Summary
This was a tour thwarted by Spanish “manana syndrome” and road-works! Firstly we had our minibus cancelled at the last minute and had to make do with two smaller vehicles, then one of the main roads leading through the Pyrenees across to France was closed (ruining our best chance for finding Citril Finch) and lastly the chair-lifts which were due to be opened on 1st July (the whole reason for us going at this time) were closed until 18th July.
Nevertheless, we still managed to have a great tour, the birds, butterflies and fantastic scenery made up for the hitches.
Day 1 - Saturday 27th June. Madrid to Hecho.
The group assembled in two of the Terminal buildings at Madrid Airport around lunchtime and we managed to meet up very quickly and after loading up the vehicles we set off on our way, the weather was bright, sunny and hot. The two vehicles managed to separate just after leaving the airport and drove two thirds of the way 20 minutes apart! We made frequent refreshment stops and caught up with one another just south of Huesca and continued the journey in convoy. Journey-birds included White Stork, frequently seen on their platform nests, Common Buzzard, Black Kite, Red Kite, Marsh Harrier, Spotless Starling, Common Kestrel, Wood Pigeon, Booted Eagle and the ubiquitous Griffon Vulture. As we approached the Pyrenean foothills we could see the snow-capped peaks in the distance, vultures became a more frequent sight along with Common Swift, Crested Lark and Corn Bunting. During the final approaches to the Hecho Valley there were more and more Black and Red Kites in the air.
After a long but comfortable journey we arrived at our Hotel, found deep in the Hecho valley, at the base of the high Pyrenees. There was just enough time for an evening stroll before dinner so after a short settling in period we set off for a garden walk. Blackcaps and Garden Warblers sang from deep in the thickets, a male Red-backed Shrike showed well and a pair of Cirl Buntings were seen by a couple of the group. After dinner we sat outside to complete our bird list, a Tawny Owl called as we made our way to bed.
Day 2 - Sunday 28th June. Gabardito and Hecho Valley.
Refreshed and raring to go we had a brief watch from the car park of the hotel before walking down to the river to look for Dipper. In the garden we saw Blackcap, a pair of Red-backed Shrikes, Blue, Great and Coal Tits, then a family party of Crested-Tits delighted the group with their soft churring calls and ‘punk’
Hair-do’s.
At the river we found several Serins feeding in the grassy banks, a family party of White Wagtails sat on a barn roof and a couple of Jays flew for cover. From the bridge most of us saw the Dipper and we all saw Grey Wagtail on the rocks. As we set off for the return journey a pair of Black Redstarts sat obligingly in a small bush, it was time for breakfast, so we made a quick return to the hotel noting several Griffon Vultures drifting high above the mountain tops.
We set off after breakfast to the nearby Refugio at Gabardito making frequent stops along the 6km winding road, some were unscheduled stops because we were following a huge flock of sheep that were being driven up to the alpine meadows. We added Chaffinch, Blackbird, Robin, Song Thrush, Mistle Thrush and Wren to our day list and found many butterflies including Queen of Spain Fritillary, Knapweed Fritillary, Spanish Gatekeeper, Spanish Marbled White, Brimstone, Large Skipper and Meadow Brown. We parked at the top car park and took a trail through a forest of mixed beech and pine that led the way to the well known Wallcreeper nest-site. We heard the distant yaffle of a Green Woodpecker, we located a Great Spotted Woodpecker but there was no sight-nor-sound of the Black Woodpecker along the way. We found more Jays, Robins, Chaffinches and we heard many Red-billed Choughs, at one of the alpine meadows we stopped to watch many butterflies and had good views of Black-veined White.
