ORNITHOLIDAYS TOUR TO SPAIN CATALONIA PHOTOGRAPHIC TOUR Lammergeiers, Bonelli s Eagles & Bee-eaters JUNE 2014

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1 ORNITHOLIDAYS TOUR TO SPAIN CATALONIA PHOTOGRAPHIC TOUR Lammergeiers, Bonelli s Eagles & Bee-eaters JUNE 2014 Leaders: Richard Comber and Steve West

2 ORNITHOLIDAYS TOUR TO SPAIN CATALONIA PHOTOGRAPHIC TOUR Lammergeiers, Bonelli s Eagles & Bee-eaters JUNE 2014 A Personal Diary Tuesday, 10 June Gordon, Phyl and I took a late morning flight to Barcelona from London Gatwick, then we had a long wait for Dave's delayed flight from Liverpool, during which time we had a late lunch and a long natter! Once we were all together and the luggage was loaded aboard the rental car we headed for the hills, initially along a good motorway, before turning onto more rural roads taking just over two and a half hours to reach Conques, our base for the next two nights. Few birds were seen on the way, but they included Short-toed Eagle, European Rollers and Crested Lark. A very friendly welcome from our hostess awaited us and during dinner two forest guards arrived to discuss plans for our two days there. Bed was most welcome. Wednesday, 11 June Fine and sunny. Scavenger Hide Phyl and I took the first turn at this hide in the hills about 35 minutes drive from Conques, with a 7 a.m. departure after breakfast. Once we had settled into the hide our driver off-loaded a generous helping of dead piglets for the vultures and kites, our target species. We would be photographing vultures through optically perfect one-way glass at bait that was scattered barely 20 metres away. Griffon Vultures started to fly in from the surrounding hills, but although we got some great flight shots the majority flew away soon after the driver left, even though we had been very quiet. During the next hour or so we had numerous flyby sightings of Egyptian Vulture and Red Kite, as well as a circling Peregrine close enough to photograph for a record shot. Around 9am the griffons returned and soon the first birds were feeding, a signal for an orgy of gluttony to begin, and in about half an hour only scraps remained for the Black and Red Kites and an increasing number of Egyptian Vultures, which must have peaked at around 20 birds of all ages. There was almost always something going on, but no new species appeared until the early afternoon when we saw two or three Eurasian Black Vultures in flight. Just before 3pm one came in to feed with the remaining Egyptian Vultures and shortly after a second bird appeared, but by then the sun had moved around so the resultant photos were not quite as good as one might have hoped. Then if that wasn't enough we had an adult Lammergeier cruising around for some 20 minutes, sometimes coming close enough for really reasonable flight shots. At 4pm the remaining dozen or so Egyptian Vultures flew off when our driver returned to take us back to Conques for well-deserved showers and relaxation time before dinner, when we heard how Dave and Gordon had fared. On the way back to our lodgings a Montpellier Snake (Malpolon monspessulanus) crossed the road in front of the car. Lammergeier Hide Dave and Gordon's pick-up was later than ours and their drive a long one. Instead of piglets, their vultures were fed mainly farmed rabbits and the first wave of griffons came in immediately, no messing! Further food was put out at midday, so the griffons returned. They didn't have any visiting kites and it seems their Egyptians were rather skittish. They also had two Eurasian Black Vultures as well as four Lammergeiers, two adults and two immatures that gave great photo opportunities, both on the ground and in the air. They also photographed Black Redstart and a pair of Red Foxes. Recorded butterflies included Moroccan Orange-tip, Large White, Small or Southern Small White, Mountain Dappled White and Large Tortoiseshell, but trying to do fritillaries and blues in flight from a hide is a nonstarter!! Ornitholidays Photographic Tour to Spain - Catalonia June 2014 Page 1

