'Kid in a Sweetshop'- Birding the Pyrenees (Part II- Birds, Beasts and Norovirus)

Having visited the Spanish side of things, we headed on from our stint in Jaca (a stage fininsh in the Vuelta for those interested!) to the Col du Portalet. I am infantile in the extreme and therefore referred to it as the Col du Portaloo but the birding was anything but crap! Upon arrival we were greeted by the sight and sound of a singing male Rock Thrush, the flypast of a Golden Eagle and this...

...the Alpine Marmot, a staple of mountainous regions in Europe. They're big flightless mammals that live in holes and graze the Pyrenean meadows found on the slopes of the peaks. These are some of the richest grasslands i've ever seen, fueled by a mix of intense rain and the overbearing southern European sun. They're the best habitats I can think of for butterflies and other insects, so let's kick things off with a Blue (Silver Studded?)...

...and this butterfly, not a clue as to what he is but he's a right pretty individual...!

...but some dog took a shine to us and every time I went for a landed butterfly the creature put it. So we left the Col du Portalet and took off up to the Haute Pyrenees. A stop at the Col du Aspin en-route to Argeles-Gazost yielded Red-Billed Chough...

...and the road down the rarer and shyer Alpine Chough...

...as we arrived it soon became clear that the cultivated landscape around Argeles wasn't going to be quite the hunting ground Jaca was. Still, as we headed up the Col du Tourmalet ahead of the Tour (yes I did the world-famous col with a 400mm lens!) I spotted some lovely butterflies, including this Frit...

...the eyes have it! But we also have a new national hero in a certain Mr Wiggins, and we had the privilege of seeing him in the flesh (and lycra)...

...next day the plan was to return to Tourmalet to look for Snowfinch, but a dodgy rattly car and some thick cloud cover stopped anything coming of that. So here's one from last August (same location)...



...so we went through to St Lart-Soulan, a place I know well. Sure enough, a walk up to a hanging valley yielded Whinchat...

...and a rather elusive family of Red Back Shrikes, the only RBS that's still welcome in the UK...!

...and some stunningly tame Corn Buntings. Pity about the light...

...and this, erm, creature. Look, I thought it was a butterfly but checking the antennae they're not bobbled and that's the fattest butterfly i've ever seen...!



...alas although I had another day in this stunning area I contracted a viral infection and spent a day (and the journey home!) glued to the toilet, to put it delicately. Not pleasant. Still, the holiday was ace, with a Tour win, new species, some stunning insects and the food wasn't too bad either! I love the pyrenees and hope to make it three times in three years in this stunning landscape. Perhaps i'll try to bait for vultures. Or try harder for stuff like Chough. I don't know. But what I do know is whatever I do it'd be time well spent. However, i've just come back from a music festival and am absolutely knackered and probably smell faintly of sweat and urine, so that's over and out for now!

'Kid in a Sweetshop'- Birding the Pyrenees (Part I- Jaca Ass)

Well let me really rub it in, after Shetland I stayed home for a week watching Father Ted and occasionally editing some photos when I felt like it. However, after a week of this I set off once more on my jollies, this time south to the far flung (and slightly exotic) destination of Portsmouth. From here I boarded the Cap Finestre, the ferry bound for Bilbao in northern Spain. It was with the intention of watching the Tour de France we set out that day from Portsmouth, but with a couple of days before and after we had some time to burn and in such a wonderful location the prospect of doing some light birding suited me down to the ground. We've visited the Pyrenees as a family before so knew some reasonable sites and had high hopes that, going in July rather than August, the birding'd be even better than last time. We broke the trip down into going to a certain number of places, covered in this post are:

- Argomaniz
- Jaca
- Riglos/Aguero

...but going somewhere by boat brings with it opportunities, such as those to watch the Common Dolphin in the bow-wave...!

... and 24hrs after leaving Portsmouth we docked in Bilbao, 5pm local time. We had designs to get to Argomaniz near Pamplona before nightfall for some kip before pressing onto the mountains. After some tricky navigation out of Bilbao we settled down for the night, adding Serin, Cirl Bunting, Goldfinch, Linnet and Melodious Warbler to the mix. However, I concentrated mainly on the Black Redstarts, a Pyrenean speciality and a bird not to be missed in its stunning full plumage. This is the male...

