks and Spanish Sparrows we set ourselves the task of sorting out some local warblers. Not easy at this time of the year as they were spending all their time feeding youngsters instead of singing. Arrived on site and we were drowned out by Nightingales but with a little perseverence we found Melodious, Dartford, Sardinian and, to a select group of 4, a pair of Orphean warblers. Flushed with success and heat, it was now 29C, we set off to the Arrocampo Reservoirs. A splendid wetland reserve which holds a huge Purple Heron population. Bird activity was not as great as we had hoped, not really surprising  considering the time and heat but we did manage good views of Egrets, Purple Gallinule, Spoonbills, Marsh harriers and Night |Herons. Savi's, Great Reed and Fan-tailed completed the warbler total for the day .
Back at base we rounded off the day with a plate of cooked thistles, much better than they sound, in fact the food at this rural hostal has been excellent and warmly recommended by the whole party 

relaxing day

30 degree heat, wine at lunchtime and a beer on getting back this could be a little incoherent. Set off this morning in an atempt to find some sandgrouse flying to there drinking holes. Failed but found some more bustards and a pair of Black-winged Stilts in a roadside pond. Headed off to Trujillo as it got hot for some R&R; churches, conquistadors and town birding. Failed in my attempts to explain the finer points of Pallid and Common Swifts ID, as soon as I mentioned bigger hips my chances slumped. After a three hour lunch went to find the colony of Lesser Kestrels in the old bullring.This was more successful as the parents were making continuous feeding trips for the youngsters hidden under the tiles of the roof.

Some Cattle Egrets found some good vantage points only to be renamed as Sheep Egrets

Our garden birds in an intimate moment of grooming.

Spain 2013

Have been here a week and only just got round to putting pen to paper so to speak, the pressures of organising this birdwatching are taking there toll(not really I,m just lazy). The journey down was trouble free; Salamanca was frantastic and well worth stopping off at and comes highly recommended by both of us.
Despite our worries managed to meet the 7 in Madrid airport without any issues and even sqeezed in some birdwatching on the way to the hotel. The best being 4 Montagus Harriers,a pair either side of the road, in the air for twenty mins, even managing a food pass. The next day in Monfrague National Park was brilliant; sunny weather and fantastic birds. The raptors excelled with amazing views of Spanish Imperial, Bonelli's and Booted Eagles and all three vultures almost in view at every turn . Not to be outdone Black-eared Wheatear, Subalpine and Dartford Warblers put on a good show.
Today we were out on the plains with 17 Great Bustards seen before breakfast. Later we managed to sort out the 5 lark species on song and watched Rollers, Beeeaters, and Short-toed Eagles before it got too hot, so came back for a cold beer!
The accommodation is very good and even provides good birdwatching in the garden as the photo shows.

End of the month

Enjoyed a few days in North Norfolk whilst the allotment dried out enough to work on. It was certainly wet in the fields over there but the coastal path was dry enough to walk along. Got out early to look for the Golden Pheasant and it only showed itself after I gave up the watch and drove round to the north side and I had a minute of gaudy joy before a car sent it scurrying into the bushes. The first effort with the eagle failed but I did see the male Rough-legged Buzzard fly over the field in front of me and into the woods. The next day and the eagle failed to show again so we went off to Roydon Common and watched 3 ring tailed Hen Harriers sparring with each other (and some crows) and a rapid fly past by a Merlin.
Day 3 and a walk along the coastal path and beach. The sea has dumped masses of Razor shells and so there were enormous numbers of gulls including one Med Gull in almost full adult plumage. In the dunes there was a delightful group of Snow Buntings but Holkham Marshes held no Pink Feet!! just a few Whitefronts and several groups of Brents again. Titchwell was undergoing 'conservation work' the pool on the left of the track had been drained and the Freshmarsh was awash. The islands were so small there was only a handful of Lapwings and Golden Plovers. They must be employing the 'Brandon' winter trick. Another attempt at the eagle's preferred roosting site proved fruitless.
After a walk around Holkham Park, where there is a pair of Red Kites setting up territory, it was home until the message system directed us to Flitcham where the immature White-tailes Sea Eagle was sat in a field. This time got there in time and was directed to a large lump on the crest of the ridge, even had time to set up the telescope. After 2 minutes it got up and flew along the ridge; what a bird, each wing was the size of a Buzzard!! All in all a great break, hopefully the ground is dry enough to start the clearing up after the floods.

22nd February

A day out with Jim J to see what we could find down on the south coast. The news service helped as did our knowledge from previous years. Called in at Mercer Way in Romsey, not a promising site, and found in the tops of the trees and down on the ground at least 11 Hawfinches and this was before 9! Then down into the New Forest and found a superb male Black Redstart on the fences around Fawley Power station. The woods around Hawksmill enclosure were very quiet but eventually a Woodlark started singing from a tree top. Could not find a Dartie so headed on to Gosport and Portsmouth, found the Ring-billed easily and then Purple Sandpipers on Southsea Castle. On the way round to Langstone saw a flock of Dark-bellied Brents on the cricket pitch(10m from the road) and there in the middle was a stunning adult Black Brant. As usual rarely carried the camera so only the one bird to show you with a pal!!