After 30 minutes we arrived at the base of a shear cliff face towering a couple of hundred feet above us to our right. This was the site of our most wanted species, the Wallcreeper, before we had even settled down to watch the cliff face a Wallcreeper appeared high above us! We quickly moved higher along the track to gain a better perspective of the area and soon we were all delighted with in-the-scope views of a male, it fed, fluttered and flicked its way high along the cliff face until it disappeared from sight around the cliff-edge. Well that was excellent! Soon the bird reappeared and entertained us for a while, then a long absence was ended with a show of two birds, they eventually flew right across the valley over our heads and settled on a distant rock face. In the meantime Crag Martin, Alpine Chough, Red-billed Chough, Raven, Common Kestrel and a small flock of 7 Alpine Swifts entertained us.
On the return journey we heard another Green Woodpecker and a Common Chiffchaff singing from the top of a pine and we saw another Great-spotted Woodpecker.
We ate our picnic lunch at the refugio in bright sunshine before setting off down the hillside to take the valley road up into the mountains. As it was a Sunday the valley was fairly busy with walkers and many Spanish families taking picnic outings so the lower reaches of the river was devoid of the usual Dipper and Common Sandpipers. We drove through a steep-sided gorge and out into the open valley rising high above the river which was to our left where we spent the next three hours watching a number of birds and many butterflies.
One stop was extremely productive as a small dot in the sky emerged over the hillside to our right. As it got closer we could see the long tail and characteristic wing shape that identified it as a Lammergeier, this bird drifted across the far hillside and disappeared a mile or so ahead of us. We decided to drive to the spot where we waited, sure enough the bird re-appeared carrying some food, (probably a bone), We had good close views of this adult bird as it drifted in and out of a mixed flock of Griffon and Egyptian Vultures. There were still small patches of snow on the mountainside and on one such patch we found a Chamois sitting, keeping cool on the snow!
During the next few hours we walked along the valley up towards the French border noting many butterflies, Alpine Ringlet, Pale Clouded Yellow, Silver-spotted Skipper, Gavernie Blue, Cleopatra and several interesting plants.
We reached a point where we were high above the river and far below us we noted Grey Wagtails, Dipper, and Common Sandpipers amongst the rocks and on the scrubland Northern Wheatear, Linnet, Red-backed Shrike and several Egyptian Vultures drifted below us. Dinner was eaten at 8 pm and a tired group went to bed early, full of anticipation and excitement at the prospect of exploring the fantastic surroundings of the high Pyrenees during the next few days.
Day 3 - Monday 29th June, Hecho-Anso-Roncal-Refugio.
The optional early morning walk began at 6:30am and after spending some time in the garden we ventured along the lane towards Hecho village. We had good views of the Red-backed Shrikes, Cirl Bunting, Carrion Crows, Jay, Blue and Great Tit. Several Blackcaps gave their melodic rendition from the road-side bushes and we caught up with our target bird the Rock Bunting as it sang from a bush above the tunnel. A Dipper was spotted in the river far below us, it was performing its characteristic feeding method of plunging underwater to search for food.
Soon after breakfast we set off for the Anso valley which is another North-South gulley that lies parallel to the Hecho valley. The through road that connects Hecho to the Anso valley is covered with pine forest and we stopped at a mirador to search for raptors. However, only one raptor appeared, a pale morph Booted Eagle and very nice too. We spent a while photographing butterflies before setting off to continue our journey. Passing through the village of Anso we headed for the camp-site at Zuirta where we stopped to admire the scenery and to look for alpine birds. We only found Mistle Thrush, Red-backed Shrike, Black Redstart and many butterflies. Our next stop found us in a wide flat bottomed valley that stretched east-west between the Anso and Roncal valleys. We looked and listened for Black Woodpecker but only found Carrion Crow, Common Buzzard, Garden Warbler, Raven, White Wagtails and plenty of Red-backed Shrikes.
Driving up through the Roncal valley we got as far as Belagua beech woods and found that the road was closed, no prior warnings, just closed until the weekend! Plan B. Very disappointed we drove back to Zurita and took the track to the Refugio at Linza. We stopped a couple of kilometers before reaching the Refugio and had our picnic lunch, no birds to report, but plenty of butterflies.
