This trip was really a spur of the moment decision with literally a few days notice and some frantic last minute planning. Having secured a week off work I was left thinking 'what shall I do with my week?' and this was the answer!
The aim as ever was to notch up some new WP birds and fill some small gaps on my list. With budget an issue this relatively short trip (in terms of distance and duration) was an easy choice and one I had been vaguely comtemplating for a while. My main target species were Lammergeier, Citril Finch, Pin-tailed Sandgrouse and Dupont's Lark. Although I realised the latter would be especially difficult (bearing in mind the time of year) I was encouraged by the fact that all these species are resident so should still be about in September. As will be seen from the trip report that follows I did far better than I'd dared hope even if it was with a great deal of perseverance!
I flew from Stansted to Zaragoza with Ryanair, picked up a Hertz hire car at the airport and headed north through Huesca and Jaca to the Pyrenees, spent 3 nights at the wonderfully situated Hotel Uson in the Hecho Valley (7km north of Hecho village). Then headed back south to spend the last day or so birding on the plains to the east and south east of Zaragoza. This area is rather poorly served in terms of accommodation but I found the very handily situated Hotel Osera on the busy N11 in Osera. This is actually part of a service station/garage. Hotel Uson does come recommended in terms of it's superb location and warm welcome but the food does leave a little to be desired.
The sites visited were:
Monastery de San Juan de la Pena/Santa Cruz de la Seros
Hecho Valley (Gabardito Refuge and Upper Hecho Valley)
Col du Somport (Astun and Candanchu)
Alastuey
Riglos
Los Monegros plains east of Zaragoza (Candasnos/Ballobar/Ontinera triangle)
La Lomanza (near Belchite, south east of Zaragoza)
El Planeron (near Codo, south east of Zaragoza)
10 September 2007
Having landed more or less on time at about 13.30, picked up my hire car (a tiny Toyota Tin Can!) and fought my way round the NW side of Zaragoza I headed north towards the Pyrenees via Huesca and Jaca. En-route were several Griffon Vultures and a Booted Eagle near Huesca and a couple of Marsh Harriers. Deciding to stop just short of the Hecho Valley and explore the area around the village of Santa Cruz de la Seros and the 2 San Juan de la Pena monasteries in the late afternoon turned out to be a good move. Despite initially finding it quite difficult to park and find a good birding spot I eventually parked near the 2nd and newer monastery (please note the carpark entrance is now on the bend in the road right by the front of the monastery and not as shown in Where to Watch Birds in North and East Spain and several trip reports) and walked north through the woods to the viewpoint. The woods held 1 Short-toed Treecreeper, 1 Tree Pipit and Blackcap but the viewpoint was very disappointing with no raptors seen at all and just a few Crag Martins to liven proceedings. A stop on the drive back down towards the village of Santa Cruz de la Seros paid real dividends though with my first heart-stopping views of an adult Lammergeier soaring over the road and a rocky ridge. To get this one in the bag so early in the trip was a real bonus. Also seen during the same stop were 2 Egyptian Vultures, several Griffon Vultures, 3 Ravens and a family party of Pied Flycatchers. The village itself held several singing Black Redstarts.
When I tore myself away and drove the relatively short distance to the top end of the Hecho Valley I managed a couple of Red Kites and a single Woodchat on the way.
I was at Hotel Uson in plenty of time for the dinner at 8.30 and shared this culinary experience with a coach party of Catalan OAP holidaymakers! Luckily I was told that they were to depart in the morning as that day marked the end of a national holiday.
11 September 2007
My main aim of the day was to spend time at the Gabardito Refuge which is a few miles up a side valley on the east side of the main Hecho Valley. Firstly though a quick stroll around the immediate vicinity of Hotel Uson yielded 5 Firecrests and 3 Pied Flycatchers while the river on the junction of by the turn off to Gabardito was graced by a Black-bellied Dipper and the omni-present Griffon Vultures were airborne in every direction.
I then made my way up the very winding road to the mountain refuge at Gabardito. Initially the alpine meadow at the refuge looked devoid of birds but within a short space of time a small flock of finches appeared. Frustratingly the first birds I scoped were Serins but the flock soon revealed c6 Citril Finches. These gradually became more confiding over the next hour and gave some great views. In the area around the meadow and carpark I also managed 1 Short-toed Treecreeper, 2 Black Redstarts and 2+ Pied Flycatchers.
