• Dates: February 8th to 12th, 2026
• Participants: 6
• Number of species seen: 134
• Tour leader: Carles Oliver

Day 1. After picking up all our guests from their accommodations around the Barcelona International Airport, we moved to our first stop, very close to the airport. Sunrise was coming, and with the very first lights a couple of Iberian Green Woodpecker produced nice views. The first Hoopoes of the day started moving in the area and along the next half an hour we got nice views on Zitting Cisticola, Sardinian Warbler, Great Tit, Eurasian Greenfinch, European Stonechat, European Serin and a very nice flock of Long-tailed Tits. Along with them, a Lesser Spotted Woodpecker was noted, and during the next couple of minutes I fought to put everyone on this bird. Not easy, since it was very restless. A large flock of Meadow Pipits appeared from alfalfa fields around us.

It was time to leave, but when leaving we were surprised by a Hooded Crow, a very scarce species with only a few pairs nesting around Barcelona that started to colonised the area only seven years ago.

From here, we drove directly to the Pyrenees, where we were committed to do a first stop in a large farming spot close to Lladurs. There, a large flock of White-winged Snow Finches had been settled for a couple of months.. We arrived and started scanning the fields. Small parties of Skylarks were moving around along with large flocks of Common Chaffinches, but no sign of the Snow Finches. Suddenly, a large flock of white-winged birds were seen at the other side of the fields. No doubt, they were our birds! They flew in a very compact flock and, as usual in this species, avoiding to mix with other species of Sparrow or Finches.

Soon, the flock moved our way and flew several times above our heads, providing wonderful views on this high mountain bird! In the wires of the area we also saw 17 Rock Sparrows, and a few Woodlarks were taking advantage of the sunny morning to sing their hearts out while the very first Griffon Vultures of the trip were noted circling around.

On the Snow Finches here, please note that this is species is normally seen in winter in mountain passes and at the top of a few, selected mountains. Never below 1000 meters, and never in farming areas. But this solid flock (at the end we counted 62 Snow Finches) was about 700 metres high in a farming area, and they stayed there for almost two months. It must be said that this situation it was coincident with a long episode of very bad weather in the top of the Pyrenees..

After enjoying one of the birds of trip we went to have a coffee and something to eat. Yes, we still have to had some breakfast.. After a nice coffee with a wonderful mountain landscape in front of us, we moved to explore one of this great mountain passes were high mountain birds normally hung around. But in the mountain pass the movement of small birds was minimal. After weeks and weeks of snowfall, the amount of snow was quite impressive, leaving very little room for the species feeding on the ground. Still, a couple of stops produced 2 Golden Eagles, and a few Eurasian Griffons. From here we moved to nice patch of boreal forest, where we got a very close Golden Eagle flying over the forest and enjoyed good views on Common Crossbills, Goldcrests, Crested Tits and Short-toed Treecreepers. It was already the afternoon, and small flocks of Mistle Thrushes and Fieldfares were moving up in the sky, probably moving to their overnight shelter.

It was late afternoon, but we still got a final stop before arriving to our accommodation. Here, we enjoyed good scope views on Woodlarks singing with the lovely evening light, and we also improved the views on Common Rock Sparrows. European Serin, Cirl & Corn Buntings, Yellowhammer and Red-billed Choughs were also seen, and we ended day with a lovely Iberian Grey Shrike before arriving to our lodge, have some rest and go for a great evening meal..

Day 2. A cold and cloudy morning high in the Pyrenees. Around our accommodations we got great views on Eurasian Siskins but also Nuthatches and Crested Tits. From here, we went for a short walk around our accommodation gave us a nice list, even if all the birds were distant. Here we got a couple of Fieldfares, 1 male Yellowhammer, Crested Tits, Greenfinches, Goldfinches and 3 Eurasian Bullfinches. Distant views on Iberian Green Woodpecker were also noted.