3 Thursday, 12 June Fine and sunny morning with increasing cloud from late morning. Afternoon rain and thunder in the mountains. Today we swopped hides, so it was Dave and Gordon's turn for an early breakfast ahead of their visit to the Scavenger Hide, and a later one for Phyl and me when we left for the Lammergeier Hide. To reach the Lammergeier Hide took about an hour, half of which was on dirt roads. No piglets as bait, just white rabbits out of the back of a pick-up! Griffons Vultures started to come in as the vehicle drove away and with them came the first of four Eurasian Black Vultures. The griffons were still feeding when Lammergeiers appeared overhead. During the course of the day they came in to feed, but none came quite as close as they had done for Dave and Gordon yesterday, but we were satisfied nevertheless. We did well photographing the Griffon and Eurasian Black Vultures, but the Egyptians were better yesterday. Then there was the added bonus of the pair of Red Foxes scavenging morsels for their cubs somewhere off stage left. Other species photographed were Black Redstart and Eurasian Hoopoe. Butterfly Orchids (Platanthera sp) and Mountain Ringlet were noted on the drive into the mountains and back. Dave and Gordon were at the Scavenger Hide photographing the same species as we did yesterday, although there was no sign of the Lammergeier today. They realised that at least one of the Eurasian Black Vultures was a commuter between the two feeding stations as they recognised the large plastic numbered ring on the leg of one of the birds from yesterday. Unlike yesterday they had perched kites, whereas those Phyl and I photographed were always on the wing. By the time we were all back in Conques the rain had passed and thankfully it wasn't too long a drive to Montsonis, our base for the remainder of the holiday. Friday, 13 June Fine and sunny, although cloud increased later afternoon. Dave and I were first away before dawn to meet Steve West, our man in Spain. He took us to the Bee-eater Hide near Balaguer, which in some ways was disappointing as only one bee-eater used the perch provided. However, we were both pleased to have had that. Much of the time a Woodpigeon was coo-ing from the perch posing for perfect shots, as did an Iberian Grey Shrike albeit briefly. Also seen was a female Common Whitethroat. Afterwards Steve showed us some of the other hides including those for Little Owl and Roller, both of which were seen along with Montagu's Harrier, Black Kite and White Storks. Adonis Blue, Spotted Fritillary, False Ilex Hairstreak and an adult Ant-lion were also photographed. Gordon and Phyl photographed a pair of Bonelli's Eagles at bait from a hide near Montsonis to great effect and also photographed Woodchat Shrike. During the siesta break, some of us photographed butterflies nectaring on Scabious on the outskirts of the village, including Marbled White, Iberian Marbled Whites, Large and Small Whites, Clouded Yellow, Spotted Fritillary, Common Blue, Southern Brown Argus and Mallow and Small Skippers. At 5 p.m. Steve arrived and we walked up through the village under threatening clouds and along another track that proved to be even better for butterflies with Ilex and Blue-spot Hairstreaks and Twin-spotted Fritillary being additional subjects for the cameras. Afterwards we drove down to the river in the valley below, where Speckled Wood was added to the butterfly list and Otter spraints were discovered on a rock in the river. Nightingales were singing everywhere and one even fed on the edge of the track allowing some images to be hurriedly taken. One of the green-flowered helleborines was found, but regrettably we were unable i.d. it to species. Afterwards no doubt a certain amount of uploading and deleting took place before dinner at the hotel. Ornitholidays Photographic Tour to Spain - Catalonia June 2014 Page 2

4 Saturday, 14 June Another fine day, becoming really hot during the middle of the day and afternoon. With an early start for all of us we set off to rendezvous with Steve near Balaguer. David was first in the Little Owl Hide and was delighted with the images and lighting effects that the rising sun provided. Gordon was going into another Little Owl Hide, but it transpired that the light was wrong for it was clearly intended as an afternoon hide. Instead he was placed in a Cornfield Hide overlooking the edge of a field and was delighted when he obtained images of Stone Curlew and perhaps more surprising some of a singing male Little Bustard! For Phyl and me it was a session in a two-man hide on the edge of an orchard overlooking one of several White Stork nests clustered in a group of poplars. Our target nest was on top of a dead tree at eye-level and contained four well-grown youngsters that provided great entertainment as they exercised their wings as they perfected their vertical taking off and landing techniques! We also had great views and quite good photo opportunities of Marsh Harriers and we saw Purple Herons, Cuckoo and Golden Oriole. We returned to the hotel for lunch and afterwards explored the track just outside the village, photographing a variety of butterflies before heading back down to the fields around Balaguer, where Phyl worked the Little Owl Hide and I was the first to use the Green Woodpecker Hide. Phyl was very pleased with her owl pictures, which were very different from those taken by Dave this morning as the sun was in completely the opposite direction. The woodpeckers were not as cooperative as they might have been, but the dappled sunlight showed that ideally this was a morning hide when the birds would be in shadow and therefore evenly lit. There were Bee-eaters calling unseen nearby and also a Hoopoe. For Dave and Gordon it was an afternoon in the Roller and Lesser Kestrel Hide, a substantial tower hide overlooking a brick building especially built to accommodate breeding Rollers, Lesser Kestrels, Stock Doves and Jackdaws, whilst using the loft space was a family of fledged Little Owls. It was obviously a very successful session judging by the images Gordon showed us on his camera over dinner with Rollers flying off branches and Lesser Kestrels hanging on the wind. They even had a close fly-by of an immature Short-toed Eagle! It had been another successful day and we were all ready for dinner by the time we returned to the hotel in the evening. Sunday, 15 June And still the sun shines, although clouds built up in the afternoon for a while. It was another early start this morning as Steve wanted to settle three of us into our hides before sunrise. Dave and Phyl were in separate Cornfield Hides overlooking the field, where yesterday Gordon had photographed Little Bustard and Stone Curlew, but alas only the latter obliged and allowed them to get some good images. Afterwards Steve moved them for successful sessions in other hides - Phyl to the Roller Hide that we had looked at a couple of days ago and Dave to the Green Woodpecker Hide, whilst I had a session in the Little Owl Hide, where in addition to the owls I managed to get images of Eurasian Hoopoe and Stone Curlew. Gordon went to the Stork Hide, and also managed to photograph two immature Wrynecks, although the harriers didn't perform as well as they had done yesterday. On our return to the hotel afterwards, some of us did more butterfly photography during the siesta period before we returned to the fray; Gordon and I going to the Roller and Lesser Kestrel Hide, whilst Dave and Phyl enjoyed an exploratory drive with Steve that included a visit to a reservoir, where one of the highlights was a pair of Great Crested Grebes and young. Another was a male Firecrest displaying his name-giving crest to good effect. Apparently the photography from the tower hide overlooking the building where the European Rollers and Lesser Kestrels were breeding was not as good as yesterday. There was less wind so that the kestrels were not hanging in the wind as they had been, and being somewhat overcast the rollers colours and the Stock Doves iridescent necks were not as vivid as they had been previously. Three distant Short-toed Eagles were seen - perhaps a pair and their recently fledged youngster. Ornitholidays Photographic Tour to Spain - Catalonia June 2014 Page 3

