Catalonia Jan/Feb 2016

23rd February 2016

As we have family in Barcelona we holiday regularly in the area and have grown extremely fond of this diverse region which contains a number of terrific birding sites. A winter trip is a bit of a misnomer as the temperatures throughout our stay were probably warmer than a normal Skye summer. Over the three week period I managed to record 159 species which included both Swallow and House Martin, as well as a wintering Dusky Warbler, all indicative of the warm weather. The list total was considerably bolstered by a 4 day trip with Steve West of www.birdinginspain.com which found 118 species including Citril Finch, Wallcreeper, Bluethroat, Moustached Warbler, Lammergeir, Black Vulture, both species of Sandgrouse and both species of Bustard. Thanks Steve for all your efforts. Though we were close to Dupont's Lark and heard them singing they failed to show so thats for another visit. Trips to the Ebre Delta, Aguamolls and the local reserve Llogrebat at Barcelona helped swell the list. There are several websites but the most useful for keeping you up to date locally is www.ornitho.cat and this helped me find two stunning Snowfinches well south of their normal winter range, just 45 minutes north of Barcelona. This proved a lifer and one of the highlights of the trip. In contrast, but equally memorable were the 1000+ Cattle Egrets in morning sun at the dump in Lleida. There are a number of images in the Overseas Gallery.

Bob

THE BOOK

"A glorious little gem"

AMAZON

"A book such as this has to look backwards and the author does so succinctly, looking at the work of several of the pioneering naturalists before picking out the publications of JA Harvie-Brown and the Rev. Hugh Macpherson. I know this book fills a real gap in the information available for the Isle of Skye and it will surely sell well at local bookshops."

Andrew Currie Miscellany West Highland Free Press

"A total of 238 species have been recorded, with 14 of those 'red listed' as of high conservation concern ... another innovation has been the inclusion of Gaelic names for some birds. While this is not uncommon in a few other books, the addition of some regional Gaelic names is very unusual and very welcome."

Ray Collier Country Diary 'Up in the Skye' The Guardian

"Illustrated with beautiful photographs of current birdlife on the island, the publication also features sketches by Jean Thomas of The Little Gallery, Portnalong, stimulating the reader's interest further and allowing them to identify species they encounter on Skye."

The Hebridean