Inside Andorra we got excellent views on Dipper, plus a good number of Eurasian Griffons and a nice pair of Lammergeiers flying above the valley. They were distant but, still, a great first view on this iconic species. We also got 1 Golden Eagle and 1 unidentified large bird of prey, probably a Bonelli’s Eagle.

Back in Catalonia, we had a picnic stop next to a large cliff, with little movement there. From here we drove West, to explore a tiny village next to the cliffs, a wonderful location, always! En route, we got another adult Lammergeier despite the challenging weather. Once arrived to our final destination, a bit of sun was helped the birds of prey to move and we soon had 30+ Eurasian Griffon moving above our heads. Along with them, we got minimum 2 more Lammergeiers (1 adult + 1 3rd year). The walk around the village was very productive, and we got 2 Citril Finches flying around, 1 female Rock Bunting (scarce this year), a couple of Chiffchaffs, 1 distant Blue Rock Thrush, 6 Alpine Choughs flying around the church of the village and, as we were about to leave, we got a very distant Wallcreeper flying from one cliff to the next. We tried to relocate this Wallcreeper, but was impossible to relocate. From here we went to our accommodation in Lleida, right in the center of the plains..

Day 3. After enjoying a great buffet breakfast, we moved back to the Pyrenees. Just as we arrived, we had a Bonelli’s Eagle posing for us at the top of the cliff, in a majestic view that was to mark our morning. The morning was grey and cold, and we had a couple of light rain events during the next hour. Still, our eyes were fixed on the rocks, and even if Northern Shoveler, Firecrest and Eurasian Griffons were all noted, our mind was only in trying to find a Wallcreeper. Even more when another group of birdwatchers had a distant Wallcreeper very early in the morning.. But the morning was passing on, and we got nothing. Suddenly, a small flock of birds flew from the cliffs; 5 Alpine Accentors just crossed the gorge, stopping in a very distant outcrop. Even if far away, we got them in scope, popping in and out of the mountain range. This is the largest flock of Alpine Accentors that I have ever had at this particular spot. Definately a good sign. But, beyond this, nothing was moving in the cliffs.

After almost three hours of search, we decided to give up, and we were already moving back to the van when suddenly a Wallcreeper moved in the cliff, not far away from the group. The next 30 minutes were incredible. At first, we were able to move very close to the bird, allowing amazing views as the bird came low in the cliff. This allow us to see the bird catching a couple of preys while moving up and down in cliff. But later we got the Wallcreeper in the scope for over 20 minutes as it was standing still in the rocks. First preening, then eating a small prey, then slightly moving aside to go back to its original position. It went and went and went. We managed to show the bird in the scope to some local people that was walking around and the whole episode truly ended in walk-away views. It took us longer than expected but it was an every-minute-worth-experience. Unforgettable!

After such a great views, we went for celebration coffee that turned out in a light lunch at a local coffee shop. Some of the typical Catalan delicatessen enjoyed here included “croquetes”, “trinxat” and “botifarra amb seques”. Delicious.

From here, we went to check a nearby pond. We were glad to find 6 Common Pochards, a few Common Shelduck, Eurasian Teals, a couple of Gadwalls and a lovely male Ferruginous Duck that was the best bird of stop despite being very shy and despite the 50+ White Storks sitting next to the pond.

The afternoon was still young, so we drove a bit West to check a first Sandgrouse hotspot. There, we got first views on Calandra Larks as well as Red-billed Choughs and Jackdaws. It was windy, so it means gor for birds of prey. We were lucky, and Wayne found a majestic male Hen Harrier flying low over the fields right before John got a distant flock of 15+ Pin-tailed Sandgrouses moving away from us! We still had a little bit of time, enough to enjoy two close Golden Eagles (young and full adult) flying around our van and good views on Corn Bunting and Red-legged Partridge despite the wind.

The last stop of the day was devoted to a tiny valley with cliffs. Arrived right at sunset, we were listening the evening chorus when the extremely impressive and unforgettable call of an Eagle Owl came from somewhere in the slope right in from of us.. After a few seconds of scanning, we found a wonderful Eagle Owl standing up on one small rocky wall.. It called for a few minutes, allowing us amazing scope views and some shots right before flying away to hunt some rabbits in the nearby plains..

