World Trip Reports
Spanish Pyrenees, steppes and Ebro Delta
Just back from Spain. A long, hot, humid fortnight in June; a month too late we think. That said, we had a great trip with lots of good birds and wonderful scenery. No Wallcreepers - we aren't patient enough - but Little Bustard, Pintail and Black-bellied Sandgrouse and Dupont's Lark more than made up for it. As vulture nuts our best sight though was a 100+ Griffins and Egyptians struggling for lift and flying all around us in the upper Echo Valley; beautiful site in a beautiful place. Add in our best ever views of Golden Oriole and the beauty of Zaragoza and Taragona and we were well satisfied
We covered 2000+ kilometres amongst insane Spanish drivers so it was nice to be able to hand control to guides occasionally. The folks at Boletas (www.boletas.org) and Audouin (www.audouinbirding.com) did us proud. Skilled, enthusiatic birders but, much more than that, nice people to be with. We wholeheartedly recommend both outfits.
Our thanks to Esther, Alberto, Iben and Cristian
Andy and Jan Shand
Dear Andy and Jan
Thanks a lot for your nice words, they are much appreciated! You were both fantastic company, and we thoroughly enjoyed our days together in the Ebro Delta and Montsià.
The weekend after your visit we participated in the ringing of Audouin's Gulls in the colony in Punta la Banya, and we were rewarded with a mascot gull - the colours are not entirely realistic, but it looks great on the bonnet of our minibus 
This weekend we then participated in the ringing of the Flamingo chicks, which was a rather spectacular event. So when the heat and time allows we're out there looking for our chicks...
Hope to see you back here soon.
Best wishes,
Cristian and Iben