As we stepped from the vehicles at Linza we spotted a Lammergeier drifting above the mountainside behind us, not a bad start perhaps it was going to be good after-all. From the car park the valley opened out in front of us, a large mature beech wood stretched away to our right along the valley floor and ahead of us lay gently rising grass meadows that stretched well into the distance. We decided to take the pathway up through the meadow stopping to watch Mistle Thrush, Crag Martin, many Griffon Vultures and Yellowhammers.
After an hour or so we decided to turn to our right and head down to valley bottom and search the beech woods. Just as we set off a call of “Quail” went up, well I couldn’t believe it, we were up above the tree-line and a “wet my lips” call was coming from the grass. We headed towards the sound and before long at least 7 Common Quails alighted in groups of twos and threes, what a turn up and a very good sighting, most of the group had never seen a Quail let alone seven!
We found lots of butterflies along the way down especially near a small stream where several species of blue butterflies were taking up minerals from the wet soil and a group of a dozen or so Silver Spotted Skippers were grouped together on the mud.
In the woods it was very quiet, it was after-all, late afternoon, we heard a Eurasian Nuthatch and not much else. We were all tired and thirsty so we had a beer whilst watching a Black Redstart and just as we were climbing back into the vans we saw another Lammergeier, perhaps the same one as before, just saying goodbye. Our last stop was at the end of the track that led north from the camp-site at Zurita, it ended in a square car park adjacent to a large sheep and a babbling brook. Along the stream we found Pyrenean Iris and a couple of species of Orchids. Several Griffon Vultures sat on the high cliffs hundreds of feet above us and a few sightings of Chough were had and that was it. We took a slow drive home and arrived with plenty of time for a relaxing beer before dinner.
Day 4 - Tuesday, 30th June, Puente de Riena -Rio Aragon-Santa Cilia-Alastuey – Arrez – Berdun – Foz de Binies
There was no pre-breakfast walk today because we intended to have a late night looking for owls, so after breakfast we travelled southward down the Hecho valley heading for the river Aragon and noting many Black and Red Kites from the vans along the way. Our first stop was a wooded area near a camp-site on the main road to Jaca. The day was rapidly warming up, we parked the vehicles in the shade and walked along a grassy track, there were many butterflies already on the wing. Our first bird was singing (if you can call it a song) Bonelli’s Warbler, in fact, we could hear four or five ‘singing’, they showed well as they flitted through the thick scrub. Next, a very shabby, Firecrest appeared, feeding very close to us and as we rounded a corner we could see a small puddle of water in the track attended by a few birds. A flurry of activity produced Nightingale, Spotted Flycatcher and a party of bathing Garden Warblers and as we sheltered under a tree we watched a fine aerobatic performance from a Red Kite and a Short-toed Eagle. We noted our first Scarce Swallowtail and logged Banded Grayling, Spanish Gatekeeper, Silver-washed Fritillary, Marsh Fritillary, Spanish Marbled White, Meadow Brown and several other species.
We stopped next at a bridge over a small stream where we took a short walk along a track that led to open fields of cereal crops. In the scrub around the bridge and along a stream we found both Corn and Cirl Buntings, Chiffchaff, Great Spotted Woodpecker and Garden Warbler. As the track opened out we heard a Quail calling very close to the hedge but it did not show, we logged our first Woodchat Shrike and one of the group watched a Melodious Warbler from behind us. We spent some time taking photographs of dragonflies and butterflies at the stream before heading off for our lunchtime destination, Santa Cilia.
Just over the bridge at Santa Cilia we pulled over to listen to a Nightingale in full song, a Blackcap then joined in as we left. We parked at the side of the road near the river Aragon and walked a short way along a track to find shelter where we could eat lunch. After our picnic we set off along the track towards the river, the temperature was very high so we took shelter again and watched a large open space for bird activity. A male Cirl Bunting showed briefly, then we had several sightings of Golden Orioles, as they made their way across the open area to a hedgerow where we watched them collecting caterpillars. A brief walk near the river produced Little-ringed Plover, Common Sandpiper, Grey and White Wagtails. The sky above always held Griffon Vultures, Red and Black Kites and the occasional Common Buzzard.