5 Monday, 16 June Another fine morning, becoming overcast with showers during the afternoon. Gordon and Phyl were first away this morning with me taking them down to the Balaguer area where we rendezvoused with Steve, who took Gordon to the Little Owl Hide, which didn't disappoint and where he had a Red-legged Partridge perched up on the owl's usual rock at one time. Phyl started off in the Green Woodpecker Hide, where in addition to the woodpecker she succeeded in photographing European Bee-eater, Eurasian Hoopoe and Sardinian Warbler. Steve then took her across to the Bee-eater Hide, now renamed the Wood Pigeon hide as there were no bee-eaters, but the Wood Pigeon performed as well as he had done for Dave and me the other day! Steve is quite concerned about bee-eaters breeding success this year, for although we were hearing and seeing them everywhere, he thinks that bee-keepers and farmers might be blocking their nest holes. Dave and I had our turn in the Bonelli's Eagle Hide this morning, but although we saw the birds overhead late morning they didn't come in to the bait, which today was a dead Red-legged Partridge. Apparently the female has a new toy boy this year and he is far more reluctant to come in than her previous mate - today was one of his 'off' days! On the plus side we were pleased with the images of Woodchat Shrike and Dave was particularly pleased to get images of the Golden Oriole and Dartford Warbler that showed well on his side of the two-man hide. Also seen were Subalpine Warbler, large numbers of swifts and a squadron or two of Griffon Vultures passing over. By lunch time we were all back at the hotel and afterwards those who wanted to returned to the butterfly track on the outskirts of the village, where one of the first species seen nectaring on brambles was a Nettle-tree Butterfly. Also seen were Berger's or Pale Clouded Yellows, but as, according to the books, i.d. hinges on examination of genitalia, although they were most likely Berger s, we settled for just taking photographs! In the afternoon we drove across to Lleida, Steve's home town, to be taken round some of the birding sites in that area. With the prevailing overcast conditions the opportunities for photography were limited, but the birding was good, although the views of Lesser Grey Shrike, a very rare breeding bird in Spain nowadays, were rather distant. A Green Sandpiper was presumably a late migrant when we visited a pool where there were Moorhen and Great Reed Warbler. A Peregrine and Short-toed Eagle were also seen before we set off on some particularly muddy tracks after rain to try and see Calandra Larks, which obliged quite well, which is more than a Pin-tailed Sandgrouse did by flying off in the wrong direction at a rate of knots as we drove along. As we returned to the tarmac we stopped to say cheerio to Steve and express our appreciation for all his efforts in setting up the series of hides in just the right places. Thanks to the sat-nav we found our way back to Montsonis without a hitch, where we were treated to a few 'extras' at our last dinner, such as dunking doughnuts in local brandy, which was somewhat of a novelty! Tuesday, 17 June The weather held for our last day and after a later breakfast than usual we took the car down to the river and enjoyed a relaxing exploration along the tracks and the riverbank before returning to the hotel for the last bit of packing and loading the car. By the river Spotted Flycatcher, Grey Wagtail and Great Spotted Woodpecker were amongst the additions to the bird list. There were fresh Otter spraints on the rock just off the river bank and the helleborine found the other day was still in flower, but an i.d. was no nearer! Back at the hotel the car was soon loaded and we began the drive back to Barcelona, stopping twice en route - once for a car wash that was admirably handled by Gordon, and then a little further on we stopped at a restaurant for a 'proper' lunch. We arrived at the airport with time to spare and once the car was returned we checked in for our easyjet flights back to the UK. Dave's flight to Liverpool was scheduled to be about five hours or so later than ours to Gatwick, but in reality it was even later due to the late arrival of his aircraft from the UK - poor chap! For the rest of us our flight left and arrived on time and with the bags delivered promptly in the baggage hall we were soon on the final legs of our journeys home after a great and very successful photographic experience to Catalonia. Ornitholidays Photographic Tour to Spain - Catalonia June 2014 Page 4