A walk past the refuge and restaurant and along the main track though the woods to the renowned Gabardito Crag takes about 20 minutes and as the trees thin out a large sheer rock face appears on the right. This is the spot for Wallcreeper, but not this morning! Despite spending about 3 hours here there was no sign of any. What was seen proved a pretty good consolation though - 1 juv Lammergeier, 3 Egyptian Vultures, 1 Golden Eagle, c5 Ravens, several Crag Martins, 2 Alpine Chough, c6 Chough and 1 Alpine Swift motoring down the valley. Two walkers then approached me through the woods and as they did so flushed a woodpecker towards me that proved to be a real bonus in the form of the recently split Iberian Green Woodpecker. The nearby woods produced 2 Crested Tits, 1 Marsh Tit, several Chiffchaffs and 3 Nuthatches. By the carpark on my return a Western Bonelli's Warbler showed briefly but well. Butterfly interest was held by several Clouded Yellows, Wall Browns and Woodland Graylings.
Having decided to devote the whole day to exploring the Hecho Valley I then headed further up the valley towards the hamlet of La Mina and beyond. Following a track running parallel with the French border by car and then on foot. Birds were pretty thin on the ground but I did manage 1 juv Red-backed Shrike, 2 Serins, 2 Yellowhammers, 1 Northern Wheatear, 1 Water Pipit and 2 Chough. A weird mewing call from rocks on the other side of the valley proved to be coming from my first Alpine Marmot of the trip whilst butterflies included Provence Chalkhill Blue and Silver-spotted Skipper.
After a quick 'cafe con leche' in the valley I decided to give the Gabardito Crag one last go in the evening. And boy did it pay off! Some mega views of Wallcreeper tucked round the corner of the crag (as shown on the photo below) were obtained within minutes of arrival! It flew in from the left and spent several minutes moving actively around in a crevasse tucked behind the main rock face, flicking it’s wings to reveal those crimson panels! That same evening I also managed 1 Crested Tit, 1 Firecrest, 3 Marsh Tits, a single Pied Flycatcher and a Roe Deer.
A grey dinner of boiled rice and soggy battered fish at Hotel Uson that evening was hardly a celebration of what had been a great days birding!
12 September 2007
A change of scenery was called for today (well at least for the morning) so after breakfast I made my way south down the Hecho Valley to some less mountainous habitat. A very brief stop by the river in the lower valley near Embun produced a Pied Flycatcher and a darting pair of Kingfishers.
My next stop was near the village of Alastuey, a site I'd read about in a trip report. Turning south off the main Jaca to Punta de la Reina road I parked by the roadside between 2 small bridges after about 1 km. It was immediately apparant that there was a lot of bird activity and I spent a very enjoyable and productive couple of hours birding up and down a short stretch of the lane between the 2 bridges and further back towards the main road. Raptors were represented by 3 Booted Eagles (2 pale and 1 dark phase) and a Black Kite but it was passerines that stole the show with 1 Grey Wagtail, 3+ Redstarts, c15 Pied Flycatchers, c20 Serins, 3 Cirl Buntings, 1 Rock Bunting, c5 Blackcaps, 1 Garden Warbler, 2+ Dartford Warblers, 2 Subalpine Warblers and a very welcome 2-3 Western Orphean Warblers. Some of these birds were juvs, perhaps local breeders or birds on passage.
Following a morning of lowland birding I then ventured eastwards to Jaca and then north towards the French border at the Col du Somport for some more montane birding in the afternoon. My first port of call was the tiny ski resort of Astun. Upon arrival the place looked pretty dead (and the resort itself was!) but a thorough working of the area around the carpark revealed 2 Rock Thrushes (a juv male and a juv female), 2 Black Redstarts, 3 Grey Wagtails and a Water Pipit around the stream below the carpark and a really close fly-by views of Short-toed Eagle and Red Kite. Several Crag Martins were also in evidence. 2 Alpine Marmots were also loafing on the rocks by the stream and posed for photographs. I then hiked further up the steep valley from the resort in the direction of the ski-lifts (which were closed) and was repaid for my strenuous effrots with some memorable views of no less than 4 Lammergeiers in the air together and right above me. The walk also produced a flock of c25 Serins, 2 Chough, 3 Northern Wheatears and c20 Water Pipits.
Butterflies identified around Astun included Common Brassy Ringlet, Clouded Yellow and Provence Chalkhill Blue.
Next I decided to try a very similar area at the nearby and bigger ski resort of Candanchu. It was similarly closed for the season and with the ski-lifts also not running it wasn't possible to gain much more altitude and birds in the vicinity of the carpark were restricted to 2 Northern Wheatears, c6 Serins, 2 Alpine Chough and 3 Common Buzzards.
My last evening at the hotel was slightly better than previous ones (but all things are relative!).
13 September 2007
Having said farewell to the kitchen staff at Hotel Uson (!) I headed south to the attractive village of Riglos about an hours drive away.
A brief stop at the Embalse de la Pena just short of Riglos produced 1 Yellow-legged Gull, 2 Grey Wagtails and a Black-bellied Dipper perched on a roadside barrier.