We made the short trip to the airfield at Santa Cilia, stopping along the way to admire a couple of Bee-eaters, at the airfield heat-haze made viewing difficult but we managed to find Skylark, Northern Wheatear, Crested Lark and more Corn Buntings.
The road and tracks that run parallel to the river that lead from Puente Riena to Berdun was our next destination, however a very large thunderstorm was brewing and large drops of rain began to fall as we watched from the lane. We saw more Shrikes, Stonechats, Cirl Buntings and we heard more Quail. We reached the bridge just below Berdun and spent sometime watching from there. A Kingfisher was seen by some of the group and Sand Martin, Common Sandpiper and a Yellow-legged Gull was seen by all of us.
A cold beer was taken at a roadside restaurant near Berdun before we pushed on to our last stop for the day, the pretty gorge at Foz de Binies. At the gorge we found many Griffon Vultures and lots more butterflies but failed to see our target bird the Blue Rock Thrush.
We arrived back at the hotel somewhat earlier than before in order to take an early dinner and then set off back out for our owl adventure. So, at 9pm we set off for Santa Cilia making a short visit to the airfield, we had better views of Skylark and Northern Wheatear, but did not see a Tawny Pipit as we had hoped. As it drew dark we set off to position ourselves at the owl site arriving just after 10pm. Within minutes a huge bird flew right over the top of us catching us by surprise by approaching from behind. It was a magnificent Eagle Owl, it flew over and landed on a ridge, silhouetted against a reddening sky. What a sight, what could follow that? A Common Nightjar began churring and before long it flew around us for a short while before disappearing into the darkness, lastly we heard the call of the Scops Owl calling from behind us. The owl moved about but failed to show, well what an exciting 30 minutes, we set off back to the hotel happy with our owl prowl.
Day 5 - Wednesday July 1st - Jaca, Astun, Candanchu – France – Foret D’Issaux, Pierre de St. Martin
Our first stop today was in the centre of Jaca some 50 kilometers from the hotel, we parked next to the Citadel and walked across the grassy embankment to view the battlements. Many Common Swifts were wheeling about the castle walls and several flocks of sparrows were feeding on or near a feeding trough found in the dry moat. Soon we located our two target birds and both showed very well. First a Tree Sparrow chirped from high up on the stone wall and then a Rock Sparrow sat conveniently just in front of us, posing for the cameras, it had the brightest yellow throat-patch I had ever seen.
Back to bus, we noted Spotless Starling, Serin and Red Kite as we were leaving. We headed for the French border at Somport, near Candanchu. But our next stop was the ski resort at Astun, now deserted and bereft of snow we had the place to ourselves, we parked on the approached road and scanned the ski slopes and wooded hillside either side of this very picturesque valley. Both Red-billed and Alpine Chough called from on high and drifted passed in some groups. A Water Pipit gave us good close views as it perched on nearby rocks and we found Northern Wheatear, Black Redstart and one of our target birds, a male Rock Thrush. On the wooded side of the valley we noted Yellowhammer, Coal Tit, a small party of Red Crossbills and we all had excellent views of Alpine Marmot.
We drove into the hotel complex at Astun and took a track that climbed out of the village towards the ski lifts, which were closed! We found more Water Pipits, Black Redstarts, Crag Martins and lots of flowering Orchids. An Alpine Marmot had wandered down the track below us, looking quite lost, the group admired this furry beast and remarked on the size of it, comparing it to a Badger!
Candandchu is another alpine village somewhat larger than Astun, but still the chair lifts were closed and we had no access to the high peaks (other than a four hour trek). So we sat in the valley and ate our lunch whilst contemplating our next move. We were entertained by Northern Wheatear and Black Redstarts during lunch.
