SPANISH PYRENEES
... and Ebro River steppes
- 7 Days
- From June 10 to June 16, 2024
- SPANISH PYRENEES
- Tour Limit 7
- € 325 SINGLE SUP.
Some key species of this tour
Wallcreeper, Lammergeier, Alpine Accentor, Alpine Chough, Rufous-tailed Rock Thrush, Red-backed Shrike, Ring Ouzel, Citril Finch, Black Woodpecker, Short-toed Eagle, Honey Buzzard, Egyptian Vulture, European Bee-eater, Ortolan Bunting, Western Orphean Warbler, Eurasian Wryneck, Golden Oriol, European Hobby, Dupont's Lark, Lesser (Mediterranean) Short-toed Lark, Short-toed Lark, Calandra Lark, Pin-tailed Sandgrouse, Black-bellied Sandgrouse, Stone Curlew (Eurasian Thick-knee), Black-eared Wheatear, Little Owl...
The price includes
- Ground transport from Madrid airport in modern, fully seat-belted, air conditioned 9-seat vehicle
- 6 Nights accommodation with en suite bathroom, 4 nights in the Hecho Valley + 1 night near Ainsa + 1 night near Belchite
- All meals inc breakfast, fantastic “tapas-raciones” lunches and evening meals + red wine in a moderate consumption
- Services of professional birding guide
- Basic travel insurance
- Bird checklist
- All taxes
Price doesn’t include
- Air fare (Easyjet, Ryanair & other companies operate daily flights from several UK airports)
- Extra drinks and other items of a personal nature
A detailed itinerary of this tour
Day 1 / June 10: Madrid airport - Henares River * - Hecho Valley (Pyrenees)
Meet and welcome at Madrid airport after which we head to the nearby Henares river to stretch our legs and enjoy the first birding in Spain. Here we try to locate Eurasian Eagle Owl, Western Marsh Harrier, Eurasian Tree Sparrow, Red-billed Chough, Iberian Green Woodpecker and Eurasian Penduline Tit amongst others. After our lunch in a local restaurant en route we will drive straight to the Pyrenees, first crossing Zaragoza and the famous Ebro river and then Huesca, the most important town close to the mountains. We will arrive in the evening at our base in the Hecho Valley.
Dinner and accommodation at Hecho Valley.
* The visit to the Henares river might be replaced by a couple of hours birding in another location if the day is not too hot.
Day 2 / June 11: Hecho Valley - Gabardito - Selva de Oza forest
We start with an early morning walk in the surroundings of our hotel before breakfast, and then we will head to the famous and dramatic spot of Boca del Infierno where a Wallcreeper used to breed in the past, however an encounter with this winged treasure will be a pure luck. The spectacular ravines and deep gorges of this site will also provide us with the chance to see Egyptian Vulture, White-throated Dipper, Crag Martin, Grey Wagtail and Red-billed Chough. After the visit to the Boca we will drive up towards the well known Gabardito refuge, and in the surroundings we will look for Citril Finch, Marsh Tit, Black Woodpecker, Firecrest and Garden Warbler. From the refuge we will walk into another traditional and more likely place for nesting Wallcreepers, where we might also spot Red-billed and Alpine Choughs, Lammergeier, Black Redstart, Rock Bunting and Alpine Swift. After a morning full of excitment we will return to the Hecho Valley and then visit the Selva de Oza forest where Lammergeier, Black Woodpecker, Citril Finch and Yellowhammer are all present. Chances also exist for seeing Rufous-tailed Rock Thrush, Water Pipit, Northern Wheatear, Lammergeier and two of the most representative mammals of the region, Pyrenean Chamois and Alpine Marmot. Dinner and accommodation at Hecho Valley.
Day 3 / June 12: Hecho Valley - Roncal Valley - Rincon de Belagua - French border
Today we will concentrate in the most western of the valleys that we will explore on our trip, the Roncal Valley, where a very popular sheep’s milk cheese is made and where the last Brown Bears of the Pyrenees still survive in a very low number. In the mixed woodland areas of ancient firs and beeches of the Rincon de Belagua Natural Reserve still survive some of the rarest birds in the Spanish Pyrenees such as Boreal Owl, Capercaille and White-backed Woodpecker, all three very tough, rare, and hard to find species, so we will mostly concentrate to see some other more realiable targets such as Citril Finch, Eurasian Bullfinch, Alpine Accentor and Ring Ouzel... besides we will cross the border into France! In the nearby Zuriza Valley we might see Golden Eagle, Lammergeier, Eurasian Griffon and Egyptian Vultures, Short-toed Eagle and European Honey Buzzard. Dinner and accommodation in the Hecho Valley.
Day 4 / June 13: Hecho Valley - San Juan de la Peña - Alastuey Ravines
Driving further South today and in lower terrain we will dedicate time to explore the Scotch Pine forest of San Juan de la Peña. Our first stop in the morning will be near an old monastery excavated in the rock dating from the 10th century, where Black Woodpeckers have been nesting in the last few years. After this we will travel to the Mediterranean-like Alastuey ravines, where we may see amongst others Melodious, Western Subalpine and Sardinian Warblers, Western Bonelli’s Warbler, Ortolan Bunting plus Tawny Pipit... Dinner and accommodation at the Hecho Valley.
Day 5 / June 14: Hecho Valley - Escuain Gorge - Ainsa
Today we will travel into a different section of the Central Pyrenees still beloging to Aragon region. In the morning we will certainly do some birding on route, arriving to a good location to see Lammergeiers in flight. After a more relaxing afteroon we will arrive to our hotel near the medieval town of Ainsa. Dinner and accommodation near Ainsa.
Day 6 / June 15: Ainsa - Belchite steppes (Ebro River valley)
The program for our last full day of the tour will be fairly intensive since we will visit the Escuain Gorges in the morning, which usually provide some of the best looks of Lammergeiers (sometimes several individuals at the same time), to travel South in the afternoon to El Planerón Reserve near Belchite, where we will look for in the evening Stone Curlew (Eurasian Thick-knee), Black-eared Wheatear, Greater Short-toed, Lesser (Mediterranean) Short-toed, Calandra, Crested and Thekla Larks, Black-bellied and Pin-tailed Sandgrouse, plus of course the enigmatic Dupont’s Lark, although second half in June is not the best time to find it. Dinner and accommodation near Belchite.
Day 7 / June 16: Belchite - Madrid airport
Early start for some more local birding near Belchite trying to get the species that we had missed the previous evening and then start our journey back to Madrid airport where the tour ends in the evening.
This itinerary might change according weather conditions or at discretion of our guide