Latest News - July, 2007

Parc National d'Aiguestortes by Steve West

Northeast Spain is an area that I didn’t know and it would be a contrast to previous birding trips to Spain. It is the most prosperous part of the country with intensive agriculture both arable and livestock that is reared in vast new sheds blotting the landscape. The Northern edge is mountainous defined by the Pyrenees and the borders with France and Andorra. Catalonia has a detached view of Spain. Much EU money has been poured into infrastructure development. Roads are excellent or being improved; even remote lanes in the mountains are being widened and surfaced. Tourism is rapidly growing with affluent city dwellers from Barcelona and Lleida owning holiday apartments in the area.

A mid-morning flight from Bristol to Barcelona made for an easy start to this trip. There I met the group and our local guide, Steve West, who is English but has lived in Spain for a long time. Fortunately he speaks both Spanish and Catalan, vital skills in this region where English is not understood or spoken. We headed north through a remarkably green landscape, it has been a wet spring here, calling in at the Estany d’Ivars which is a lake that was drained for agriculture but is now being restored. Developing vegetation and changing water levels are altering the mix of birds but Nightingales and Great Reed Warblers were calling with Avocets, Shelduck, Great Crested Grebe, Mallards, Moorhen, Coot and Yellow-legged Gulls on the water whilst Honey buzzards and Marsh Harriers soared overhead. Several Penduline tits were feeding in the bushes. A pair of White Storks flew over the village nearby.

Our base for the next three nights was the Monastir de las Avellanes near Belagur. It is a working monastery with an hotel attached set in beautiful surroundings. Different! It has its own vineyard so you can guess the choice of wine at dinner (Vino Negra is actually the red wine). Around the hotel we had Golden Orioles, Great Spotted and Green Woodpeckers, Woodchat Shrikes, Short-toed Treecreepers, Black Redstarts, Olivaceous and Grasshopper Warblers, Serins and Firecrest just to pick out a few species. Swifts, Swallows and House Martins were a constant sight, using the monastery for nesting. One evening a Tawny Owl called from the wood across the road.

Day trips took us out onto the dry lands of the Lleida plains. The EU has protected them to stop irrigation and maintain the conservation value. They are reminiscent of the Wiltshire ‘prairies’, with a major difference, there are large areas of scrub and rough ground left uncultivated making superb habitats for wildlife. It was also a lot warmer. Crested, Calendra and Thekla Larks and Corn Buntings were plentiful. We only saw one Hoopoe and one Stone Curlew though. Common and Honey Buzzards, Marsh and Montagu’s Harriers soared overhead. A Bonelli’s Eagle was a real bonus. The ‘raspberry’ calls of Little Bustards carry a long way; they are always much further away than you think. Derelict farm buildings provided homes for Turtle and Stock Doves, Lesser Kestrels and a pair of Rollers and nearby a Tawny Pipit showed well. Bee Eaters were arrayed along the overhead cables beside the roads and tracks. Going up into the hills we found Griffon and Egyptian Vultures, Peregrines, Kestrels, Sub-alpine Warblers, Rock and Blue Rock Thrushes. We heard an Orphean Warbler but it refused to come out despite playing a recording of the song. On the other hand, we had superb views of Great Spotted Cuckoos.

An essential part of each days routine was a visit to a shop to buy the fresh bread and other ingredients for our picnic lunches. You had to bring your own knife, fork, spoon, plate and mug. It made for very pleasant and civilised breaks. It was essential to keep the ‘bins close to hand whilst eating as lunch stops were chosen for their birds and scenery. Travelling north again we crossed a col at 1600m and we were very surprised to see a Marsh Harrier hunting over the forest above 1000m altitude. The landscape became more rugged as we approached the Pyrenees. Along the main valley there are massive developments from a burgeoning tourist industry that will put pressure on the countryside. Kayaking and white water rafting are popular pursuits here. Eventually we turned up a winding road to the village of Espot at 1314m on the eastern edge of the national park, ‘Parc Nacional d’Aigüestortes’. The comfortable Roca Blanca hotel was our base for the last four nights. The mountains rise to around 2800m and they still had snow on them so the village has a real alpine feel apart from all the cranes building new developments.