Our decision was to drive into France for the remainder of the day and try our luck at Pierre de la St. Martin, another alpine village, but usually a very good place for Citril Finch. We spent the next hour winding our way down into France, turning off after 20 kilometres onto smaller lanes passing through lush green wooded valleys and quaint villages, a complete contrast to the tree-less peaks of Spain. We stopped at the Foret D’Issaux to look and listen for woodpeckers, notably the Black and White-backed varieties, but it was very quiet and all we saw was a Robin.
The road climbed steeply out of the valley and gradually narrowed to a single track lane, but it was very quiet with very little oncoming traffic, rain began to fall in light showers. We arrived at St. Martin about 3pm, this was usually a ghost town but there was lots of maintenance work being carried out, not a good sign. We didn’t have much time for birding, about 2 hours. Parking the vehicles at the top of the village we climbed the barren ski slopes and searched the small clumps of fir trees for the elusive finch. We found Mistle Thrush, Coal Tit, Black Redstart and we heard Citril Finch calling as they flew over in small groups and flitted in the trees. However, none of the group had a satisfactory sighting, a bit disappointing as we had travelled a fair distance for this bird. On the distant ridges we saw Water Pipit and a couple of Ring Ouzels showed very briefly. Then the rain started causing a retreat to the vans. We drove a little higher approaching the border again and stopped for our last walk, we had passed through the rain and some clear sky approached. We had great views of Alpine Chough feeding on the grassy slopes, a few brightly coloured Linnets fed on the roadside verges but no sign of the finches. The road was closed at the border crossing, for repairs so we had to make a 100km detour back the way we had come, it took 2 hours to drive back and we arrived at our hotel, somewhat fatigued, at 7pm.
Day 6 – Thursday July 2nd – The monasteries at San Juan de la Pena, Riglos and the Embalse de Sotonegro.
Refreshed after a good night’s sleep we set off down the valley to the main road at Puente de Reina and then turned south towards San Juan de la Pena. Our first stop was at the lower of two monasteries, the whole building was built into the side of a tremendously steep rock face that rose some 100 meters above us. There were no birds to see but the building was spectacular.
Returning to the road we drove to the top of the escarpment and visited the ‘new’ monastery that was built on a large open plateau surrounded by woodland. We parked in the wood and walked a trail for an hour or so. Birds of note were Eurasian Nuthatch, Coal Tit, Crested Tit, Gt. Spotted Woodpecker, and Blackcap, but there was no sight nor sound of the elusive Black Woodpecker. Many butterflies were on show and the group were particularly impressed with the Southern White Admiral, Black Veined White, Silver Washed Fritillary, Long-tailed Blue and hundreds of Marbled Whites.
We drove further south to Riglos along the Rio Gallego, stopping a couple of times and finding Bee-eater, Booted Eagle, we heard Reed and Great Reed Warbler, again there were a lot butterflies to watch. We took our lunch overlooking the lovely and scenic village of Aguero. A fleeting view of a Sardinian Warbler was had by some of the group, many Griffon Vultures drifted effortlessly over the peaks above the village and a brief glimpse of what was thought to be a Golden Eagle was noted by one or two.
The large embalse (reservoir) at Sotonegro was our next destination which took 20 minutes to reach from Aguero. We saw several White Storks attending their young at the nests along the way and we stopped a couple of times to look for harriers over the large fields of cereal. At the reservoir we parked in several spots and walked amongst the scrub along the shore, along the approach track we saw several Tawny Pipits, a couple of Short-toed Larks, lots of Crested Larks and a Northern Wheatear. At the water’s edge there were small groups of waders, a singing Great Reed Warbler and a showy Nightingale. The waders included Ringed and Little Ringed Plovers, Greenshank, Common and Green Sandpipers. Another stop produced a fledging Orphean Warbler that had damage to its wing and tail, its distressed calls were answered by the parent birds. Next we saw a superb male Montagu’s Harrier, it was high and a long way off but a little later it was relocated much nearer and a lot lower. Our last stop produced good views of Hoopoe, Purple Heron, a brief view of Little Egret, also Moorhen, Mallard, Grey Heron and Coot.
