Erik Hirschfeld, renowned Swedish birder, author and publisher, contacted us some time ago with one desire: to see the last European Bird species he still had missed, the Dupont’s Lark (Chersophilus duponti). This scarce and elusive lark species is present in Navarra (upper Ebro Valley) and still helds a small population in the South of the region, so when Erik came in early April this area was our destination to search for his desired bird.

On April the 10th and after having breakfast in the hotel we drove to the steppes. Erik maybe thought that finding this bird could be tricky, but as we know well the area once we arrived and put down the windows of the car we inmediately heard the melodiuos song and saw a Dupont’s Lark singing perched on a rock! After this one we heard at least ten other birds singing and saw two more quite well. Mission acomplished! We spent more tan two hours watching these birds running quickly, hunting insects and worms and making a full perfomance of songs, including one long flight song which is very rare.

We had plenty of time to visit other areas and search for other steppe birds, so the day was completed with other species such as Greater Short-toed Lark, Calandra Lark, Thekla Lark, close views of Pin-tailed Sandgrouse, several Black-bellied Sandgrouse, Egyptian Vultures, Montagu’s Harriers, Lesser Kestrels, Stone Curlews, Great Bittern, Southern Grey Shrikes, Black Wheatears, Black-bellied Wheatears, Spectacled Warblers, Rock Sparrows among others.

El ornitólogo, autor y editor Erik Hirschfeld vino a Navarra a comienzos de abril para cumplir un deseo: ver la última especie de ave europea que le quedaba por ver: la alondra ricotí. Esta escasa y esquiva especie mantiene algunas pequeñas poblaciones en el sur de nuestra Comunidad Autónoma, por lo que era un lugar excelente para que Erik pudiera hacer realidad su deseo. Y así fue, pues no solo oímos hasta 10 aves cantando, sino que vimos tres bastante bien. Además las estepas navarras nos regalaron otras muchas especies de interés tales como gangas ibéricas, gangas ortegas, collalbas negras, currucas tomilleras, terreras comunes, alimoches, aguiluchos cenizos, alcaudones reales y muchas otras. 

In early April we did a trip visiting a good bunch of birding sites at the Pyrenees and the Ebro Valley  for a group of 13 birdwatchers from Finland. The group was organized by Skaftung Nature, renowned Kari Korhonen’s birding company, that also came last year. Here is the story of our trip:

Day 1

Arrival to Barcelona airport early in the morning and from there we made our way to the Ebro Delta where we spent the whole afternoon birding with strong NW wind. We visited the Southern part of the Delta and despite the wind we could see many interesting birds like Purple Swamphen, Glossy Ibis, Audouin’s Gull, Slender-billed Gull, Greater Flamingo, Caspian Tern, Kentish Plovers, Red-crested Pochard, Balearic Shearwater or Squacco Heron.

After satiate the first birding thirst we went to the hotel so that we could rest from this long trip and birding day.

Day 2

Windy day again and the whole morning was spent birding in the Northern part of the Delta. This morning was excellent for waders and migration as we found nice flocks of Bar-tailed Godwits, Curlew Sandpipers, Dunlins, Little Stints, Turnstones, Eurasian Curlews, Greenshanks, Redshanks and good numbers of Barn Swallows and Whiskered Terns moving northwards.

In the afternoon we travelled to Navarra, in the upper Ebro Valley, stopping on our way in Monegros area where we could see some Eagle Owls and had fantastic sights of Short-toed Eagle and Lesser Kestrels in their breeding colony.

Day 3

First full day in Navarra. This was the day to visit the steppes in Southern Navarra and we started very well as one of our first species to see was the elusive Dupont’s Lark! Later many other cool birds were found in these arid landscapes: Golden Eagle, Greater Short-toed Lark, Calandra Lark, Thekla Lark, Black-eared Wheatear, Alpine Swift, Egyptian Vulture, Griffon Vulture, Rock Sparrow, Northern Harrier, Blue Rock Thrush, Black Wheatear… but surprinsingly the Sandgrouse didn’t appear; anyway, we had more days to find them…

Day 4

In our second day in Navarra we headed North to visit the higher mountains, a completely different landscape to that of the day before. We were not very lucky with the weather in the highest places we visited as it was snowed and misty, but we managed to find Alpine Choughs and Red Crossbills, and some migrants flying through the fog: an Osprey, a Marsh Harrier and the first Ring Ouzels of the season.