There is good birding around the village with Yellow Wagtails and Dippers nesting alongside the river running through the middle of the village. Alpine Swifts and Crag Martins added to the mix of swifts, Swallows and martins. Rock Sparrows were nesting on the church opposite the hotel. A Scops Owl called each evening from a building about 50m from the hotel; the street lights illuminated it. Two of us found an Iberian Chiffchaff which, despite its name, is rare here. Follow-up visits to the site over four days confirmed it was not a passage migrant thus making this the first record of probable breeding in this part of Spain. Steve has submitted the record to the authorities; I couldn’t even begin to do it in Spanish. Above the village there is a nesting site for Black Woodpeckers. Use of the MP4 player brought the male out to investigate, nearly taking Steve’s head off; we got excellent views too. Red Squirrels had taken over one hole in a tree.

Land Rover taxis took us up the valley to where the track was blocked by snow at about 1900m.  It was a very rough ride up – think Lake District mountain footpath with added boulders. Some of us walked up, partly on snow, to the Refugio d’Amitages at 2380m to look for Alpine Accentors and Snow Finches with no luck; worse, the refugio wasn’t open so, we couldn’t get a drink. However it was a superb walk in brilliant conditions with fantastic scenery all around. Marmots and Chamois provided a diversion. Great, Blue, Coal and Crested tits flitted through the trees lower down.

Griffon Vultures abounded but it took a lot of effort and three days before we found Lammergeier Vultures which was the main target species for me on this trip. The same day we also saw a Golden Eagle. Choughs and Alpine Choughs flew across the rock faces high up. Above 1500m we also found Ring Ouzels and Citril Finches in the trees. Stone walls and banks are home to Rock Buntings.

We walked along a forest track in an area known to hold Capercaillie. A female exploded out of the tree above our heads and clattered off through the forest. How can you miss a turkey-sized bird sat in a tree next to the track? Some of us got a view of it going away.

On Monday the sunshine and heat of the previous six days was replaced by rain. We headed up towards a pass at 2000m to try again for Alpine Accentors and Snow Finch. By 1500m it was freezing and snowing hard so we retreated to the valley to find a coffee shop. The rain eased so we stopped off for a look around finding familiar species such as Jay and Yellowhammer along with more Rock Buntings. It dried up later so we went on a final foray to look for Lammergeier. A single bird provided much better views than the day before and we could really see the plumage details.

The long drive back to Barcelona airport was interrupted by a pair of Booted Eagles, one light phase and one dark phase. The ratio of light to dark phase birds in Spain is 80:20. Fortunately we were able to park off the road for a better look. ‘Bins were rapidly retrieved from hand luggage. It made a nice finale to an excellent and successful birding trip.

A footnote for wild flower and butterfly enthusiasts. There is much here to occupy your time. We were a little early for most of the orchids but much else was in flower. Camberwell Beauty and Apollo were the two most notable butterflies.

Richard Belson

(tour participant)

To find out more about the Naturetrek tour and book your place in 2008 please visit the tour page.

In November 2006 Naturetrek clients were fortunate enough to see both Jaguar and Ocelot at Hato Pinero on our Venezuela - Llanos bargain bird tour.

Client Keith Cherry charts a typical afternoon at Hato Pinero. "The lorry arrived and we were off again. New birds were soon listed including Forest Elaenia, Orinocan Saltator, Glittering-throated Emerald, Groove-billed Ani, Orange-chinned Parakeet, Grey-necked Woodrail, Purple Galinule, Blue-tailed Emerald, Ringed Kingfisher, Spot-breasted Woodpecker and the stunning Rufous-tailed Jacamar. Further on we saw Rusty-backed Spinetail, Red-rumped Woodpecker, Snail Kite and Laughing Falcon. As the light began to fade we happened across a dead tree that was being used as a Vulture roost. A juvenile King Vulture and a juvenile Lesser Yellow-headed Vulture were present along with numerous Black and Turkey Vultures. We moved on and added Bi-coloured Wren before we started lamping again on our return to the ranch seeing numerous Great Potoo, Lesser Nighthawk, White-tailed Nighthawk and Common Paraque. The group received a massive bonus during this session when we all saw a juvenile Jaguar walk out of the undergrowth to the right of the lorry. This excited everyone and was a brilliant way to end the day. We arrived back at the ranch at 20:30hrs, tired but pleased with our day, considering how it had been disrupted by the weather. The evening was brought to an end in the usual way, dinner, call over, chiller cabinet!"