The return journey provided some excitement with views of Calandra Lark, close views of a family of White Storks at the nest and a superb male Marsh Harrier that was seen to knock a lark out of the sky and then dive onto it to finish the job.
Our last stop was at Riglos village itself, firstly we ate a well deserved ice-cream before climbing the steep path to the church at the top of the village. From the church we had good views of the scrub they lay on the slopes beneath the gigantic pillars of ‘pudding stone’. The only bird of note was a Black Redstart which was visiting its nest in a log pile, we had Egyptian Vultures, Red-billed Chough and Raven overhead. It was late Afternoon and still really hot so we set off back to the hotel for a rest before dinner, arriving back around 6:30pm.
Day 7 – Friday July 3rd - Valley de Anso – Refugio de Linza.
Our last full day and we decided not to travel too far so we drove up through Anso and on to Zurita and then to Refugio de Linza. We planned a long walk along the valley bottom walking through the beech wood hoping for some finches and woodpeckers. We started off with Robins and Chaffinches, then a pair of Bullfinches darted through the trees and a Eurasian Nuthatch called. We heard a Green Woodpecker a couple of times before it showed and the same happened with a Great Spotted Woodpecker. After about an hour the valley came to an abrupt ending with steep sided slopes ahead and to both sides of us, so we scoped the surrounding mountainside from the valley bottom. All the birds we saw were distant but we noted, Rock Thrush, Blackcap, Choughs, Rock Bunting, Dunnock, Stonechat, Red-backed Shrike and a possible Ortolan Bunting. One area in particular looked promising so we decided to climb the slope to our left. Big mistake, it looked a fairly gentle climb but proved to be a real killer and only by strength and perseverance did we make it to the top after taking many breathing stops!
From the top we had magnificent panoramic views of the surrounding area and closer views of the all the birds mentioned above and as a reward for our efforts a Golden Eagle came over the ridge as we descended. The eagle was mobbed by a large flock of choughs and it landed on the edge of the ridge in partial view. We all had good, in-the-scope-views, before it hopped down the ridge and out of sight. Well that cheered everyone up and we enjoyed lunch back at the refugio with a cold beer having noted Mistle Thrush, Quail (calling) and Black Redstart.
We spent the rest of the afternoon along the head of the Anso valley up above the camp-site at Zurita, we stopped at several places looking for Blue-rock Thrush, but had no luck and eventually we found ourselves back at the hotel, very tired and ready for a well deserved dinner.
Day 8 – Drive back to Madrid.
We had to make an early start back to Madrid in order for some of the group to check in by 11am. The return journey provided a couple of extra birds for the list either seen from the motorway or during one of the stops. We added Cattle Egret just after Zaragoza as a flock of 11 flew across the road ahead of us, not many of the group saw them because they were asleep. We saw a Red-legged Partridge during one coffee stop and several other species were seen that were already on the list.
At the airport the group divided, 5 of them checked-in for their flight home and the remaining 3 of us had a couple of hours to spare so we went birding! We arrived some 30 minutes later at El Pardo on the northern outskirts of Madrid, this is a large parkland area and surprisingly good for birds. We ate our lunch in one of the car parks whilst watching a Great Spotted Woodpecker and several squawking Monk Parakeets. We then spent an hour or so walking along a stream noting Blackcaps, Bee-eaters, Nightingale, Blue and Great Tits. Above us there were many Griffon Vultures and they were joined by several Black Vultures, Black Kites, Booted Eagles and a Short-toed Eagle. We then had a couple of fleeting glimpses of Azure-winged Magpie, Woodchat Shrike and many Pallid Swifts.
Well our time was soon up, we set off back to the airport, making a wrong turn found us in central Madrid where we enjoyed the sights and traffic of a busy capital city, we arrived back at the airport still in good time for our flights.
