Participants: John Barnes, David Ellis, Buckley Wyn Jones. Gareth Jones, Rhion Pritchard.

Day 1  11th September

We took the early morning Easyjet flight from Liverpool to Barcelona, where we collected our hire car, a Fiat Ulysse, from Europcar and set off for the Pyrenees. Red Kite and Black Kite were noted on the way, together with numerous Griffon Vultures.

On arriving in Jaca we checked in at the Hostal Paris. This is very centrally located, opposite the cathedral, and is clean and very good value for money. From the balcony, large numbers of Crag Martin and Barn Swallow could be watched going in and out of holes in the cathedral, with some actually on the hostal itself.

Jaca is a very pleasant town, with the cathedral and the citadel the main points of interest. There are plenty of restaurants; most days we took the 9 euro Menu del Dia at the Hotel Mur, just round the corner from the Hostal Paris.

Day 2 12th September

Since the main target species for the trip was Wallcreeper, we got up at 6:30 and headed for Gabardito, which seemed from recent trip reports to be the most likely site for this species. The instructions said to park by the Refugio, face it and take the path on the right hand side. We did so, but saw later that there were two car parks at the Refugio, one on the right just before reaching it (where we parked) and one by the Refugio building itself. However, the two paths join further up, so this did not matter.

The instructions then said to continue along the path until we came out of the trees with a cliff in front. We did so, picking up Whinchat and Pied and Spotted Flycatcher on the way, and as we arrived under the crag heard the distinctive call of a Wallcreeper. However half an hour of watching the cliff here produced no sign of movement, so we decided to move up a little. Just round the corner we were able to look back at a long narrow crack on the cliff face, and here Gareth saw a bird flying into the crack. We watched and waited, and in a few minutes John spotted it emerging from the crack and perching on the rock nearby - Wallcreeper, and probably a female judging by the white chin. After a few minutes the bird flew across the valley, a beautiful sight as the sun caught it, showing the red in the wings. 

Incidentally we later met Josele Sainz of Boletas leading a group at the Ebro Delta. Josele said that we had been lucky to see it at this site in September, and thought that the birds must have had a second brood.

We were now able to start thinking about other birds. A Goshawk flew over, and later a Short-toed Eagle showed well. Griffon Vultures were very numerous, with 120+ distantly visible in the air in the direction of the Anso valley. Alpine Chough were also present in force, with a flock of 120+ around the crags on the far side of the valley. We returned to the car park to look for Citril Finch, but although they could be heard calling I was the only one to actually get a view of a bird. A Lammergeier then flew over, a lifer for several of the group.

On the way down from Gabardito we saw several Red Kites, then on the road leading over into the Anso valley a dark-phase Booted Eagle was seen.  The Anso valley did not produce much however, and we returned to Jaca for a quick look at the park. The highlight here was a very tame Red Squirrel, with a Rock Sparrow heard but not seen at the Citadel.

Day 3 13th September

The first stop was the Mirador de Oroel, a few kilometres south of Jaca, to look for Black Woodpecker. As we headed up towards the Mirador two Wild Boar emerged from the undergrowth to cross the road in front of the car. Another interesting mammal sighting here was a Genet, which came walking up the track as we sat watching for the woodpecker, saw us when about 20 yards away, whirled round and fled.

Some powerful knocking at intervals indicated the presence of Black Woodpecker, but the only view was a glimpse of a probable in flight by John. Other birds were more obliging, and we recorded Great Spotted Woodpecker,  Crested Tit, Firecrest and Common Crossbill among other species.

We now headed up towards the ski resorts of Candachu and Astun. We had been hoping that the ski lifts would be operating here, enabling us to get up to higher ground for Alpine Accentor and particularly Snowfinch. However, we had found out at the hostal that the Astun ski lift had closed on 31st August, and the Candachu ski lifts turned out to be closed as well. It seems that if you want to use the ski lifts outside the ski season, you have to come in July or August. Both resorts were deserted apart from builders and maintenance workers preparing for the ski season. The first stop was at Astun, where Water Pipit and Black Redstart were common, and a juvenile Rock Thrush was seen. The highlight here was a view of three Lammergeiers in the air together, with one coming very close and giving superb views.