Day 4. Transfer West from Lleida, to explore the large plains in Central Aragon. During the transfer we enjoyed several Red Kites and Marsh Harriers and, once arrived to the proper spot, it didn’t take long to locate the first superb Great Bustard standing up in the low grass fields. Soon after, we had a nice flock of 9 individuals resting on a field. They were surprisingly close to the lane, and slowly but majestic, they marched away from us in the endless plains..

In flight, we got here a couple of Hen Harriers and a distant Merlin before moving South. After some miles of plains, the terrain became every time more and more broken, until we arrived to proper habitat for Black Wheatears. Again we did it very well, and enjoyed here 3 Black Wheatears including two males chasing each other, probably fighting for the territory. Along with them, we got a distant Golden Eagle circling, solid views on Thekla Larks, several Sardinian Warblers and a few Dartford Warblers that gave us proper but short views as they were moving inside a small, dense pine.

It was a cloudy day (as you can see in the image) and the weather forecast was pointing out a lot of wind in the afternoon and the next day. So, even if solid midday, we decided to go straight for Dupont’s Lark in one of the typical places, and we were lucky..

As arrived, we checked out one of my favourite spots. Mediterranean Short-toed Larks (formerly referred as Lesser Short-toed Larks) were all around, and very active. After a bit of drive and wait situation we found a first Dupont’s Lark feeding not far away from the path. It was picking the soil, running through the bush and sometimes watching us from behind a bush. We all got nice views, even if not the best. Happy after this first views we decided to check a second spot. The wind was starting to pick up, and we all knew that we didn’t have many time left to go. The second spot produced a couple of other fast views on Dupont’s Larks as we found a pair moving in the steppes along with Meadow Pipits and Thekla Larks. We still waited a bit more, but the weather was becoming very bad, with poor light and strong wind.

By the time we arrived to the accommodation the wind become very strong, and during the night there were peaks of 70 to 80 kilometers per hour..

Day 5. Very last day of the trip. It was a extremely windy this morning but we were still keen to improve our views on Sandgrouses. The last day, as we were arriving to Belchite, we saw 2 Black-bellied Sandgrouses resting in a field, that immediately went away. So, after having breakfast, we left the accommodation to go to that same spot. Soon, we found a minimum of 8 Black-bellied Sandgrouses feeding in a large resting field. Using the minibus as a protection against the wind, everybody enjoyed great scope views on the Sandgrouses, but always with half of our brain concentrated in our scopes not to be blown away by the wind.. Here we also got Merlin and a few Pin-tailed Sandgrouses moving around. Happy with the views, we decided to go on with our plan. Yes, the previous evening we all agreed to move to devote some time of this last day in famous Ebro Delta, a wonder of birdlife. But before we had to improve the views on Black-bellied Sandgrouses..

Once this was sorted out, we moved back to the main road. And then we found a paddle. A paddle in our way. A very, very muddy one (there were strong rains only a few days ago in that area) that put one of our wheels deep into the earth and made us work very hard to line our van back on movement.. Unfortunately, we lost almost half an hour in that paddle, but after a coffee and cleaning stop and some drive we arrived to Ebro Delta to enjoy some birding. At Ebro Delta was also windy, but not as windy as it was in the plains.

Here, we went straight to the location where a Sociable Plover had been reported. Here, with strong winds, we scanned the large paddy fields full of flocks of very mobile birds. We counted at least 70 Pied Avocets, tens and tens of Glossy Ibises and well above 100 European Golden Plovers and Northern Lapwings. In the distance, we counted at least 30 Ruffs, 4 Spotted Redshanks, Dunlins, 1 Common Ringed Plover, Green Sandpipers, Greenshanks, 5 Ruddy Turnstones and 1 Eurasian Curlew was seen in flight. Our scan took long, but we finally found the young Sociable Plover moving along with Lapwings and Golden Plovers. But the flocks were mobile the wind never played in our way.. Here, we had our picnic lunches and we left the area when a flock of 100+ Greater Flamingoes were moving around, making all the smaller birds move all over.. But before heading to the motorway, we still got time for a fast stop in the Northern bay of the delta, where Caspian Tern, Slender-billed Gull, Mediterranean Gull, Lesser Black-backed Gull and Great Crested Grebe were added to our list!