Yorkshire

This little fellow brightened up our few days in Yorkshire. We stayed in Leyburn, mainly so that we could visit some of Cath's relatives. That is about all we could do as the weather was foul, torrential rain and gale force winds. Whilst Aysgarth Falls were quite spectacular the rivers were so high that the expected Dippers were nowhere to be seen. Where do they go when the rivers are in spate and over their banks?
A drive from Wensleydale to Swaledale on the driest day of the week and we were surrounded by Red Grouse; they obviously took advantage of the dry conditions to do some feeding. Most of them were in the grass rather than the heather banks making viewing easier. I presume there were plenty of grass seeds for them to pick up after the rain had flattened the seed heads.

Garden Birdwatch

Cath up with her mum so I sat down with my breakfast to see how the snow would affect the variety and numbers of birds visiting the garden. I must not be the only one putting out a banquet for the birds at the moment as numbers seem well down. In previous years Goldfinches have numbered 16, this year only 3. The huge flock of Fieldfares drawn into the garden because of the poor weather seem to have dispersed just leaving one in sole charge of the apple. The only birds to have increased in numbers were Woodpigeons and Reed Buntings. I'm not sure whether I can cope with the cost of feeding 12 avian dustbins(the pigeons), I might have to come up with a new feeding strategy.

20th Jan

Snow, snow and more snow; it has not stopped all day. I did not think we were in the SE corner of the country so this has come as a shock. Not able to get out so content with feeding the birds in the garden. Hopefully I can increase the number before the Big Garden Birdwatch. Still have an odd Jackdaw present(must read the article in BB to work out which of the plumage genetic defects it has got)  BUT the big news is that I reached 50 species for the garden when a Meadow Pipit was spotted this afternoon running around under the bushes in the front garden; the only snow free spot.

16th Jan

Went out with Godfrey and Ken though it was rather too cold for comfortable bird watching from a wheelchair. On the basis of news and with the chance of getting a lifer for Godfrey we went to Banbury. Managed to see the birds without getting out of the car and Godfrey was happy with a warm birdwatch and three Waxwings sitting in a roadside small tree. Back to Brandon and a warm cup of tea before a quick sprint up to Newlands and back to blow some cold air through our hair. Most of the duck were on Swallow Pool with the Black-headed Gulls and two Redshank the best from East Marsh Pool. The sun was directly in our eyes from Baldwin hide so did not bother sitting down just went out for another blast of winter sun.

2013

Well here we are; I'm going to take this year as it comes, though I will have my fingers crossed until the artificial valve is fitted and it works. Hopefully then I can get back to my reasonably active life style of two years ago.
Went out for a trip round some of the local water bodies to find some of the rarer birds of the midlands. As ever I forgot the camera so perhaps that ought to be my New Year's resolution; always take it out with you. Thus no pictures but Warwickshire produced Great Northern Divers, Firecrest and Long-tailed Duck and over in Leicestershire/Northamptonshire were Velvet Scoters, Great White Egret and Waxwings. Not a bad start to the year and all seen in the dry!!

Home Again

Got home very early Saturday morning, saved the 'shave off of the tache' until I had had a good night's sleep. Now with a hairless top lip I have got used to the cold, stuggled with the news that the allotment was 3ft under water during our time in Morocco and had the latest operation, basically a repeat of the last one that failed to become a permanent solution. The sponsored tache for Movember raised £380 which I am pleased with.
A bit more mobile this morning(Sat 8th) that I managed to watch a Goldcrest scouring the trees and bushes in the garden for enough food to keep it going in these cold conditions. Amazing how these little things survive really; anyway brightened my breakfast. Cath then dragged me out to watch some winter visitors and I managed to find a group of them along the Myton Road.
They posed for the camera until disturbed by the shoppers, then I went back for a pee!

29th November

Our week of sunshine and warmth is coming to an end unfortunately BUT thankfully so is this dreadful tache. Can't wait to consign it to the waste bin. As well as losing the itch I might just attract my wife again. Here are the closing photos; thanks go to Lesley for providing the sponsored shirt, it is the closest I got to a beer all week.   

Wednesday

Another day of sunshine spoiled by the odd cloud. Amazed at how little hassle we have had from shopkeepers and camel operators we must be giving off the wrong vibe. The tache is getting bleached in the sun as you will see tomorrow when Cath takes it's last picture.

On the bird front still surrounded by gulls and when we went down to the castle in the dunes so loved by Jimi Hendrix we came across two Ospreys,

Only managed to get one in the frame, but look at the clouds!

Sunday 25th November

A fellow Brit on holiday though this Lesser Black-backed Gull chose a much less pleasant roof terrace than ours.

This little fellow decided to join us on the sun terrace while we were relaxing with our books(electronic in my case.