We then stopped at Candachu, where a mixed flock of birds at the top end of the resort included Goldfinch and Serin, with Northern Wheatear nearby and a Honey Buzzard over. Climbing up a little way we recorded another Lammergeier, a Lesser Kestrel as well as several Common Kestrels, a flock of 22 Citril Finches, several Bonelli's Warblers and a Ring Ouzel. Two Chamois provided good telescope views a little higher up the slopes, and Marmot were present in good numbers.

Day 4   14th September

We headed south today, in the direction of Riglos. The first stop was at the Embalse de la Pena, just where the river widens into the reservoir as described in Crozier. A few water birds were in evidence, such as Mallard, Grey Heron and Yellow-legged Gull, and crossing a footbridge over the river produced reasonable numbers of birds in the scrub on the far side. Female-type Pied Flycatchers and Chaffinches were the most numerous, but we also picked up Spectacled Warbler, Common Redstart and Wood Lark.

We then moved on towards Riglos, where the strangely shaped rock formations were worth a visit in themselves. We parked at a large layby on the left when approaching the village, but then found that there were other, closer car parks - just continue until you come to a sign that says, in effect, that only resident's cars are allowed to go further, and park in the car park on the right. The village itself held large numbers of Spotless Starling. We took the path by the church to the foot of the cliffs and scanned for Black Wheatear, but failed to find any. We did have good views of Dartford Warbler however, along with Blue Rock Thrush.

The next stop was Aguero, where there was a similar rock formation. It was now mid day and getting rather hot, with bird activity correspondingly reduced, though we did get one more Dartford Warbler and the inevitable Griffons.

Next on the list was the new monastery of San Juan de la Pena. The monastery itself is still under reconstruction and covered in scaffolding, but there were quite a few people around. We walked through the woods to the edge of the cliff, but the only birds recorded were Griffons and one Goshawk. On the way back to Jaca we stopped by the Hotel Aragon and recorded Booted and Short-toed Eagle in the air together, along with a Red Kite.

Day 5 15th September.

We started the day by returning to Oroel in the hope of catching up with Black Woodpecker. The woods were considerably quieter this morning compared with our previous visits, but after a while Dafydd and Buckley had a brief flight view of a probable flying between the trees. Shortly afterwards I had a similar view, but that was the best we were going to get, with nobody quite being 100% certain about it.

We then headed up the valley towards Portalet and the French border. Immediately by the frontier, a flock of around 20 Yellowhammers were an unexpected sight, with Black Redstart again common around the buildings. A Fox appeared near the back of a restaurant, and a walk along a track starting near the border check point produced three Sky Larks. The track 200m further down as described by Crozier appeared to have been buried by extensive road works, and a new road was being built near the border, leading upwards to what was presumably going to be a new ski resort. This could turn out to be useful in years to come for the high altitude species. We then put in a bit of time around the shops here, which had some good stuff at very competitive prices.

On the way back down, we saw a ringtail Harrier from the car; probably Hen Harrier but the bird had vanished by the time we could stop for a better look.

Day 6  16th September

We made an early start for the trip south-west to the Ebro Delta, with the intention of having a quick look at the area around Candasnos and Ballobar, as described in Crozier (23a). Travelling north from Candasnos in the direction of Ontinena, we soon saw good numbers of Stone Curlew, including one flock of 22. Red-legged Partridge was also common, and there were lots of larks. However every lark that we managed to pin down turned out to be Crested, though no doubt other species would have turned up had we been able to devote more time to the area. A Tawny Pipit gave good views, as did a Great Grey Shrike after turning off towards Ballobar, but we found no Sandgrouse - Pin-tailed Sandgrouse remains one of my bogey birds. It was in any case time to head for Deltebre, though a lunch stop on the way next to an irrigation canal added Cetti's Warbler to the trip list, and a flock of 20+ White Storks had been attracted to one field.

