Yet another superb day of wonderful weather, beautiful scenery and some great bird sightings. The temperature rose from 12C to 33C but as usual there was a breeze to cool us down a little.
Last night at the 'Eagle Owl stake-out' I bumped into someone I knew from previous visits to the area and he told me of a Wryneck nest site. So today our first port of call was the very same site and sure enough we had superb views of a pair of Wrynecks visiting their nest hole. The male returned first with a gift of food, he called several times before entering the hole, she wasn't there, so out he popped and called from a nearby branch. Eventually she returned and he gave her the food and they both flew off. In the area we also saw Golden Oriole and our first Common Sandpiper..
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| a couple of very distant shots of the Wryneck |
Next we drove through Jaca and on up to Candanchu ski resort to look for the Rock Thrush we had missed the other day. As soon as we got out of the car we spotted one, a lovely male sitting on a large rock and ocassionally singing, what a great find. We also found Water Pipit, Black Redstart, Alpine Chough and a Raven.
At Astun Ski resort we stopped to watch a small flock of Citril Finches with Linnets and we saw Alpine Marmot. In the ski resort itself we sat down in the bright sunshine to eat our lunch ans as we did so we found Crag Martin, Dipper, Yellowhammer, Water Pipit and we saw some distant Chamois on the snow high up on the mountainside. Next we had unbelievable views of Lammergiere as a pair drifted down the valley towards us. The birds were 'play-fighting' all the time and locked talons on several occasions, they even tumbled down some 40 meters whilst locked in pseudo battle, what a great sight.
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| The Rock Thrush at Candanchu |
We spent the rest of the afternoon back down the valley on the plains of Aragon between Jaca and Berdun. We spent sometime looking for warbler in a small oak woodland on the Alastuey road, but we only found Bonelli's Warbler and several nice butterflies.
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| A Southern White Admiral |
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| Queen of Spain Fritillary |
On the Arres road we stopped where it opens out to arable fields and scrub on the other side of the road. There we found an Ortolan Bunting with Corn Buntings on the wires. There we also saw Cirl Bunting, Stonechat, Linnets and a lovely Hobby flew over us.
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| record shot of the Ortolan |
We finally spent our last hour at the the lovely riverside habitat of the Sotos de Martes reserve, it was still very warm but a nice breeze blew from the river, We searched for Penduline Tit but never found one. We did see lots of Bee-eaters, a Hoopoe, Golden Oriole, Short-toed Treecreeper, Garden Warbler, Common Nightingale and a Cuckoo put in a brief appearance. We also heard Cetti's Warbler and a Turtle Dove.
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| a nice orchid to finish off the day |
It was soon time to drive back to the hotel for last time, tomorrow we are heading off to the Picos de Eurpoa to complete the last 3 days of our tour.
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