Northern Spain

Just got back from an enjoyable holiday to Northern Spain. We sailed from Portsmouth to Bilbao, then had a week in Spain, including the Picos de Europa mountains, then back on the ferry to Britain. It was a great experience in more ways than one! The weather was pretty poor for most of the holiday, mainly overcast with occasional periods of rain, sometimes heavy. There was also a lot of snow on the ground above 3000 feet, and this more than the weather effected our plans, because it was impossible to walk very far. We did well for birds, with 101 species seen, and also flowers, with several species of orchid. Reptiles and amphibians were a little more difficult due to the weather, but even so we saw a nice selection.

The main bird species we saw were Bonelli's Warbler (1, a new bird for me), Alpine Accentor (1), Alpine Chough (30), Egyptian Vulture (2), Griffon (many), Short-toed Eagle (3), Rock Bunting (3), Rock Thrush (1), Wryneck (a few, including one singing in the open from the top of a tree), White Storks (many), Hen Harrier (3), Black Kite (many), Short-toed Treecreeper (a few) and Booted Eagle (3).

There were also many "English" birds which you wouldn't necessarily associate with Spain, including Dipper, Yellowhammer, Marsh Tit, Tree Pipit, Common Redstart and from the ferry two Cory's Shearwaters and three summer plumage Great Northern Divers.

Also from the ferrry we saw a few Common Dolphins, Striped Dolphins and Bottlenosed Dolphins, and most impressively, three Fin Whales.

Please note, the dates on each post relating to northern Spain are wrong. I have used them simply to get the posts in the order I require for the blog. The holiday was from 3rd May to 13th May.