In lower areas we enjoyed in the gorges watching many raptors, including Lammergeier, magnificent views of Short-toed Eagle, Red Kite and Egyptian Vultures, but also some Iberian Chiffchaffs, a species that was very desired by many of the birders in this group. But undoubtedly the star of the day was a male Wallcreeper that was still in one of the gorges we visited spending some days before he went back up to the mountains for the breeding season.

Day 5

Last full day in Navarra was dedicated to the Middle Zone of this region, a transition area between the mountains in the North and the steppes in the South. Wind was still blowing from the Nortwest, but this was not a handicap to find a group of Great Bustard and then a Little Bustard displaying in a corncrop. Calandra and Thekla Larks were singing everywhere and we could see a good number of Short-toed Eagles and the first Montagu’s Harrier of the season.

We also visited the Pitillas Lagoon, the most important wetland in Navarra, where hundreds of Sand Martins, House Martins and Alpine Swifts were feeding and playing with the strong winds (and coming down very closet o us! What a fantastic experience). Purple Heron, Penduline Tit and the scarce Ferruginous Duck were added to our lists here.

Day 6

We did our way back to Catalonia stopping in the Sierra de Guara area, in Huesca province. The magnificent cliffs and Mediterranean scrub and forest areas in this interesting place offered us birds like Black Wheatear, Subalpine Warbler, Western Bonelli’s Warbler, Woodlark, Wryneck, our first European Bee-eaters, Booted Eagle, more Short-toed Eagles, both species of Kite, many Griffon and Egyptian Vultures, several Lammergeier (very well seen) and even a Cinereous Vulture!

We spent the night close to Lleida and before dinner we still time to find our firsts Common and Pallid Swifts.

Day 7

Last day visiting the Lleida plains to find some species we had missed in the days before. Pin-tailed Sandgrouse, Greater Spotted Cuckoo and Bonelli’s Eagle. We found all of them quite easily and we also saw others like Little Bustard, Subalpine Warbler, Black-eared Wheatear, Stock Dove, Little Owl, Pied Flycatcher, Rock Bunting, Short-toed Treecreeper, Iberian Green Woodpecker and more.

We left the area at Midday as we had to go back to Barcelona airport to send our visitors back to Finland, all of them very satisfied with the birding experience they had live for 7 days.

Find the complete list of the bird species we saw here below...

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Entre los días 1 y 7 de abril estuvimos guiando a un grupo de la empresa finlandesa Skaftung Nature. Realizamos un completo itinerario que comprendió el Delta del Ebro, varias zonas del Valle del Ebro, la estepa, Zona Media y montaña navarras y alguna zona del Prepirineo aragonés. El contraste con la tierra de origen de nuestros visitantes norteños hace que aquí encuentren especies de aves totalmente diferentes a las que pueden observar en su hogar. El periplo nos permitió dar con un total 200 especies de aves, algunas muy interesantes y deseadas como quebrantahuesos, aguilucho cenizo, mosquitero ibérico, mosquitero papialbo, alondra ricotí, ganga ibérica, ganga ortega, avutarda, sisón, pito real ibérico, mirlo capiblanco, gaviota de Audouin, gaviota picofina y muchas más. También hubo algunas sorpresas inesperadas tales como buitre negro y porrón pardo, y tuvimos la suerte de ver un treparriscos que aún no se había decidido a subir a las montañas. Nos complació mucho poder trabajar para unos pajareros tan simpáticos e interesados; ellos nos han transmitido su satisfacción por la experiencia vivida.

Bird species list (201 species)

