Today was our last chance of Lilford’s Woodpecker and we
headed north west (I think) through wonderful countryside but on tortuously
windy roads. Julen had told us it would take about 90 minutes to get to the
forest of Irati, and so, with a fuller understanding about Basque minutes (they
invented time and watches by the way) we correctly added a healthy 30 extra
onto that!
Various bits and abobs were seen from the bus including
Griffons, Buzzard, Black Kite, male Marsh Harrier and our first Booted Eagle
that was timed perfectly with a garage where we all piled out and were as
grateful for the fresh air as the stunning almost pied bird playing in the wind
above our heads. After this we
encountered an obvious passage of raptors with many Griffons heading south
along a valley ridge along with at least four Red Kites.
After negotiating passage with a feisty Basque lady at the
reserve ‘welcome’ hut, Julen drove us along a forest track to a car park by a
reservoir. It was still windy and I have
to admit that I was not confident of any success. We followed the main track around the shore
and into the stunning beech woodland. There trees were even taller and
straighter than at the Angel Oloron walk but like before where amazingly quiet.
Common Treecreepers and Nuthatches were vocal and Marsh and Crested Tits were
heard but of the six species of woodpecker that live here there were no sign
other than the severe amount of carpentry that had been carried out on any dead
tree, branch or stump.
The wind was howling above with clouds scudding in two
directions and occasionally descended to tree level to give them and us a good
shake. A wonderful piece of interpretation clearly pointed out the various
species that we could indeed see if we opened our eyes although the revelation
of the day and perhaps the whole trip was that the answer to that eternal
question... What came first? The chicken or the egg? Well the answer is quite
clearly Woodpecker...
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| Please read carefully.... |
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| Chicken damage.... |
Five Black Kites got blown through but we were still in a
Woodpecker free zone and then on the slog back (using Basque miles I’m sure) it
all changed when a bird flew over head and into the beeches in front. Not only was it a Woodpecker but a male
Lilford’s and within a few minutes he had settled down and moved to an
obviously favoured dead tree where over the next fifteen minutes superb views
were had as he probed, pecked, pooed and then drummed for us. Sometimes he appeared quite rangy and like
the northern White-backs I have seen but at other times the shape became more
Middle Spot like. The full ladder back, red crown and long slender bill were
obvious while the undertail coverts were MSW pink and not red and there was
extensive streaking all the way up to the malar. A male Great Spot came in in
response to his drumming and pushed him off his top perch and with that the
moved off. That walk back was with lighter steps and big smiles and it was good
to see the relief on Julen’s face. A mini sunlit patch added a few Speckled
Woods to the day list and Common Darter got Roy momentarily excited.
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| Lilford's Woodpecker |
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| Lilford's Woodpecker |
We stopped for lunch in a taverna in Orbara where they put
on a fine simple spread for us – superb sausages! The outside wall had a painting of a male
Black Woodpecker feeding its chickens and a huge Lammergeir and proved a
suitable spot for a group photo.
The drive down out of the hills towards Lumbier added
Short-toed eagle to the list. A stop in the outskirts of town at a bridge
failed to produce any Iberian Greens but there were scores of griffons and
several Red Kites, many House Martins and three more Booted Eagles.
The Foz de Lumbier was out destination and as we exited the
van there were Griffons cruising past at eye level along with groups of mixed
Red-billed Chough and our first Jackdaws.
A sunflower field was full of House Sparrows, Serins, Linnets, Gold,
Green and Chaffinches and I could hear the ‘sip’ calls of Cirl Buntings
although only the briefest views were had. Crag Martins followed us into the
gorge and after entering via the old railway tunnel we were treated to stunning
views along and up both walls of this imposing gash in the earth.
It was
incredibly windy but perseverance paid off with Julen picking up a nice male
Blue Rock Thrush while I found our first stripy Rock Sparrow trying to shelter
in the dangling tangle of fig stems and roots.
Over 100 Crag Martins were restig up on one cliff wall while you soon
became aware of the hulking shapes of Griffons looking down on you along with
the various corvids perching nearby. Kestrels and Booted Eagles were seen and
three adult Egyptian Vultures were found including two perched up on a crag.
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| Griffons |
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| Griff & Gypos |
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| Essence of Rock Sparrow |
Black Redstarts fed on the path and Kingfishers and Grey Wagtails were on the
rushing river below us. With the wind increasing and bits of the Foz starting
to ping down around us we decided to beat a retreat where there were 17 Rock
Sparrows to greet us on the wires as we left!
