Sunday, February 27, 2011

Redpoll


Nuthatch




A lovely bird in the sunshine today

Lambs

2 new lambs, a sign that spring is finally here at long last !

Willow Tits






The Pyranees

We have just had a short break birdwatching in the Pyranees. We travelled again with Altiplano Bird Tours, highly recommended and very reasonably priced. Our base was the Boletas Birdwatching Centre in northern Spain. We saw some excellent birds, 100 in total with 7 of those being new. Highlights were Dartford Warbler, Wallcreeper, the 1000's of Cranes and Lammergeier. The scenery was simply stunning especially in the high Pyranees. Here we sat at the ski resort with 1000's of weekend skiers and snowboarders. Alpine Chough and Alpine Accentors flew round us as we drank hot chocolates ! A lovely few days with excellent birds, some good food and wine and smashing company x

Dartford Warbler



Dartford Warbler




Karen's 'bird of the trip'

Golden Eagle


We saw a total of 7 of these whilst in the Pyranees, but they were always very distant

Water Pipit





Alpine Accentor



That was our 4th accentor species in 4 weeks!!

Alpine Accentor



3 of these at the ski resort in the high Pyranees. Fantastic little birds !

Cranes





Wallcreeper



Wallcreeper




Found 2 of these in the Pyranees foothills. Always so high up..........come down lower!

Team Altiplano

Team Altiplano on tour. A lovely holiday, some fantastic birds, excellent food and very good company!

The Pyranees



The Pyranees




The pyranees. Spain. Simply stunning ! Apre-ski drinks on the verandah while the chaps went in search of snow finch !

Great Bustards


Extremely distant views. Saw little bustard, pintained sandgrouse and black bellied sandgrouse all in the same area. The area being threatened due to irrigation and intense farming practices