Click here to read a copy of the tour report.

As the dismal British summer lurches from one downpour to the next and pitches become more suitable for water sports than cricket, it is perhaps a tempting thought to consider the England cricket team's matches in sunny Sri Lanka later this year. The friendly tropical island of Sri Lanka has long been a favourite Naturetrek birdwatching and natural history destination and it is not surprising that  in common with most of the island population, our local team of expert naturalists are also enthusiast followers of the great game. Following the successful formula of previous Naturetrek tours combining international cricket with wildlife viewing, we are pleased to offer a programme of ad hoc Sri Lanka tours which can be taken either before or after the First Test Match in Galle which takes place December 1-5. There will be three tour itineraries to choose from, one embracing the northern cultural 'triangle' of Anuradhapura, Sigiriya and Kandy, a general wildlife tour visiting Yala and Uda Walawe National Parks, and finally a tour for birders seeking the endemic birds of the Hill Country and Sinharaja Forest. If the prospect of superlative wildlife encounters followed the spectacle of Harmison, Flintoff et al in action on the historic Galle ground is one that appeals we will be delighted to hear from you! Please contact Paul Dukes for further information

Naturetrek sends hundreds of happy botanists into the European mountain ranges each spring. Although far fewer clients venture further afield on our long haul botanical selection, some truly splendid botanising is available for the more adventurous. Jack and Joan Lamb headed to the Andes of Ecuador last year and sent us this enthusiastic piece on their holiday.

"Apart from a few ups and downs 2006 was a good year.  I passed my examinations, had a good Euro-fuchsia enjoyed the travelling we were able to do and met a lot of nice people.  There was still something missing and had been missing for a few years, the Andes.  I study and study but all along but it always played on my mind that I had not been or studied in the cloud forest, rain forest or paramo.  You can botanise anywhere but the place of your most interest in botany is a big help in understanding.

It was early in the year cold and wet outside and the television playing to itsself.   Joan was reading one of her magazines and I was reading the RHS magazine “The Garden”.  Just by chance Joan was reading about a couple who had immigrated to Ecuador and mentioned one comment to me “Ecuador was a beautiful country of warm friendly people”.    I just remarked that it sounded good, but as I closed my magazine there was a travel company advert for Naturetrek on the back cover that jumped out at me “Flora of the Andes, Ecuador”.  I was soon emailing them, reading reports of the previous years trek.   Naturetrek were very good in their prompt answers, soon confirming to me that the trek had a wheel at each corner and a driver.  The botanising was basically orchids and alpines but local guides confirmed that we would see fuchsia.   That was good enough for Joan and I and we booked, being kept up to date by Naturetrek all the time.    The itinerary changed several times due firstly to the volcano Tungurahua erupting, then not being able to use the airport at Loja because of runway repairs. But Naturetrek had everything covered.

There was four of us in the party and were met at Quito airport by a smiling Gustavo Cañas Valle who was to be our tour leader.   We were quickly loaded into a Mercedes mini-bus and driven to the Hotel Sebastian and introduced to our other botanist guide Hugolino Onate.  Then a light meal and much needed bed.

Early the next morning I saw my first fuchsia in Ecuador ‘Gartenmeister Bonstedt’ in a small garden across the road from the hotel.     After an early breakfast we set off for the Cotopaxi National Park where we soon found out that the roads in Ecuador are not quite up to the standard we have.   Once in the park we climbed/drove to just over 4000 metres where breathing was a bit of a problem but I was in heaven as every plant I looked at was new to me and I was soon face down on the ground photographing alpines, lichens, grasses etc.    We spent most of the day in the park before descending and botanising and birding as we went.  We stopped for me to photograph Pasiflora mixta, but as I was setting up the shot what could I see in the viewfinder but my first wild fuchsia, F. loxensis.  I was one happy man. I had seen my fuchsia in the wild.