We did not travel far to the next stop – the Foz de Arbaium.
For this one we were at the top and looking down from a large concrete platform
that delightfully jutted out over the shear decent. Mike did very well given
his fear of heights, Neil went for a Burton and David got carried off by a
hungry Lammergeir...
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| Mike being braver than you can imagine.... |
Traumas aside it was a superb spot and there were dozens of
Griffons drifting in and out along with four more Egyptians, three Booteds, two
Shorties and a pair of Peregrine. We
failed to find and Wallcreepers but did pick up some more Crag martins and
Black Redstarts before the first few spots sent us to the van before the
heavens opened.
The rain followed us all the way back to Burgui but soon
past leaving the blue sky and sunsine for the last half hour before dinner. I
used it well and visited the river where the Dipper performed superbly for me.
It was interesting to note that it looked just like our ones with chestnut and
black on the belly and was not wholly black as we had expected. Black Redstarts
were vocal after the rain and a fine male Common Redstart fed around the
allotment. Up above there were several Crag Martins (our first in the village)
and two Sparrowhawks and three Booted Eagles moved through. The latter were very vocal with exaggerated
flying and loud mewing. Long-tailed Tits, Blackcaps, tits and a Pied Fly
foraged along the river bank and rounded up another great day.
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| Snoozing Dipper |
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| Dipper |
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| Male Redstart |
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| Booted Eagle |
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| Black Redstart |
17th September
After a final breakfast we bid our farewells to the lovely
couple who ran the hotel and Julen whisked us back off into the mountains to
check for Rock Bunting at Canada de los Roncaleses - a spot above Burgui that we
passed in the rain yesterday evening. We popped out of the low cloud into a
blue sky and sunshine. The views back
into the valley below were stunning.
No
buntings were forthcoming but some tiny flickering House Martins and our first
Skylark headed south at height and Crested Tits churred at us from the pines.
As we were leaving Neil shouted bunting and we quickly stopped and decamped on
the roadside where superb views were had a smart male Rock as he called (Cirl-like)
from his chosen pine. There were several others flitting around and a Stonechat
was on the other side of the road.
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| Rock Bunting |
From here we dropped down onto the plain – albeit still ay
height – and Red Kites, Buzzards and our first Crested Larks were seen in
roadside fields where two flashby Southern Grey Shrikes were seen and Spotless
Starlings started to appear in good numbers around the villages.
A stop on a rather unimposing track up to a rocky, scrubby
view point quickly added several species to the list including some cold grey
Thekla Larks, scolding Dartford, Sardinian and Melodious Warblers, Tree Pipit
and a very embarrassing Golden Eagle that flew over my head and I failed to
identify for a variety of fairly spurious reasons!
Raptors were obviously moving with both Kites, Booted Eagle
and Marsh Harrier seen along with Buzzards and Kestrels. A Woodlark was seen by
the others further up the track and four more Rock Buntings were a nice bonus.
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| Golden Eagle |
The River Aragon was our destination as it was here that we
were to search for Lesser Spotted Woodpecker in the riparian habitat and
associated small poplar plantations. It was great to be back in small bird
country again and the two stops we made were chock full Pied Flycatchers, a
Spot Fly, Melodious Warbler, Blackcaps, Whitethroat, Serins, Black Redstarts
and Sardinian Warblers. Two Penduline Tits were heard by the river by Roy and I
and a Great Spotted Woodpecker called. Somehow Neil located a Rock Thrush dot
on a Cliffside ruin. Only the bird’s jizz, dagger of a bill and fiery red tail
gave away the identity!
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| The Rock Thrush was on that outcrop on the right! |
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| Beaver action... |
Overhead there were plenty of raptors for us to get wrong...
another low level Golden Eagle caught us all out once again and only the
attentions of a Booted Eagle caused a chorus of embarrassed coughs... All in
all nine Booteds were seen here along with three Honey Buzzards, singles of
Hobby, Sparrowhawk, Short-toed Eagle and Marsh Harrier and the ever present
looming Griffons.
From here it was a main road drive back towards Bilboa using
Julen’s very long Basque miles but in between naps we did manage to see 12
Lesser Kestrels and a Southern Grey Shrike perched on the same telegraph wire
along with the usual assortment of other raptors and a couple of Red-legged
Partridges.