6 Acknowledgments Thanks to Steve West, our man in Spain, we had some excellent photographic opportunities, both in the hides he had set up and in the field, especially with an impressive range of butterflies. Thanks also to our hostesses in Conques and Montsonis. Thanks too to the three intrepid photographers who made up our select party. Thank you for letting us use your images to illustrate this report, which I hope does justice to the hours we spent in hides to achieve the results. Thanks too for coming and a special Thank You to Gordon for his valiant efforts in cleaning the car after our muddy excursion and also for the lift back from the airport. I guess only Dave has seen a muddier vehicle on a tour, but that's another story! Richard Coomber Ornitholidays 29 Straight Mile Romsey Hampshire SO51 9BB info@ornitholidays.co.uk September 2014 Ornitholidays Photographic Tour to Spain - Catalonia June 2014 Page 5

7 CHECKLIST OF BIRDS and BUTTERFLIES Being a concentrated photographic tour birding and maintaining a daily checklist was not the highest priority, so below is a list of species seen with those species photographed in bold and those taken well from hides in CAPITALS. Mallard Rock/Feral Dove DARTFORD WARBLER RED-LEGGED PARTRIDGE STOCK DOVE Cetti's Warbler Common Quail (h) WOOD PIGEON Great Reed Warbler (h) Great Crested Grebe Collared Dove Zitting Cisticola Cattle Egret Turtle Dove Western Bonelli's Warbler Grey Heron Common Cuckoo Common Chiffchaff (h) Purple Heron LITTLE OWL Firecrest WHITE STORK Common Swift Eurasian Wren LAMMERGEIER EURASIAN HOOPOE Great Tit EURASIAN GRIFFON VULTURE EUROPEAN BEE-EATER Long-tailed Tit EURASIAN BLACK VULTURE EUROPEAN ROLLER Eurasian Nuthatch EGYPTIAN VULTURE GREEN WOODPECKER IBERIAN GREY SHRIKE Short-toed Eagle Great Spotted Woodpecker Lesser Grey Shrike BONELLI'S EAGLE Eurasian Wryneck WOODCHAT SHRIKE RED KITE Crested Lark Common Magpie BLACK KITE THEKLA LARK EURASIAN JAY Western Marsh Harrier Calandra Lark WESTERN JACKDAW Montagu's Harrier Crag Martin CARRION CROW Common Buzzard Barn Swallow COMMON RAVEN Northern Goshawk House Martin Spotless Starling Common Kestrel Grey Wagtail HOUSE SPARROW LESSER KESTREL White Wagtail Tree Sparrow Peregrine Common Nightingale Rock Sparrow Common Moorhen BLACK REDSTART Common Chaffinch LITTLE BUSTARD Song Thrush Common Linnet STONE CURLEW Mistle Thrush European Goldfinch Little Ringed Plover Common Blackbird European Greenfinch Green Sandpiper SARDINIAN WARBLER European Serin Yellow-legged Gull Subalpine Warbler Cirl Bunting Pin-tailed Sandgrouse BUTTERFLIES RECORDED (Those species photographed satisfactorily are shown in Bold) Swallowtail Papilio machaon Escher s Blue Polyommatus escheri Scarce Swallowtail Iphiclides podalirius Nettle-tree Butterfly Libythea celtis Large White Pieris brassicae Southern White Admiral Limenitis reducta Small White Artogeia rapae Large Tortoiseshell Nymphalis polychloros Southern Small White Artogeia mannii Peacock Butterfly Inachis io Green-veined White Artogeia napi Painted Lady Vanessa cardui Bath White Pontia daplidice Comma Butterfly Polygonia c-album Mountain Dappled White Euchloe simplonia Cardinal Pandoriana pandora Morocco Orange Tip Anthocharis belia Twin-spot Fritillary Brenthis hecate Berger's/Pale Clouded Yellow Colies alfacariensis/hyale Knapweed Fritillary Melitaea phoebe Clouded Yellow Colias crocea Spotted Fritillary Melitaea didyma Cleopatra Gonepteryx Cleopatra Marbled White Melanargia galathea Wood White sp Leptidea sp Iberian Marbled White Melanargia lachesis Ilex Hairstreak Nordmannia ilicis Mountain Ringlet Erebia epiphron False Ilex Hairstreak Nordmannia esculi Meadow Brown Maniola jurtina Blue-spot Hairstreak Strymonidia spini Spanish Gatekeeper Pyronia bathseba Small Copper Lycaena phlaeas Speckled Wood Pararge aegeria Holly Blue Celastrina argiolus Wall Brown Lasiommata megera Southern Brown Argus Aricia agestis cramera Mallow Skipper Carcharodus alceae Adonis Blue Lysandra bellargus Small Skipper Thymelicus sylvestris Common Blue Polyommatus icarus Notes re butterflies 1. Berger's/Pale Clouded Yellow Berger s is the commoner south of Pyrenees 2. Southern Brown Argus variously treated as a race of Brown Argus, which is not south of Pyrenees, or a full speces A. cramera 3. Escher s Blue the common blue we could quite get sorted during the tour. Ornitholidays Photographic Tour to Spain - Catalonia June 2014 Page 6

