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4C/20C Tuesday 15th May 2018 ~ While Dazza continued her beauty sleep I was out and about locally just after sunrise, this time taking a five-minute drive down to the local Rio Lanata. Things here were particularly quiet, a flyby
Dipper, a few
Serin, the usual
Bonelli's Warbler, which appears very common here and
Black Redstart, which are even more abundant. Things got a little more lively just as I was leaving when a huge flock of (circa 50)
Bee-eaters flew through, a wonderfully colourful sight.
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| A small portion of a large flock of Bee-eaters (circa 50) |
From the river, I drove back to the track which leads up to the cottage and decided to try a small area which consisted of rocky terrain, meadow, some small ravines and a tiny copse. A
Nightingale was in full flow deep in cover and then another song caught the ear low in the scrub, a harsh twitter of squeaks and whistles, a
Subalpine Warbler. I managed a few brief views before the bird moved on.
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| Orphean Warbler |
While I was listening to a distant
Cuckoo a
Quail suddenly began calling from the meadow grass and then movement below alerted me to a couple of
Orphean Warblers. Since arriving I've heard several
Golden Oriole but up to this point I hadn't actually seen one, thankfully that was put right when a stunning male passed right in front of me. Finally, before heading back for breakfast three
Woodchat Shrike, ending an excellent 90-minute outing!
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| One of three Woodchat Shrike |
If you remember my first post on Sunday from our current trip to Spain you may remember that we were unable to get right up to the ski centre above Cerler due to the 2018 Vuelta Aragon cycle event. I did say at the time we'd return and today we did just that.
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| Thawing Ski Slope above Cerler |
After Sunday's glorious blue skies the weather was quite changeable today and by the time we reached the 6000ft summit the cloud had descended and a light rain was falling, although not constantly. We paused once again on many occasions to check out the meadows and rock fields, finding several
Wheatear,
Crossbills and
Black Redstarts. The usual
Griffon Vultures were busy soaring above, a little lower today due to the low cloud. A single
Blue Rock Thrush was also noted, surprisingly hard to find thus far during this visit!
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| Male Crossbill |
Ski slopes at this time of the year are a birders paradise, you can pick up some well sort-after species by just edging your way around a thawing piste. After parking up we began to scan slowly around the slopes, immediately coming across a small group of
Yellowhammer, a larger group of
Cirl Buntings and seventeen of the sort after
Citril Finch.
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| One of at least five Water Pipit |
We counted five
Water Pipit but I'm sure there were more, a half dozen
Wheatear and a trio of
Whinchat. Seeing the latter two species in a snowy background is a thing of beauty with the colours standing out vividly. Despite seeing
Alpine Accentor during our disrupted visit on Sunday we sadly dipped today. Another species we had our sights set on
Snow Finch is notoriously difficult in the spring and it would appear that they may well have moved on to their breeding areas!
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| Whinchat |
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| Wheatear |
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| One of three Whinchat |