Great Crested Grebe
Cattle Egret
Little Egret
Grey Heron
White Stork
Mallard
Lammergeier
Egyptian Vulture
Eurasian Griffon Vulture
Black Vulture
Red Kite
Black Kite
Booted Eagle
Short-toed Snake-Eagle
Golden Eagle
Common Buzzard
Western Marsh Harrier
Montagu's Harrier
Peregrine Falcon
Eurasian Kestrel
Lesser Kestrel
Red-legged Partridge
Common Quail
Common Moorhen
Common Coot
Little Ringed Plover
Common Ringed Plover
Common Sandpiper
Green Sandpiper
Common Greenshank
Yellow-legged Gull
Feral Pigeon
Common Wood-Pigeon
Eurasian Collared-Dove
European Turtle-Dove
Eurasian Scops-Owl
Eurasian Eagle Owl
Tawny Owl
Little Owl
Eurasian Nightjar
Common Swift
Pallid Swift
Alpine Swift
European Bee-eater
Common Hoopoe
Great Spotted Woodpecker
Green Woodpecker
Calandra Lark
Skylark
Crested Lark
Greater Short-toed Lark
Eurasian Crag-Martin
Barn Swallow
Northern House-Martin
Sand Martin
Tawny Pipit
Water Pipit
White Wagtail
Grey Wagtail
Dipper
Wren
Dunnock
European Robin
Common Nightingale
Black Redstart
Common Stonechat
Northern Wheatear
Rufous-tailed Rock-Thrush
Ring Ouzel
Common Blackbird
Mistle Thrush
Song Thrush
Cetti's Warbler
Great Reed-Warbler
Eurasian Reed-Warbler
Melodious Warbler
Orphean Warbler
Garden Warbler
Blackcap
Common Whitethroat
Sardinian Warbler
Subalpine Warbler
Western Bonelli's Warbler
Common Chiffchaff
Firecrest
Spotted Flycatcher
Long-tailed Tit
Coal Tit
Crested Tit
European Blue Tit
Great Tit
Eurasian Nuthatch
Wallcreeper
Red-backed Shrike
Woodchat Shrike
Southern Grey Shrike
Eurasian Jay
Eurasian Magpie
Azure-winged Magpie
Red-billed Chough
Alpine Chough
Eurasian Jackdaw
Carrion Crow
Common or Northern Raven
Eurasian Golden-Oriole
Spotless Starling
House Sparrow
Eurasian Tree-Sparrow
Rock Sparrow
Chaffinch
European Serin
Citril Finch
European Goldfinch
European Greenfinch
Eurasian Linnet
Rock Bunting
Cirl Bunting
Yellowhammer
Corn Bunting
BUTTERFLIES
Southern White Admiral
Swallowtail
Scarce swallowtail
Small Tortoiseshell
Painted Lady
Red Admiral
Peacock
Dark Green Fritillary
Silver Washed Fritillary
Glanville Fritillary
Queen of Spain Fritillary
Marbled Fritillary
Knapweed Fritillary
Pearl-bordered Fritillary
High Brown Fritillary
Heath Fritillary
Brimstone
Cleopatra
Large White
Southern Small White
Black-veined White
Marbled White
Western Marbled White
Esper’s Marbled White
Southern Grayling
Banded Grayling
Mountain Ringlet
Meadow Brown
Spanish Gatekeeper
Southern Gatekeeper
Small Heath
Speckled Wood
Wall Brown
Ilex Hairstreak
Small Copper
Long-tailed Blue
Short-tailed Blue
Holly Blue
Mazarine Blue
Little Blue
Black-eyed Blue
Brown argus
Gavernie Blue
Adonis Blue
Common Blue
Large Grizzled Skipper
Dingy Skipper
Small Skipper
Large Skipper
Silver Spotted Skipper
MAMMALS
Mountain Hare
Brown Hare
Fox
Rabbit
Red Deer
Alpine Marmot
Chamois