JUNE 16TH 2014 - PYRENEES & PICOS DE EUROPA - 9 DAY TOUR - DAY 4

THE ARAGON VALLEY WITH STOPS AT:  ALASTUEY ROAD - PUENTE DE REINE - ARRES LANE - MARTES BRIDGE - BERDUN

We spent a day down the valley out of the mountains because the weather looked better for us there, and it was, the wind had subsided quite a lot and we had sunshine for most of the day.

After reaching the Puente de Reine we turned towards Jaca and then onto a small lane leading to Alastuey where we pulled over to search an open scrub area for warblers. Our target bird  was the Western Bonelli's Warbler which was seen within a couple of minutes one sat singing from the canopy of a small tree. A Woodlark was a nice find and we heard a Common Cuckoo calling but other than a few raptors nothing else was seen. However there were many butterflies on the wing and the group showed a good interest in seeing them, lots of shutters were clicking away, we saw: Black-veined White, Wood White, Scarce Swallowtail, Ilex Hairstreak, Chestnut Heath, Dusky Heath and several others.


SCARCE SWALLOWTAIL



ILEX HAIRSTREAK

From there we drove a few hundred meters further along the road and stopped by a small stream, again we hoped for Orphean Warbler but never found one, a Subalpine Warbler was a nice find and more raptors circled above us, we saw Black Kite, Red Kite, Booted and Short-toed Eagles and lots of Griffon Vultures.

CHESTNUT HEATH

Driving back to the main road we turned back towards Puente de Reine and then followed a narrow track down to the river Aragón, we searched this area for WRYNECK and eventually we found two birds, the second one showed very well for most of the group. During our time there we saw Grey Heron, White Wagtail, Spotted Flycatcher, Garden Warbler, Blackcap and Golden Oriole.

Next we stopped at a picnic site on the small lane that leads to Arres, it was the butterflies that stole the show, hundreds of them were milling about, we added many new species to our list including; Silver Washed Fritillary, Knapweed Fritillary, Large Skipper, Safflower Skipper, Spanish Chalkhill Blue and Southern White Admiral.




LUNCH



SILVER WASHED FRITILLARY



Bird sightings during our lunch stop included Cirl Bunting, Serin, Subalpine Warbler, Golden Oriole, common and Nightingale and Cetti's Warbler (heard).

Further along the lane we made two more stops to scan open scrub along an escarpment and large arable fields full of wheat ready for harvest. Common Stonechats, Corn and Cirl Buntings were the common species but we did see Woodchat Shrike, Crested Lark and more butterflies.

CIRL BUNTING

DUSKY HEATH

We turned onto a dirt track that led us to the river near a village called Martes, we spent our last birding time there, first at the bridge and then  a little further west. At the bridge we found Rock Sparrow, House Martin, White Wagtail, Grey Wagtail and Common Nightingale. Then at the second stop we saw Great Spotted Woodpecker, Spotted Flycatcher, Golden Oriole and a Little Ringed Plover. A Southern White Admiral posed for the cameras, what a beauty.



SOUTHERN WHITE ADMIRAL

PAINTED LADY

SPOTTED FLYCATCHER

From there we drove to the village of Berdun where we sat in the late afternoon sunshine and had a coffee, cold drink or ice cream, a Booted Eagle circled over us as we sat there.

FRITILLARY sp.

The Journey back to the hotel was generally uneventful, the group on the second minibus stopped to look at a Marsh Harrier and we in the first bus stopped to look for Dipper at one of the bridges without success.

Dinner was a joyous affair with a lot of leg-pulling,  yours truly took a tumble earlier, much to the delight of some of the group. Pressure is mounting as time is running out for a good sighting of Lammergeier.