A Day Around Barcelona (1 Viewer)

[TwoDipsfromAmsterdam]

I was recently in Barcelona for a few says of work but managed to squeeze best part of one day (9th October) birding the LLobregat Delta and the hills at Garraf. The weather was warm and sunny but quite a strong wind from the NE kept a lot of birds down.

Llobregat got off to a slow start with Cetti's Warbler and little else until heading towards the hides. Then Booted Eagle flew over and before reaching the first hide Common Waxbill appeared in some bullrushes. Once in the hide things started to warm up - Marsh Harriers, Great Egret (plus plenty of Little Egrets), Spoonbill, Gadwall, Shoveler and Cattle Egret, before an Osprey flew in just before a single White Stork. Waders were less than expected with only Green Sandpiper, Snipe and Lapwing. The only passerine of note was a single Pied Flycatcher.

Good to see a few local birders; they all seemed laden with Nikon D300s with equivalent lenses!

Garraf was a bit disappointing but the wind was even stronger and it was mid-afternoon before I got there. I did manage a single Black Wheatear amongst a few other more common species. No doubt April/May would be better here.

My thanks to Steve West at http://www.birdinginspain.com/ for advice on local travel.

 

[pandachris]

Llobregat and other Barcelona localities

We had a flying visit to nearby Las Filipinas with Stephen Christopher last month - it was raining and the reserve was closing but we still a few decent birds, with Bluethroat and Purple Swamphen the highlights.

We had our 2nd trip to the mouth of Riu Besos (easily reached by public transport from the city centre) on 26th September. As in 2007 we saw several migrants included probable Spectacled Warbler (last year it was a definite), plus Zitting Cisticola, Kingfisher, Little Egrets, Kentish Plovers and a couple of unidentified waders. We'd hoped to get a closer look at the other waders but a sudden surge of water about 2 feet high down the river flushed everything and we couldn't relocate.

We also tried to find a raptor watch point that Stephen had told us about, near Tibidabo. We spent some time looking for it, not easy without private transport and eventually found the location as we were heading back down. We did see a few overhead raptors in small numbers, with Hobby, Peregrine, Osprey and Booted Eagle all definite and possible Honey Buzzard and Short-toed Eagle. Also Crested Tit just below the church at Tibidabo.

I'll try to get a better fix on the watchpoint for future reference, but it was probably about 4 kms from the summit, near a Mirador (viewpoint) with a decent sized car park. Walking downhill from the Mirador there's a turn off to some sort of Pet Rescue organisation - from what Stephen told us, the watchpoint is down this track.

Montserrat was as is often the case nearly bird free with only Sardinian Warblers and Crag Martins of much interest to UK birders, although a Bonelli's Eagle seen from the Montserrat Aeri station as we were awaiting the return train was a definite bonus.

We'll give it a try again next September, all being well.

Hope this is of some use to anyone planning a visit to the city and fancying a birding break. Llobregat Delta, as described above by David is almost certainly easier to get to than Las Filipinas. We'll see if we can get there next time as we've never been.