Riglos is the well known and most northerly site in Spain for Black Wheatear. For anyone visiting this site be warned that you should park in the carpark just as you enter the village and walk up through the narrow streets to the church and then explore the area at the base of the towering red sandstone cliffs. Drive too far into the village and you'll almost certainly get stuck in the very narrow lanes! The area at the base of the cliffs is difficult to work (especially as you move towards the valley on the right) but despite dipping on Black Wheatear I did manage c4 Sardinian Warblers, 1 Dartford Warbler, 1 Willow Warbler, 20+ Black Redstarts, c25 Griffon Vultures and several Crag Martins and Rock Doves.
At this point it was time to leave the uplands and head southeast to the plains. Birds on the journey were confined to just a flock of c30 Cattle Egrets plus 2 Lesser Kestrels near Villanueva de Sijena and very little else. The area I first made for was Los Monegros quite a way to the east of Zaragoza. I explored the triangle between the villages of Ontinena, Candasnos and Ballobar by car stopping to get out and walk when the area looked good. And what a struggle it was in the heat of the afternoon! I found the whole area very uninspiring and far from pristine plain habitat I’d hoped for. Most of it was either under plough or looking like an abandoned construction site. Despite this I did manage 3 Tawny Pipits, 4+ Lesser Short-toed Larks, several Thekla and Crested Larks, 1 Spectacled Warbler, 1 Black-eared Wheatear, 2 Marsh Harriers, 1 Red Kite and a Little Owl flushed from an abandoned farm building.
Having tired of this area I then moved westwards towards Zaragoza to find a hotel and hopefully fit some more birding into the day. After a hectic drive along the main N11 (be warned this road is bumper to bumper lorries) I reached the village of Osera and followed the directions on a trip report to some tracks immediately to the north of the village and motorway and birded there for a while. I then checked into the Hotel Osera right by the service station in the village and ventured back out to the same area until dusk fell. In my 2 visits I clocked up 1 Black-eared Wheatear, c8 Northern Wheatears, my only Southern Grey Shrike and Hoopoe of the trip, 2+ Spectacled Warblers, 3 Dartford Warblers, c60 Spotless Starlings, loads of Thekla Larks, an amazing flock of c500 Calandra Larks, 4 Chough, 1 adult Golden Eagle right over my head, 1 Montagu’s Harrier, and the incredible sight of an Iberian Green Woodpecker flushed from the track with the nearest tree absolutely miles away! Sadly my two target birds had eluded me all day however leaving just a few hours in the morning left.
That night, despite the noise from a huge roost of Spotless Starlings in pines next to the hotel I turned in early for a dawn start the next day.
14 September 2007
Up with the lark. Or at least that was the plan!
Having readied myself for my early afternoon flight the night before I was up before daybreak and made the drive through the lanes going south from Osera towards Belchite in the dark. Fortunately I timed it well and the sun began to rise at I reached the reserve of La Lomanza and parked in the roadside carpark. Despite apparantly needing a permit to visit the reserve I encountered not a soul and was able to walk the whole area gradually uphill and away from the road. With the help of an MP3 on my phone I was able to hear Dupont's Lark singing on the ground within 20 minutes of arrival. Seeing one was, as I’d envisaged, a completely different matter! It took me 2 hours of criss-crossing the area towards each singing bird before I obtained 2 brief view of birds that seemed to vanish into scant vegatation like no bird I’ve ever seen. In all I reckoned on 4+ singing individuals. Other larks were much more obliging and included Thekla Lark and Lesser Short-toed Lark together with 3-4 Northern Wheatears. Then a stroke of luck, having already flushed a Stone Curlew that momentarily got the pulse racing I then stumbled upon 2 Pin-tailed Sandgrouse that flushed from quite a distance. Nevertheless I was able to watch them through bins and clinch the id as they banked sideways and finally out of view over a rise.
Flushed with success I decided that I had time to quickly visit the nearby reserve at El Planeron near the village of Codo if I drove like a madman! So 20 minutes later I was trunding down the entrance track and spent just 20 minutes or so blundering through a likely looking area to the left of the track. Here again I heard 2+ Dupont’s Larks but alas got no views. Plenty of Thekla Larks again though and the last new bird of the trip - a Fan-tailed Warbler that was perched up above a dry reedy ditch.
Bidding farewell to the plains (and vowing never to return!) I then headed for the airport. A couple of espressos (and some throwing of litter on the floor at the bar in true Spanish style) later and I was airborne and on the way home.
The three and a half days birding had yielded a trip list of 95 species including 6 new WP birds.
Excellent report. Having only visited the eastern Pyrenees briefly twice, I'm in the very early stages of planning a full week in the area next year. I'm sure that your report will prove useful,
Thanks
Hi Bobby,
I hope it helps.
If you need any more precise info on sites just let me know.
Regards
Chris (Canarybirder)