Our final stop was the vast forest of Iski and after stopping in a
clearing with huge panoramic views over the woodland we struck out for the most
prominent track. Some paddocks looked promising for Iberian Green Woodpecker
and almost immediately we heard one do its high pitched yaffle and over the
next twenty minutes good flight views were had as it moved between the
trees. As when I saw this species in
Barbate, it look very plain headed in flight, probably caused by the lack of
black around the face. It would have been nice to see one perched but at least
everyone had got to see one.
While this was going on a couple of Middle Spots
started calling and after some tracking we got superb views of a feisty male
who showed off all his attributes including his fully raised red crown
feathers.
Cracking views of some Cirl
Buntings, Short-toed Treecreepers and a very obliging Red Squirrel brought
proceedings to a close and so we left the Woodwards to head off back to
Zaragoza while we travelled onto the imposing Hotel Seminario in Bilbao where
we would spend our final evening before flying out early the next morning.
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| Endless corridors |
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| Goodbye to the Basque country... |
And so ended our Basque adventure with an almost full
Woodpecker contingent (no LSW), 142 species on the list, some old friends
properly reacquainted and some new friends firmly made.
Julen was impeccable as a host, guide and font of all things
historically Basque and Gerard brought his inexhaustible knowledge and blue
(not red) Scouse humour to the party. A great time was had by all...
Shelduck
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Sandwich Tern
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Reed Warbler
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Mallard
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Rock Dove
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Melodious Warbler
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Gadwall
|
Wood Pigeon
|
Willow Warbler
|
Pintail
|
Collared Dove
|
Bonelli's Warbler
|
Shoveler
|
Turtle Dove
|
Chiffchaff
|
Wigeon
|
Tawny Owl
|
Goldcrest
|
Teal
|
Common Swift
|
Firecrest
|
Pochard
|
Kingfisher
|
Wren
|
Red-legged Partridge
|
Black Woodpecker
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Spotted Flycatcher
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Little Grebe
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Iberian Green Woodpecker
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Pied Flycatcher
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Cormorant
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Great Spotted Woodpecker
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Great Tit
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Cattle Egret
|
Middle Spotted Woodpecker
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Coal Tit
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Little Egret
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Lilford's Woodpecker
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Blue Tit
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Grey Heron
|
Wryneck
|
Crested Tit
|
Spoonbill
|
Skylark
|
Marsh Tit
|
Lammergeir
|
Crested Lark
|
Long-tailed Tit
|
Griffon Vulture
|
Thekla Lark
|
Penduline Tit
|
Egyptian Vulture
|
Woodlark
|
Nuthatch
|
Osprey
|
Sand Martin
|
Wallcreeper
|
Golden Eagle
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Crag Martin
|
Treecreeper
|
Short-toed Eagle
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Swallow
|
Short-toed Treecreeper
|
Booted Eagle
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House Martin
|
Iberian Grey Shrike
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Red Kite
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Water Pipit
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Magpie
|
Black Kite
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Meadow Pipit
|
Jay
|
Marsh Harrier
|
Tree Pipit
|
Jackdaw
|
Common Buzzard
|
White Wagtail
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Chough
|
Honey Buzzard
|
Grey Wagtail
|
Alpine Chough
|
Sparrowhawk
|
Yellow Wagtail
|
Carrion Crow
|
Kestrel
|
Dipper
|
Raven
|
Lesser Kestrel
|
Dunnock
|
Spotless Starling
|
Hobby
|
Alpine Accentor
|
House Sparrow
|
Peregrine
|
Robin
|
Rock Sparrow
|
Water Rail
|
Redstart
|
Chaffinch
|
Moorhen
|
Black Redstart
|
Linnet
|
Coot
|
Northern Wheatear
|
Goldfinch
|
Ringed Plover
|
Whinchat
|
Greenfinch
|
Knot
|
Stonechat
|
Citril Finch
|
Dunlin
|
Song Thrush
|
Serin
|
Wood Sandpiper
|
Mistle Thrush
|
Bullfinch
|
Green Sandpiper
|
Blackbird
|
Common Crossbill
|
Common Sandpiper
|
Blue Rock Thrush
|
Yellowhammer
|
Greenshank
|
Rock Thrush
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Cirl Bunting
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Redshank
|
Garden Warbler
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Rock Bunting
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Black-tailed Godwit
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Blackcap
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Corn Bunting
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Curlew
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Whitethroat
|
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Snipe
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Lesser Whitethroat
|
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Black-headed Gull
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Sardinian Warbler
|
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Yellow-legged Gull
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Dartford Warbler
|
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Lesser -black Backed Gull
|
Cetti's Warbler
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