8 Photos from the Vulture hides Richard Coomber Gordon Small Eurasian Griffons en masse Eurasian Griffon Eurasian Griffon Richard Coomber Gordon Small Eurasian Griffon Black Vulture Gordon Small Richard Coomber Egyptian Vulture Ornitholidays Photographic Tour to Spain - Catalonia June 2014 Page 7

9 Photos from the Lammergeier hide Lammergeier adult Gordon Small Phyl England Lammergeier adults and immature Phyl England Gordon Small Lammergeier adult taking off Lammergeier immature in flight Black Redstart male Phyl England Richard Coomber Red Fox Ornitholidays Photographic Tour to Spain - Catalonia June 2014 Page 8

10 Photos from the Bonelli s Hide Bonelli s Eagle Phyl England Phyl England Bonelli s Eagle Bonelli s Eagle Gordon Small Gordon Small Bonelli s Eagle Gordon Small Richard Coomber Bonelli s Eagle mobbed by a Jay Woodchat Shrike Photos from the Little Owl Hide Ornitholidays Photographic Tour to Spain - Catalonia June 2014 Page 9

11 Little Owl Phyl England Phyl England Eurasian Hoopoe Little Owl Gordon Small Gordon Small Little Owl taking off Little Owl Richard Coomber Richard Coomber Hoopoe Photos from the Lesser Kestrel Hide Ornitholidays Photographic Tour to Spain - Catalonia June 2014 Page 10

12 Lesser Kestrel hide Richard Coomber Gordon Small Little Owl Lesser Kestrel with mouse Gordon Small Gordon Small Lesser Kestrel take-off Richard Coomber Gordon Small European Roller and prey European Roller Other bird images Ornitholidays Photographic Tour to Spain - Catalonia June 2014 Page 11

13 Richard Coomber Phyl England Stock Dove from the Lesser Kestrel hide Green Woodpecker at nest-hole Gordon Small Phyl England Stone Curlew before sunrise and afterwards Little Bustard Gordon Small Phyl England Nightingale Other bird images and the Stork hide Ornitholidays Photographic Tour to Spain - Catalonia June 2014 Page 12

14 Great Crested Grebe family Phyl England Phyl England Firecrest Richard Coomber Phyl England White Stork hide and nest site Marsh Harrier - female Gordon Small Phyl England White Stork nest activity White Stork nest activity Ornitholidays Photographic Tour to Spain - Catalonia June 2014 Page 13

15 Some of the butterflies we encountered All Richard Coomber Clouded Yellow Adonis Blue Wall Brown Esher s Blue Iberian Marbled White Spotted Fritillary Nettle-tree Butterfly Ilex Hairstreak Spanish Gatekeeper All Richard Coomber Front cover: Lammergeier Gordon Small Ornitholidays Photographic Tour to Spain - Catalonia June 2014 Page 14