1-7 April 2017

Mute Swan – Cygnus olor

Greylag Goose – Anser anser

Bar-headed Goose – Anser indicus

Common Shelduck – Tadorna tadorna

Eurasian Wigeon – Anas penelope

Gadwall – Anas strepera

Eurasian Teal – Anas crecca

Mallard – Anas platyrhynchos

Northern Pintail – Anas acuta

Garganey – Anas querquedula

Northern Shoveler – Anas clypeata

Red-crested Pochard – Netta rufina

Common Pochard – Aythya ferina

Ferruginous Duck – Aythya nyroca

Tufted Duck – Aythya fuligula

Common Scoter – Melanitta nigra

Red-legged Partridge – Alectoris rufa

Common Quail – Coturnix coturnix

Little Grebe – Tachybaptus ruficollis

Great Crested Grebe – Podiceps cristatus

Black-necked Grebe – Podiceps nigricollis

Balearic Shearwater – Puffinus mauretanicus

Northern Gannet – Morus bassanus

Great Cormorant – Phalacrocorax carbo

Black-crowned Night Heron – Nycticorax nycticorax

Squacco Heron – Ardeola ralloides

Cattle Egret – Bubulcus ibis

Little Egret – Egretta garzetta

Great White Egret – Ardea alba

Grey Heron – Ardea cinerea

Purple Heron – Ardea purpurea

White Stork – Ciconia ciconia

Glossy Ibis – Plegadis falcinellus

Eurasian Spoonbill – Platalea leucorodia

Greater Flamingo – Phoenicopterus roseus

Black Kite – Milvus migrans

Red Kite – Milvus milvus

Bearded Vulture – Gypaetus barbatus

Egyptian Vulture – Neophron percnopterus

Griffon Vulture – Gyps fulvus

Cinereous Vulture – Aegypius monachus

Short-toed Snake Eagle – Circaetus gallicus

Western Marsh Harrier – Circus aeruginosus

Northern Harrier – Circus cyaneus

Montagu’s Harrier – Circus pygargus

Northern Goshawk – Accipiter gentilis

Eurasian Sparrowhawk – Accipiter nisus

Common Buzzard – Buteo buteo

Golden Eagle – Aquila chrysaetos

Booted Eagle – Aquila pennata

Bonelli’s Eagle – Aquila fasciata

Osprey – Pandion haliaetus

Lesser Kestrel – Falco naumanni

Common Kestrel – Falco tinnunculus

Peregrine Falcon – Falco peregrinus

Water Rail – Rallus aquaticus

Common Moorhen – Gallinula chloropus

Purple Swamphen – Porphyrio porphyrio

Eurasian Coot – Fulica atra

Little Bustard – Tetrax tetrax

Great Bustard – Otis tarda

Eurasian Oystercatcher – Haematopus ostralegus

Black-winged Stilt – Himantopus himantopus

Pied Avocet – Recurvirostra avosetta

Collared Pratincole – Glareola pratincola

Little Ringed Plover – Charadrius dubius

Common Ringed Plover – Charadrius hiaticula

Kentish Plover – Charadrius alexandrinus

Grey Plover – Pluvialis squatarola

Northern Lapwing – Vanellus vanellus

Sanderling – Calidris alba

Little Stint – Calidris minuta

Curlew Sandpiper – Calidris ferruginea

Dunlin – Calidris alpina

Ruff – Philomachus pugnax

Common Snipe – Gallinago gallinago

Black-tailed Godwit – Limosa limosa

Bar-tailed Godwit – Limosa lapponica

Whimbrel – Numenius phaeopus

Eurasian Curlew – Numenius arquata

Common Sandpiper – Actitis hypoleucos

Green Sandpiper – Tringa ochropus

Spotted Redshank – Tringa erythropus

Common Greenshank – Tringa nebularia

Wood Sandpiper – Tringa glareola

Common Redshank – Tringa totanus

Ruddy Turnstone – Arenaria interpres

Black-headed Gull – Chroicocephalus ridibundus

Slender-billed Gull – Chroicocephalus genei

Mediterranean Gull – Ichtyaetus melanocephalus

Audouin’s Gull – Ichtyaetus audouinii

Lesser Black-backed Gull – Larus fuscus

Yellow-legged Gull – Larus michahellis

Caspian Tern – Hydroprogne caspia

Sandwich Tern – Thalaseus sandvicensis

Common Tern – Sterna hirundo

Whiskered Tern – Chlidonias hybrida

Black-bellied Sandgrouse – Pterocles orientalis

Pin-tailed Sandgrouse – Pterocles alchata

Rock Dove – Columbia livia

Stock Dove – Columba oenas

Common Wood Pigeon – Columba palumbus

