Early September can be a very interesting time for birdwatching in Navarra, as we still have many summer birds in the area and migration is in one of its peaks (especially for some passerines and many raptors). This has been a very dry year and it seems that there is not much food and because of that some of the usual birds have been more hard to find. Although this we had a quite good trip during three days with Nöelle (from Belgium) who came for some birdwatching in the second week of the month.

During these days we visited different habitats all along Navarra: beech forests, gorges, wetlands and steppe. The highlights in those places were 2 different White-backed Woodpeckers in Irati forest, Bonelli’s Eagle in Lumbier, a couple Ferruginous Duck in Pitillas Lagoon and steppe birds such as Black-bellied Sandgrouse, Tawny Pipit, Greater Short-toed Lark and Eagle Owl, among others. Other interesting birds that came along were Spectacled Warbler, Iberian Green Woodpecker, Southern Grey Shrike, Thekla Lark, Golden Eagle, Booted Eagle, Red-billed Chough and others. We were lucky with the weather, as it was warm and dry, but the land needs to get good amounts of rain in the next months to recover.

Bird species list (89 species)

Greylag Goose – Anser anser

Mute Swan – Cygnus olor

Northern Shoveler – Anas clypeata

Mallard – Anas platyrhynchos

Eurasian Teal – Anas crecca

Red-crested Pochard – Netta rufina

Common Pochard – Aythya ferina

Ferruginous Duck – Aythya nyroca

Tufted Duck – Aythya fuligula

Red-legged Partridge – Alectoris rufa

Little Grebe – Tachybaptis ruficollis

Grey Heron – Ardea cinerea

Red Kite – Milvus milvus

European Honey-buzzard – Pernis apivorus

Griffon Vulture – Gyps fulvus

Egyptian Vulture – Neophron percnopterus

Short-toed Eagle – Circaetus gallicus

Western Marsh Harrier – Circus aeruginosus

Golden Eagle – Aquila chrysaetos

Bonelli’s Eagle – Aquila fasciata

Booted Eagle – Hieraaetus pennatus

Common Buzzard – Buteo buteo

Eurasian Sparrowhawk – Accipiter nisus

Lesser Kestrel – Falco naumanni

Eurasian Coot – Fulica atra

Pied Avocet – Recurvirostra avosetta

Black-tailed Godwit – Limosa limosa

Ruff – Calidris pugnax

Green Sandpiper – Tringa ochropus

Black-bellied Sandgrouse – Pterocles orientalis

Rock Dove – Columba livia

Stock Dove – Columba oenas

Little Owl – Athene noctua

European Scops Owl – Otus scops

Eurasian Eagle Owl – Bubo bubo

White-backed Woodpecker – Dendrocopos leucotos

Great Spotted Woodpecker – Dendrocopos major

Iberian Green Woodpecker – Picus viridis sharpei

Eurasian Jay – Garrulus glandarius

Common Raven – Corvus corax

Carrion Crow – Corvus corone

Eurasian Jackdaw – Corvus monedula

Red-billed Chough – Pyrrhocorax pyrrhocorax

Woodchat Shrike – Lanius senator

Southern Grey Shrike – Lanius meridionalis

Thekla Lark – Galerida theklae

Crested Lark – Galerida cristata

Greater Short-toed Lark – Calandrella brachydactyla

Calandra Lark – Melanocorypha calandra

Common House Martin – Delichon urbicum

Sand Martin – Riparia riparia

Eurasian Crag Martin – Ptyonoprogne rupestris

Barn Swallow – Hirundo rustica

Coal Tit – Periparus ater

Crested Tit – Lophophanes cristatus

Marsh Tit – Poecile palustris

Eurasian Blue Tit – Cyanistes caeruleus

Great Tit – Parus major

Long-tailed Tit – Aegithalos caudatus

Eurasian Nuthatch – Sitta europea

Eurasian Treecreeper – Certhia familiaris

Short-toed Treecreeper – Certhia brachydactyla

Cetti’s Warbler – Cettia cetti

Willow Warbler – Phylloscopus trochilus

Zitting Cisticola – Cisticola juncidis

Eurasian Blackcap – Sylvia atricapilla

Sardinian Warbler – Sylvia melanocephala

Spectacled Warbler – Sylvia conspicillata

European Robin – Erithacus rubecula

Black Redstart – Phoenicurus ochruros

Northern Wheatear – Oenanthe oenanthe

Whinchat – Saxicola rubetra

Eurasian Blackbird – Turdus merula

Mistle Thrush – Turdus viscivorus

Dunnock – Prunella modularis

Spotted Flycatcher – Muscicapa striata

European Pied Flycatcher – Ficedula hypoleuca

Spotless Starling – Sturnus unicolor

White Wagtail – Motacilla alba

Grey Wagtail – Motacilla cinerea

Tawny Pipit – Anthus campestris

Cirl Bunting – Emberiza cirlus

Corn Bunting – Emberiza calandra

Common Chaffinch – Fringilla coelebs

European Greenfinch – Chloris chloris

European Goldfinch – Carduelis carduelis

Eurasian Linnet – Carduelis cannabina

House Sparrow – Passer domesticus

Drake Common Pochard tagged in the bill; we saw it and another one in the Pitiless Lagoon. Later we found that it came from France.

A comienzos de septiembre nos visitó Nöelle, de Bélgica, para observar aves en Navarra. Visitamos bosques, foces, humedales y estepas en los que logramos ver hasta 89 especies a pesar de la sequía que ha provocado que algunas aves sean más complicadas de encontrar este año. Lo más destacado fueron pico dorsiblanco y porrón pardo, por mencionar solo un par.