Please, note the images of Sociable Plover are from a couple of days later..

List of birds seen during the tour:

1. Red-legged Partridge (Alectoris rufa)
2. Common Pheasant (Phaisanus colchinus)
3. Common Shelduck (Tadorna tadorna)
4. Mallard (Anas platyrhynchos)
5. Eurasian Teal (Anas crecca)
6. Northern Shoveler (Spatula clypeata)
7. Gaswall (Marecca strepera)
8. Common Pochard (Aythya ferina)
9. Ferruginous Duck (Aythya nyroca)
10. Pin-tailed Sandgrouse (Pterocles alchata) – 20+ individuals
11. Black-bellied Sandgrouse (Pterocles orientalis) – 9 individuals
12. Feral Pigeon (Columba livia sp)
13. Common Woodpigeon (Columba palumbus)
14. Eurasian Collared Dove (Streptopelia decaocto)
15. Water Rail (Rallus aquaticus)
16. Eurasian Coot (Fulica atra)
17. Great Bustard (Otis tarda) – 13 individuals
18. Black-necked Grebe (Podiceps nigricolllis)
19. Great Crested Grebe (Podiceps cristatus)
20. Little Grebe (Tachybaptus ruficollis)
21. Greater Flamingo (Phoenicopterus ruber)
22. Pied Avocet (Recurvirostra avosetta)
23. Common Ringed Plover (Charadrius hiaticula)
24. European Golden Plover (Pluvialis apricaria)
25. Northern Lapwing (Vanellus vanellus)
26. Sociable Plover (Vanellus gregarius)
27. Dunlin (Calidris alpina)
28. Ruff (Calidris pugnax)
29. Eurasian Curlew (Numenius arquata)
30. Common Snipe (Gallinago gallinago)
31. Ruddy Turnstone (Arenaria interpres)
32. Common Redshank (Tringa totanus)
33. Spotted Redshank (Tringa erythropus)
34. Greenshank (Tringa nebularia)
35. Green Sandpiper (Tringa ochropus)
36. Common Sandpiper (Actitis hypoleuca)
37. Caspian Tern (Hydroprogne caspia)
38. Black-headed Gull (Chroicocephalus ridibundus)
39. Mediterranean Gull (Ichtyaetus melanocephalus)
40. Caspian Gull (Larus cachinnans)
41. Yellow-legged Gull (Larus michahellis)
42. Lesser Black-backed Gull (Larus fuscus)
43. White Stork (Ciconia ciconia)
44. Great Cormorant (Phalacrocorax carbo)
45. Glossy Ibis (Plegadis falcinellus)
46. Black-crowned Night Heron (Nycticorax nycticorax)
47. Little Egret (Egretta garzetta)
48. Western Cattle Egret (Ardea ibis)
49. Great White Egret (Ardea alba)
50. Grey Heron (Ardea cinerea)
51. Bonelli’s Eagle (Aquila fasciata)
52. Golden Eagle (Aquila chrysaetos)
53. Hen Harrier (Circus cyaneus)
54. Western Marsh Harrier (Circus aeruginosus)
55. Eurasian Sparrowhawk (Accipiter nisus)
56. Eurasian Goshawk (Accipiter gentilis)
57. Red Kite (Milvus milvus)
58. Common Buzzard (Buteo buteo)
59. Eurasian Griffon (Gyps fulvus)
60. Lammergeier – Bearded Vulture (Gypaetus barbatus) – 6 individuals
61. Little Owl (Athene noctua)
62. Eurasian Eagle Owl (Bubo bubo)
63. Tawny Owl (Strix aluco) – heard only
64. Eurasian Hoopoe (Upupa epops)
65. Lesser Spotted Woodpecker (Dryobates minor)
66. Iberian Green Woodpecker (Picus sharpei)