Eurasian Collared Dove – Streptopelia decaocto

European Turtle Dove – Streptopelia turtur

Monk Parakeet – Myiopsitta monachus

Great Spotted Cuckoo – Clamator glandarius

Common Cuckoo – Cuculus canorus

Eurasian Eagle Owl – Bubo bubo

Little Owl – Athene noctua

Pallid Swift – Apus pallidus

Common Swift – Apus apus

Alpine Swift – Apus melba

Common Kingfisher – Alcedo atthis

European Bee-eater – Merops apiaster

Hoopoe – Upupa epops

Eurasian Wryneck – Jynx torquilla

Iberian Green Woodpecker - Picus viridis sharpei

Great Spotted Woodpecker – Dendrocopos major

Dupont’s Lark – Chersophilus duponti

Calandra Lark – Melanocorypha calandra

Greater Short-toed lark – Calandrella brachydactyla

Crested lark – Galerida cristata

Thekla Lark – Galerida theklae

Woodlark – Lullula arborea

Eurasian Skylark – Alauda arvensis

Sand Martin – Riparia riparia

Eurasian Crag Martin – Ptyonoprogne rupestris

Barn Swallow – Hirundo rustica

Red-rumped Swallow – Cecropis daurica

Common House Martin – Delichon urbicum

Tawny Pipit – Anthus campestris

Meadow Pipit – Anthus pratensis

Water Pipit – Anthus spinoletta

Yellow Wagtail – Motacilla flava

Grey Wagtail – Motacilla cinerea

White Wagtail – Motacilla alba

White-throated Dipper – Cinclus cinclus

Winter Wren – Troglodytes troglodytes

Dunnock – Prunella modularis

European Robin – Erithacus rubecula

Common Nightingale - Luscinia megarhynchos

Black Redstart – Phoenicurus ochruros

Common Redstart – Phoenicurus phoenicurus

European Stonechat – Saxicola rubicola

Northern Wheatear – Oenanthe oenanthe

Black-eared Wheatear – Oenanthe hispanica

Black Wheatear – Oenanthe leucura

Blue Rock Thrush – Monticola solitarius

Ring Ouzel – Turdus torquatus

Common Blackbird – Turdus merula

Song Thrush – Turdus philomelos

Mistle Thrush – Turdus viscivorus  

Cetti’s Warbler – Cettia cetti

Zitting Cisticola – Cisticola juncidis

Sedge Warbler – Acrocephalus schoenobaenus

Eurasian Reed Warbler - Acrocephalus scirpaceus

Great Reed Warbler – Acrocephalus arundinaceus

Dartford Warbler – Sylvia undata

Spectacled Warbler – Sylvia conspicillata

Subalpine Warbler – Sylvia cantillans

Sardinian Warbler – Sylvia melanocephala

Eurasian Blackcap – Sylvia atricapilla

Western Bonelli’s Warbler – Phylloscopus bonelli

Common Chiffchaff – Phylloscopus collybita

Iberian Chiffchaff – Phylloscopus ibericus

Willow Warbler – Phylloscopus trochilus

Common Firecrest – Regulus ignicapilla

European Pied Flycatcher – Ficedula hypoleuca

Long-tailed Tit – Aegithalos caudatus

European Crested Tit – Lophophanes cristatus

Coal Tit – Periparus ater

Blue Tit – Cyanistes caeruleus

Great Tit – Parus major

Eurasian Nuthatch – Sitta europea

Wallcreeper – Tichodroma muraria

Certhia brachydactyla – Short-toed Treecreeper

Eurasian Penduline Tit – Remiz pendulinus

Southern Grey Shrike – Lanius meridionalis

Woodchet Shrike – Lanius senator

Eurasian Jay – Garrulus glandarius

Common Magpie –Pica pica

Alpine Chough – Pyrrhocorax graculus

Red-billed Chough – Pyrrhocorax pyrrhocorax

Western Jackdaw – Corvus monedula

Carrion Crow – Corvus corone   

Northern Raven – Corvus corax

Spotless Starling – Sturnus unicolor

House Sparrow – Passer domesticus

Eurasian Tree Sparrow – Passer montanus

Rock Sparrow – Petronia petronia

Common Chaffinch – Fringilla coelebs

European Serin – Serinus serinus

European Greenfinch – Chloris chloris

European Goldfinch – Carduelis carduelis

Common Linnet – Carduelis cannabina

Red Crossbill – Loxia curvirostra

Eurasian Bullfinch – Pyrrhula pyrrhula

Yellowhammer – Emberiza citrinella

Cirl Bunting – Emberiza cirlus

Rock Bunting – Emberiza cia

Corn Bunting – Emberiza calandra