Catalan holiday

Just got back from a family holiday in Catalunya. We spnt a week up in the Pyrenees, then a few days in Barcelona. We met up with our good friends the Chittendens, who drove in all the way from the UK. From a family perspective, it was a perfect holiday - stunning scenery, great activities, excellent food. Brownie points secured. Especially when these family activities include encounters with Lammergeiers and Dipper.

It was enjoyable just to hang around in the garden, that was full of birds. Western Subalpine, Western Bonelli's and Melodious Warblers seem to have all bred there. Pied Flys, both redstarts, Crested Tits and Short-toed Treecreepers - quite good fun.

Western Bonelli's

Western Subalpine

Short-toed Treecreeper always being a nightmare to photograph

Crested Tit

Baby Common Redstart

The garden was buzzing with butterflies, especially the unmown sections. I was using only my 400mm/f5.6 which isn't great for butterflies...

Lang's Short-tiled Blue

Chalkhill Blue

Wall Brown on a wall

Life is good, drinking a cold cerveza while enjoying such views

My morning birding sessions were a bit challenging. Thanks to Franco and his support of the Nazis in WW2, it was dark until 7am! Therefore I had limited time for birding before the family activities began. I spent a couple of early mornings on Rasos de Peguera, the nearest ski resort. It wasn't high enough up there for proper mountain birds (1900 m), but certainly had this high-altitude feel, distinctly different from the mid-elevation village where we stayed. 

Most dominant birds up there were Crossbills - flocks were moving around noisily, some perched nicely. I enjoyed watching them in their different ages and plumages - they're not a bird I am very familiar with. In Israel they are very rare and irregular. Also in Norfolk they aren't too apparent. It was good to take in their flight calls and silhouettes.

Someone's ringing them up there - two of these random birds I photographed were ringed. 

Another quality bird (for me) up there was Citril Finch. This is another species I haven't seen many times before, and never managed to photograph. Even this photo isn't great - at least it's something.

Butterflies were abundant there too, including many Grizzled Skippers and the magnificent Cardinal.

This photo was taken by my son Uri:

Pyrenean Chamoix

Then it was down to scorching-hot Barcelona. I acted like a stupid tourist for a bit, however typically while admiring the Segrada Familia I was more interested in the Peregrine flying above.

View of the city from Parc Güell at 40 degrees

The little birding I did in Barcelona was half productive. Annoyingly, Delta del Llobregat doesn't open up before 9am (!), when the heat was already unbearable. I did spend a relaxed and muy fun morning with my close friends Rafa and Alejandra (Rafa - it's A-Le-Jand-Ra, OK?). Birding was nice, nothing too especial.

Audouin's Gull 8M95

Even though I don't really do Category C birds, It would have been rude not to look for the small population of Black-rumped Waxbills that have taken up residence in Parc del Turó del Putxet. So I did, to maintain the checklist streak. And Mitred Parakeets were abundant.

Thanks to my family and to the Chittendens for all the fun we had together!

Day and night

What an excellent day this was. In the morning I checked Baths of Aphrodite, mainly inside the caravan park. It was alive with migrants - not huge numbers on the ground but cool stuff and some cooperative birds. Highlights were Barred Warbler, 6 Collared Flycatchers, 5 Wood Warblers, and good movement of hirundines out towards Akamas Peninsule - I assume from there next stop is SW Turkey. It's a lovely site - backdrop against the sea, Cyprus Junipers on the steep slopes - really enjoyable. eBird checklist here.

Collared Flycatchers - all 2cy males

Wonderful Warbler

Whinchat - female

Whinchat - male

Spotted Flycatcher

 

Several pairs of Cyprus Wheatear breed at the caravan park. Check out this neat male:

I was wondering whether their niche extends down to the coast - well it does:

In the afternoon we did a family walk in Paphos Forest, mainly around the Mouflon enclosure at Stavros tis Psokas and nearby Selladi Tou Stavrou. Beautiful scenery but I think that the cold weather reduced bird activity (modest eBird checklist here). Two out of three target subspecies were seen: Cyprus Coal Tits were quite active but never descended from treetops; a couple of dorotheae Short-toed Treecreepers showed quite well by the cafe at Stavros tis Psokas; no sign of crossbills. 

Orchis troodi (endemic) - thanks Matt for ID

Red Admiral

In the evening, back at our accommodation, Cyprus Scops Owl became very vocal after dusk. One individual sat on our chimney and sang so beautifully. I sound-recorded him from the living room through the fire place - quite cool...

While writing this he still is out there, doing his double-hoot. Goo-hood night.

The passage to Spain

Back in wifi land after a few days in Outback Extremadura, Castuera. It's a rather dodgy town with a dark history. At present, they don't sell milk or bread in any supermarket. Bizarre.
I have a serious backlog to catch up with, so will start with May 1st. That was our last morning working in Portugal - we worked near Veiros. There's an SPA there that still has some nice habitat with both bustards.

Somewhat artistic experiment - Great Bustard

Thanks to Dan, or maybe it's Dan's fault, I pay more attention now to non-birds. As everywhere in Alentejo, Red-striped Oil Beetles were present in large numbers. They are poisonous, and are used as a gut-cleaner / parasite remover by male Great Bustards.

 

Black-tailed Skimmer - male

Another interesting invertebrate that got away before a proper photo was taken - Hummingbird Hawkmoth:

On the way back to the car, a walk through an adjacent montado produced the regular montado birds, including this Short-toed Treecreeper:

In the afternoon of that day we arrived in Castuera. We dumped our stuff in our accommodation, kindly provided by ANSER, and headed off for some touristic birding at Castillo de Benquerencia, just a few minutes outside of Castuera. The vista off the top is simply stunning.

I have visited this site before, in 2015. It's an easy spot for Black Wheatear, and indeed just above the carpark we had our first a singing male. Photographing them there is a different story. We did invest some time and effort, but the results are still unsatisfactory. Unfinished business with them... The light and angle are alright, but annoyingly the wheatears kept their distance.

While wasting our time trying to make friends with the wheatear, Alpine Swifts were whizzing around our heads. They are such fantastic beasts, ultimate aerobats. To hear their wings whiz past at hi-speed merely a meter from my ear was breathtaking. They breed on the cliff below the castle, and were chasing each other in display, often is groups of three or four:

Alpine Swifts

A great way to end the day. More on La Serena in the next posts.