Trip Reports

The Pyrenees, Zaragoza & Picos de Europa JUNE 2012

A great tour with a great ‘team’ of birders, everyone contributed and everyone found something for the 
list. This was the first attempt by WINGSPAN to combine these 3 contrasting and unique habitats, it 
really worked well. We amassed an incredible sightings list of 170 species and heard Common Quail
so we actually recorded 171. 
If I listed all the great sightings this summary would go on for ages but here are just a few of the 
goodies: Snow Finch, Alpine Accentor, Lammergeire, Wallcreeper, Citril Finch, Black 
Woodpecker, Ring Ouzel, Water Pipit, Wryneck, Pin-tailed Sandgrouse, Black Bellied Sandgrouse, 
Great Spotted Cuckoo & Golden Eagle. A mouth-watering list indeed! 
The varying landscapes, the majestic limestone peaks, the colours of the plains, the lush green 
alpine meadows were absolutely fantastic and a wonderful sight to behold. We had superb weather 
for 90% of the time, clear blue sky, very little wind and it rained on only one day. As well as birds we 
also watched many butterflies, wild flowers, lizards and mammals.