Skylarks galore, plus vultures and (un) Common rock thrush!

Day trip 24th May 2021 – Skylarks, vultures and rock thrush!

Guide of the day: Karline Martorell accompanied by Philippa Benson
Participants: 4
Weather conditions: crazy weather: no wind and very cold in the morning, getting hotter in the late morning to finish in the afternoon very windy and cold, temps ranging from 12°C to 24°C+

Highlights of the day: Little bustard, Skylark (posing), Tawny pipit, Eleonora’s falcon, Montagu’s harrier, Bee-eater, Common rock thrush, Black vulture and Red fox.

What an amazing day! It started off well with a fabulous chorus of Skylark – some even posing nicely on bushes! And from there on the day just got better and better… Close views of Little bustard in flight, 10 minutes watching a healthy vixen and 2 cubs, then Montagu’s harrier, Eleonora’s falcon (dark morph), a lovely pair of Ocellated lizards, Tawny pipit perched very close. In the afternoon we managed to add Bee-eater, a group of Griffon vulture, good views of the not so Common rock thrush and the finale of the day was being buzzed by a Black vulture, which flew directly over, not much more than 10m above our heads.

Just click on the link below to read or download the detailed trip report and bird list.

 

Trip report and bird list 2021.24.05 Lézignan-Saint-André de Roquelongue

 

Birding day trip to the Minervois in spring

Day trip 21st May 2021 – Swifts and swallows galore!

Guide of the day: Karline Martorell accompanied by Philippa Benson
Participants: 6
Weather conditions: Cloudy with sunny intervals and a light wind, temps ranging from 10°C to 20°C

Highlights of the day: Alpine swift, Red-rumped swallow, Crag martin, Blue rock thrush, Woodchat shrike, Golden oriole eating cherries. Another highlight was having our coffee break actually at a café!!!

The aim of the day was to see nesting species of hirundines and swifts and see them we did! Common swift, Alpine swift, Crag martin, House martin, Red-rumped swallow, Barn swallow all in good numbers swirling around our heads. The Crag martins were particularly cooperative, swooping around below us over the dry river bed and settling on a buttress just below us as we looked down from the bridge.

The muggy weather was a challenge, as was the misinformation about the car park and the café opening late.. but we struggled on and had a good day despite the challenges.

Just click on the link below to read or download the detailed trip report and bird list.

 

Trip report and bird list 2021.21.05 Minervois spring

 

Birding day trip around Portiragnes

Day trip 12th May 2021 – A real bonanza of birds with good views of top species!

Guide of the day: Karline Martorell accompanied by Philippa Benson
Participants: 6
Weather conditions: Clear windless weather all day, temps ranging from 11°C to 19°C+

Highlights of the day: Little bustard, Collared pratincole, Great reed warbler and Reed warbler (both heard and seen), Purple swamphen (out in the open again!),  Black-winged stilt (good close views), Caspian tern, Purple heron, Lesser kestrel…

Starting with superb views of a displaying male Little bustard in full view, the day just got better and better!
With interesting birds in every direction and new ones appearing every couple of minutes – the excitement was exhilarating. We topped our list at a more than respectable 75 species and had a really good day – and I suspect everyone slept well!

Just click on the link below to read or download the detailed trip report and bird list.

 

Trip report and bird list 2021.12.05 Portiragnes

 

Day trip birding around Gruissan

Day trip 5th May 2021 – A real pot of gold at the end of the rainbow!

Guide of the day: Karline Martorell accompanied by Philippa Benson
Participants: 8
Weather conditions: Sunshine, clouds and rainbows – with a strong westerly wind. Temps from a chilly 8° to a very warm 20°+
Highlights of the day: White stork, Spoonbill, Purple swamphen (out in the open!), Woodchat shrike (male and female perched next to each other), Slender billed gull, Little tern and the feldegg subspecies of Yellow wagtail.

We are so spoilt to have such a wide diversity of habitats in such a small area! And the rainbow as we set out for the day was an excellent sign of things to come 🙂 Great species with some really excellent views in good light conditions and all in stunning landscapes with a large dose of sunshine – what more could one want!

Just click on the link below to read or download the detailed trip report and bird list.

 

Trip report and bird list 2021.05.05 Gruissan

 

Spring migration around Leucate

Private day trip 23rd March 2021 – Migration and other birding around Leucate

Guide of the day: Karline Martorell accompanied by Philippa Benson
Participants: Delia, Richard and Sam
Weather conditions: sunny with moderate wind(perfect for migration) dropping from mid-day, temps ranging from 8°C to 18°C+
Highlights of the day: Penduline tit, Short-toed eagle and general migration (Sparrowhawk 30+, Alpine swift, a few Common crane…)

The aim of the day was to see some active migration, so when Richard said at the end of the morning, I hope it calms down a bit now, I knew we’d achieved our goal!

Sparrowhawk were coming through thick and fast, with several Osprey overhead and a few Black kite not quite so close. A few Common crane passed overhead and Cormorant were heading through in large groups (we saw one of 80+ birds). We were lucky to see 3 or 4 Penduline tits on a migratory stop over, including a couple that showed nicely, sitting out in the sunshine feeding on the seed heads. Excellent views!
We picnicked in style, in warm sunshine, at the Leucate vismig spot, looking south to the Pyrenees, hoping to see some more migration, but the birds were having a break too…

In the afternoon, we headed inland where we picked up a couple of Short-toed eagle (recently arrived summer residents) one of which posed for us at the top of a pine tree in the valley below, a clear but distant view after seeing them circle directly above us.

Another great day’s birding!

Just click on the link below to read or download the detailed trip report and bird list.

 

Trip report and bird list 2021.03.23 Leucate

P.S. Vismig at Leucate: Med Migration logs records and the indefatigable Gabi Caucal writes a daily humorous report (in English) on Trektellen. 

Total counts for 23/02/21 included a group of over 800 White stork (which we somehow managed to miss!), over 1,000 Cormorant, nearly 150 Sparrowhawk, and very nearly 17,000 (yes, seventeen thousand!) Chaffinch. It was a very good day for vismig – but there is plenty more to come!

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