Birding in Spain

At the back end of February we went to Spain for a few days with some friends. We stayed in San Lorenzo de el Escorial, not far from Madrid, and I took every opportunity I could to have a wander around the lovely town and surrounding countryside to see what I could see. 

Most of the birds I encountered were ones I see at home — Great Tits, Magpies, Chaffinches, the ubiquitous Feral Pigeons and a fair few House Sparrows in the town itself. 

Buzzards and Red Kites were seen overhead; so far, so Cotswolds but there were some continental specialities to be found. In the town itself I encountered a Serin in a tree; a rarity in Britain but a resident species in Spain. Have I ever seen one before? I’m not sure. In the square by the monastery were lots of White Wagtails — very similar to our Pied Wagtails which are in fact a subspecies which predominates in Britain and Ireland!

For me, though, the highlight was a flock of… well, the were lovely-looking birds with black caps and light blue wings and tails, but what are they exactly?

My ever-reliable copy of the Collins Bird Guide (second edition), which I always take with me on trips to Europe, says that these beautiful and evidently highly sociable birds are Azure-Winged Magpies, which breed only on the Iberian Peninsular (ie. Spain and Portugal) and, err, in the Far East. Odd? Yes. However, recent research into bird genetics has shown that the ones in Spain and Portugal are in fact a different species that just happens to look exactly the same as the Oriental ones. So the ones I saw were in fact Iberian Magpies. A lifer for me — and definitely the ornithological highlight of my trip to Spain! 

2024 highlights

Looking back on the year, as you do at this time, several birding highlights stand out for me.

First, by some distance, was a trip to Wales in May, during which I went on a boat trip out of Tenby, going around Caldey Island. Just off Caldey is St Margaret’s Island, which is home to a large seabird colony. There were Cormorants, there were Guillemots, there were Razorbills, there were Kittiwakes — but best of all, there were Puffins. It wasn’t the first time I’d done that boat trip, but it was the first time I have ever seen Puffins, and that made the whole thing worthwhile. They had abandoned the island a few years ago thanks to a rat infestation (as they nest in burrows atop cliffs, Puffins are very vulnerable to this), but they have returned although they’re now using rock fissures which precludes this particular colony (only a handful of breeding pairs) from expanding. Puffins have been on my birding wish-list for a while, so getting to see them was incredibly gratifying. 

I’ve been to Suffolk a couple of times this year. While there in March, I went to Minsmere (one of the finest RSPB reserves in the country) and had a wonderful time. No Bitterns, alas, but in one of the hides a volunteer pointed out a rare sighting indeed — Lesser Scaup. Had I not had the benefit of his wisdom, doubtless I would have logged it was a funny-looking Tufted Duck! Only afterwards did it occur to me that I should have asked how he knew it was that and not a regular Scaup (which is still rare but at least it has its own page in the RSPB Handbook of British Birds (fifth edition), unlike the Lesser Scaup which is listed in tye ‘Rarities’ section at the back.

In September I was back in Suffolk, staying at Southwold. While there, I went for a few bike rides, exploring some of the local churches as well as birding. The highlight in terms of the latter was a Yellow Wagtail in the fields between Southwold (the town) and Southwold Harbour, and six Spoonbills on the Blyth Estuary (specifically, seen from the bird hide a short walk out of Blythburgh; said hide contained an abandoned Swallow’s nest, interestingly enough). 

Closer to home, the bird walks at Brent Reservoir with my local RSPB group yielded some good sightings. The reservoir itself was drained earlier this year, and as a result we saw Water Rail and Snipe from the hide, as well as a the head of a Tawney Owl poking out from a tree-hollow and a Peregrine perched atop a nearby block of flats. I would like to do these walls more often, if my diary allows!

In Barcelona in a sweltering July, I visited the amazing Sagrada Familia, an amazing building which, from a purely birding perspective, is home to Crag Martins which nest in the towers! Also in Barcelona were many Monk Parakeets, which (unlike the Ring-necked Parakeets we get here in London) are originally from South America. 

And then, in October, there was Canada, of which the birding highlight had to be the Hawk Watch in Toronto’s High Park.

An enjoyable birding year! I look forward to seeing what 2025 brings.