We spent the next few days based in Ambato, visiting an orchid reserve at Puyo and generally enjoying Ecuador.  We drove back to Quito for a flight to Cuenca where we stayed the night before meeting our new driver Joffrey for a drive to Loja, roadside botanising and birding as we went and saw what we thought were the odd fuchsia.  I could have kicked myself when I got home and realised that they could have been F. harlingii.   From Loja we went to Vilcabamba where we stayed two nights.  My favourite two days of the trip.  The first one was to Cerro Toledo, Fuchsias Fuchsias and more fuchsias before we got to the high paramo.    I had not seen the first fuchsia we stopped for, but Hugolino’s eagle eyes spotted it in a thicket of growth.  It turned out to be F. Andrei, a bit further and there was F.campii  and then fuchsias I did not know,  until we reached what I think could be F. summa.   As the vegetation change, Hugolino pointed out a fuchsia high up a mini waterfall.  My eyes were not as good as his but the binoculars helped.   He said he would guide me up if I wanted to go, daft as I am I could not resist having a go.  He said he would carry my camera in case I fell.  I could not have asked for a better guide, he showed me every foot and handhold as we made the climb.  We took the pictures and were just looking around when someone from below shouted that we had to climb down.   The sense of achievement when I got down was fantastic.  All I could say was thank you to Hugolino and “It was worth it” to the other members.  

The following day was another dream.  We were met early by orchid expert Tulio Bustos Cordero and taken to one of his favourite orchid sites near to Loja , to say it blew my mind was an understatement, there were epidendrum orchids plus many more I did not know the names of right down to the road,  I can’t say pavement because there wasn’t any.  There were also many different genera there that I am interested in including Amarylids.   We also saw a fuchsia but as it was F. magellanica I did not pay a lot of attention to it, also it was in someone’s yard.  From there Tulio too us to Loja Zoo where he had his conservation collection of orchids.  My camera ought to have been fitted with a cooling system as I simply went mad.  We left Tulio and headed for Cuenca for a flight back to Quito, botanising again as we drove but driving right past Fuchsia harlingii once again.

We stayed the night in Cuenca before the early flight to Quito and were met by our third driver Edwin.   We soon left Quito climbing up towards Antisana and or lodge for the next couple of days at the Termas de Papallacta.   We were botanising on an old lava flow and I saw what looked like a hedge and made my way too it,  I soon saw red and as I got closer realised it was a fuchsia, but it was high and once again Hugolino came to my assistance, he held it while I did the photography.  It came into my mind that there may be flowers on the other side but soon found out that it was long drop so that idea was aborted.   In that area we saw a lot of fuchsia but nearly all were F. vulcanica in forms that I had not seen.   From Papallacta  we botanised to just south of Baeza before tuning to or stay at the San Isidro Lodge, our favourite accommodation.    After leaving the main road down the lanes through the forest we came to a sudden stop and Gustavo shouted “Jack lots of Fuchsia”, they turned out to be F. orientalis and F. scabriuscula and obviously some I did not know.   I was photographing, measuring and the usual things botanists do but following us up the road was a team of machete armed road men clearing the road sides of all vegetation.   It was a saddening site to see them all gone the day after.   From San Isidro we botanised up to The Guango Lodge for our last night in Ecuador.   The Guango Lodge is famous for its humming birds and to me very memorable as I pointed to a bird on a feeder another settled on my finger.

We learnt so much in such a short time about not only fuchsia but Andean flora, weather. And I think most we felt the true warmth and friendliness of the Ecuadorian people. We owe a huge dept of thanks and gratitude to Gustavo Canas Valle, Hugolino Onate and all three drivers David, Joffrey and Edwin.   Nothing was too much trouble for them at all.    They took us to places that the average tourist would not see, we ate at restaurants that we would not dream of finding.  Having a good laugh, where ever we went.      Our time in Ecuador was much too short and we had not done enough homework but we can’t wait to get back and will do so.   I was worried that our health would let us down but our every need was catered for and there were no long hikes or over exertion, stopping where ever we wanted.    And yes we did eat CUY (Guinea pig)

Our thanks also go to Andy Tucker of Naturetrek who organised the trip for us.   I would recommend Naturetrek and their Ecuadorian agents to anyone.    

Jack Lamb"

Naturetrek still have spaces on the tour departing 22nd September 2007. For details visit the tour page.