On arrival at Deltrebre, we quickly found the Hotel Rull where we had booked accommodation, as Deltebre has particularly good signposting. Having checked in at the hotel, we called at the nearby visitor centre for a free map of the area then headed for the nearest pool, El Garxal. There appeared to have been quite a bit of rain here recently, as there was a pool of water a foot or so deep in front of the hide. Wading through it proved well worthwhile, with an impressive flock of Greater Flamingoes, two Purple Gallinules,  Kingfisher, lots of Black Terns with one Caspian Tern, good numbers of duck, with Red Crested Pochard particularly numerous and a variety of waders including large numbers of Spotted Redshank and Black-tailed Godwit, with Black-winged Stilt, Ruff and Common Snipe among other species present. Great White Egrtes were also in good numbers, and gulls in the nearby fields included Slender-billed as well as the more numerous Yellow-legged and Black-headed. We took the Menu del Dia at the Hotel, again a good bargain at 9 euros, though we also noted a good selection of restaurants at Riumar.

Day 7 17th September

We crossed the Ebro on the ferry and headed for l'Encanyissada, the largest of the pools around the Ebro delta area.  A good number of birds were visible in the rice fields on the way, with Egrets much in evidence and Black and Whiskered Terns common and Gull-billed Tern also seen. Temminck' Stint was probably the most common wader in the fields, with good numbers seen. At l'Encanyissada there were again large numbers of ducks and waders, the latter including Kentish Plover, Little Stint, Common, Green and Wood Sandpipers, Ruff and Avocet. More Purple Gallinules were seen, and Reed Warbler was added to the trip list, but the most remarkable sight was a flock of 900+ Greater Flamingoes, including many young birds. Marsh Harriers were so common that we were soon no longer bothering to call them.  Fan-tailed Warblers were also numerous, though we had only one sighting of Bearded Tit. We then birded la Tancada which held similar species, with Tree Sparrow being added to the trip list.

One species we had not encountered so far was Audouin's Gull, so we drove on towards the beach at Platja dels Eucaliptus, where we quickly found a very obliging specimen, which came to bread and gave excellent photo opportunities. Four adult Mediterranean Gulls alongside were nearly as decorative.

Day 8  18th September

The first stop today was the northern part of the Ebro delta area, starting at the les Olles pool, where there were again good numbers of birds. A few new species were added to the trip list, notably Purple and Squacco Heron, which we were rather surprised not to have seen previously,  although Grey Herons were very numerous. The explanation was probably the height of the vegetation; birds would be easier to see in spring. A Spanish Sparrow was picked out in a flock of House Sparrows, and one of the highlights was an excellent close-range view of an Osprey. We then moved east along the edge of the Port del Fangar, and added several waders which we had not seen before, including Bar-tailed Godwit, Whimbrel and Turnstone.

We now headed towards Barcelona, arriving there in early afternoon. As the flight did not leave until evening, we intended to bird the Llobregat area near the airport. We found a road leading down to the beach then parallel to the beach past the golf course as described in "Where to watch birds in Northern an d Eastern Spain", but on arrival at the car park at the end found that there was no access to this part of the reserve from here. The day before, a news item in El Pais had said that work to move the river channel in the Llobregat area had just been completed, and that this would open up a larger area for "development". It seems that visitors to this area need to check what the current situation is on the ground. We did not have the time to do this, so the trip ended on a note of anticlimax as we decided to head back to the airport, eventually arriving back at Liverpool airport around 11:30 p.m..

There were a few gaps in the bird list, some species obviously having already departed, notably the swifts. We recorded no bunting species, and only a single shrike. A visit in May would no doubt have produced a longer species list. However, the main aim of the trip was to see Wallcreeper, and as we did see it, we returned home well satisfied.

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