THE SPANISH PYRENEES
1st – 8th June 2009

The High Pyrenees has long been a favourite with visiting birders, offering a good selection of target species with the beautiful Wallcreeper and impressive Lammergeier at the top of most wish lists. We'll be spending the first two nights in the foothills, based at the famous Boletas Birdwatching Centre, where as well as benefiting from their extensive knowledge of the area, we'll also enjoy a good selection of Spanish wines and delicious local and Mediterranean meals, guaranteed to satisfy your hunger after a good days birding. From here we can explore many of the lower altitude sites, which includes excellent areas of woodland, wetlands and steppe. We will then move higher to the breath-taking Hecho Valley where we'll stay for three nights in a tranquil hotel amidst the mountains. Here we are perfectly located to visit many of the best high altitude sites in search of Alpine Chough, Alpine Accentor, Wallcreeper and both Snow and Citril Finch. We'll then spend the remaining two nights back at the Boletas Birdwatching Centre.

Day 1
Meet at Manchester airport for our flight to Barcelona, once there it's about a three-hour drive through increasingly rugged scenery to our first base at the Boletas Birdwatching Centre, though we'll make at least one stop along the way. If time permits, after we've checked in and had a break, we may do a little birding close to the hotel.

Day 2
A full day birding around the foothills, with a patchwork of scattered cornfields, poplar groves, orchards and flower-rich hillsides, giving a real mediterranean feel to the area. The birds here are also characteristic of the Mediterranean region and include Bee-eater, Hoopoe, Golden Oriole, Sardinian and Melodious Warblers, Tawny Pipit, Crested Lark, Serin and Ortolan Bunting.

We'll visit the towering sandstone pillars known as Mallos de Riglos, where Lammergeier and Griffon Vultures cruise over as we look for Peregrine, Rock Dove, Orphean Warblers, Woodchat Shrike, Spotless Starling and the delightful Black Wheatear. We'll also visit some excellent areas of steppe where we hope to add the likes of Little Bustard, Pin-tailed & Black-bellied Sandgrouse, Roller, Great Spotted Cuckoo, Lesser Short-toed & Calandra Larks , Spectacled Warbler and Black-eared Wheatear. The incredibly elusive Dupont's Lark is also a possibility here. There are also some excellent wetlands nearby, where, Purple & Night Heron, Cattle & Little Egret, Great and Little Bittern, Red-crested Pochard, White Stork, Penduline Tit and Bearded Tit all occur. Overnight at Boletas.

Days 3 – 6
After breakfast on day three we'll start the climb up the infamous, and stunningly beautiful Hecho Valley where we'll be based for the next three nights at a peaceful hotel. Here were perfectly placed to visit the high tops where we'll look for alpine species such as Rock Thrush, Alpine Accentor, Water Pipit, Alpine Chough and Snow Finch, the latter a notoriously difficult species to locate. We must also keep a look out for raptors, as Lammergeier, Golden Eagle and Peregrine patrol the peaks. The Alpine meadows will be full of flower, which in turn attracts not only an impressive list of butterflies but also Citril Finch, which can often be found feeding here.

Lower down, we'll enter the majestic alpine forests, dominated by Beech and Pine. Firecrest, Crested Tit and Crossbill are all present here and the Impressive Black Woodpecker will be searched for. Overhead raptors such as Griffon & Egyptian Vulture, Short-toed & Booted Eagle, Common & Honey Buzzards may all be encountered, and with a little luck maybe even Goshawk. Whereas in contrast, the lower slopes supports deciduous forests, here a totally different cast of species are present, with Black and Red Kites, Wryneck, Middle Spotted Woodpecker, Short-toed Treecreeper, Iberian Chiffchaff and Western Bonelli's Warbler.

Another habitat not to be missed are the deep limestone gorges, here we'll search for the highly prized Wallcreeper one of Europes most sought after species. Other birds found here should include Alpine Swift, Blue Rock Thrush, Rock Sparrow, Red-billed Chough and the striking Rock Bunting. While the nearby flat terraces provide good habitat for Woodlark, Dartford & Subalpine Warblers, Red-backed Shrike and Cirl Bunting.

June is also excellent time for butterflies, and given sunny weather we should record an impressive list during our stay, with possible highlights including Spanish Fritillary, Duke of Burgundy, Spanish Swallowtail, Apollo, Southern White Admiral and Camberwell Beauty.

On day six we'll head back down the valley, overnight at Boletas.

Day 7
Full day in the foothills, as day 2

Day 8
After breakfast we'll spend a little time birding before heading back to Barcelona for our return flight home.

To comply with Civil Aviation Authority
guidelines all flights are ATOL protected,
for more details see our terms &
conditions section 10.