67. Common Kestrel (Falco tinnunculus)
68. Merlin (Falco columbarius)
69. Peregrine Falcon (Falco peregrinus)
70. Monk Parakeet (Myiopsitta monachus)
71. Rose-winged Parakeet (Psittacula krameri)
72. Mediterranean Short-toed Lark (Alaudala rufescens)
73. Eurasian Skylark (Alauda arvensis)
74. Crested Lark (Galerida cristata)
75. Thekla Lark (Galerida theklae)
76. Calandra Lark (Melanocorypha calandra)
77. Woodlark (Lullula arborea)
78. Dupont’s Lark (Chersophilus duponti) – 3+ individuals
79. Eurasian Crag Martin (Ptyonoprogne rupestris)
80. Meadow Pipit (Anthus pratensis)
81. White Wagtail (Motacilla alba)
82. Grey Wagtail (Motacilla cinerea)
83. Alpine Accentor (Prunella collaris) – 5 individuals
84. European Robin (Erithacus rubecula)
85. Black Redstart (Phoenicurus ochruros)
86. European Stonechat (Saxicola rubicola)
87. Black Wheatear (Oenanthe leucura)
88. Blue Rock Thrush (Monticola solitarius)
89. Song Thrush (Turdus philomelos)
90. Mistle Thrush (Turdus viscivorus)
91. Fieldfare (Turdus pilaris)
92. European Blackbird (Turdus merula)
93. Eurasian Blackcap (Sylvia atricapilla)
94. Sardinian Warbler (Curruca melanocephala)
95. Dartford Warbler (Curruca undata)
96. Zitting Cisticola (Cisticola juncidis)
97. Cetti’s Warbler (Cettia cetti) – heard only
98. Common Chiffchaff (Phylloscopus collybita)
99. Goldcrest (Regulus regulus)
100. Eurasian Wren (Troglodytes troglodytes)
101. Eurasian Blue Tit (Cyanistes caeruleus)
102. European Crested Tit (Lophophanes cristatus)
103. Great Tit (Parus major)
104. Coal Tit (Periparus ater)
105. Long-tailed Tit (Aegithalos caudatus)
106. Eurasian Nuthatch (Sitta europaea)
107. Wallcreeper (Tichodroma muraria)
108. Iberian Grey Shrike (Lanius meridionalis)
109. Eurasian Magpie (Pica pica)
110. Eurasian Jay (Garrulus glandarius)
111. Western Jackdaw (Coloeus monedula)
112. Carrion Crow (Corvus corone)
113. Hooded Crow (Corvus cornix)
114. Common Raven (Corvus corax)
115. Red-billed Chough (Pyrrhocorax pyrrhocorax)
116. Alpine Chough (Pyrrhocorax graculus)
117. European Starling (Sturnus vulgaris)
118. Spotless Starling (Sturnus unicolor)
119. Eurasian Tree Sparrow (Passer montanus)
120. House Sparrow (Passer domesticus)
121. Common Rock Sparrow (Petronia petronia)
122. White-winged Snow Finch (Montifringilla nivalis)
123. Common Chaffinch (Fringilla coelebs)
124. Brambling (Fringilla montifringilla)
125. European Serin (Serinus serinus)
126. Eurasian Greenfinch (Chloris chloris)
127. Eurasian Goldfinch (Carduelis carduelis)
128. Citril Finch (Carduelis citrinella)
129. Eurasian Siskin (Spinus spinus)
130. Linnet (Acanthis cannabina)
131. Common Crossbill (Loxia curvirostra)
132. Yellowhammer (Emberiza citrinella)
133. Rock Bunting (Emberiza cia)
134. Corn Bunting (Emberiza calandra)