...The Serin waited for the next morning, but didn't resist for long as it sat at pretty much head height on a wall by the road...

...but Argomaniz was but a staging post in our stratospheric journey to one of my favourite places on earth, up there with Shetland, Manchester and Anfield. We arrived in Jaca, a smallish town in a valley on the Spanish side of the range. Our afternoon's targets were a Lesser Spot of Lunch and Rock Sparrow. With the first negotiated with little trouble, we set off to pursue these elusive but very attractive sparrows. They live on Jaca Citadel, and eventually we found them. As expected they proved elusive so we left them to have some tea, returning the next morning. On a tour (or 'Vuelta') of the town we found Bee-eater (a lifer!) and this egg-laying Small Skipper...

...VERY co-operative insect, my best shots of one to date. However, with the shadows lengthening and my eyelids dropping into my peripheral vision I called it a day. Or a Dia, I guess.

An early start and as the sun rose we were in position in the crisp morning air near the citadel. Having watched their activities yesterday I had a battle-plan: wait for them to leave their nests, fly across the moat then hit em at close range over the wall. This worked. Broadly speaking...!

...and that yellow throat that marks them out...

...so not a bad start. We then headed towards the twin-towns of Aguero (not Sergio, thank God!) and Riglos, home of the 'Mallos' (or fingers to the likes of you or I). En-route we stopped for lunch, and I got my first ever acceptable Black Kite shots as it came low through the valley...

...whilst we ate the Crag Martins whirred overhead, I tried to capture a feed as the adults attended to some young in a tunnel...

...if nothing else that 50D can't half deal with noise! That was at ISO 1600 for those interested. As we came in towards Riglos we couldn't help but admire the Mallos, what a structure...!

...in the shrubs at the bottom I found my first lifer of the trip, a Sub-Alpine Warbler. Not a great shot, but crappy light and I was still excited having seen it...!

...and found a lovely Black Redstart nest...

...but aside some very interesting vulture nests, we found little at the towns of the Mallos. Still, that was not a day to be sniffed at and as we meandered back through the scorching Spanish countryside we reflected that, on the whole, it wasn't such a bad life.

Shetland 2012- Day V: Hear no Evil, Speak no Evil, See F*** All

Well I woke up on my last day up north, looked out the window and went back to bed? Why? Because it looked like someone had shoved cotton wool up against the glass. I couldn't see a foot in front of me, which doesn't bode well for trying to see birds. Despite this, at 8:00am with no sign of the weather improving we consumed some oatcakes and went out into the fog. It cleared a little, and I could make out some Oystercatchers by the roadside, a young'n with its parent...

...I was pleased with the shot actually, especially as it was the first one I took before 11am! Still, the fog started to lift and along with my spirits. We headed south to Sumburgh Head, an RSPB reserve. Its a sea cliff, but (in my opinion) not in the same league as Hermaness. I shouldn't knock it though, its a good reserve, here's a newly fledged sparrow on a rock...

...but through the clearing fog I spotted what I really wanted to see, an Arctic Skua and only the second one of the trip...

...If Bonxies are thugs, then Arctic Skuas are assassins, they're just more refined-looking birds. Still, as I panned after this killer I heard a wren below me. Close in. So I looked down, and literally about 2 foot from me a Shetland Wren sat, singing away. I took some shots, it gave me a once-over and then retreated....

..but at this point I somehow lost my mind. I'd signed a pact with myself; I had loads of Puffin shots from my stint up on Hermaness, I didn't need any more from Sumburgh. What I certainly didn't need was a load more editing. What I should've done was look to find the Skua again. But then one landed in front of me and preened. It was about three metres away. Any thoughts of Skuas flew away as quickly as the bird itself. I became a Puffin-mad photographical machine once more...

...and then one with fish came, so I could get The Shot. Y'know? The one on the cards at Smiths...?

...and out the burrow...

...and a happy-flappy bird...

...but, as ever, all good things must come to an end and it was through this logic that I found myself in the departure lounge at Sumburgh airport. It'd been a great trip, with only one new bird for me in Red Necked Phalarope but a host of new species in front of the lens. I was thoroughly pleased with my 5 day stint, so it was with teary eyes I boarded the Loganair flight to Aberdeen. Goodbye Shetland, I can't wait to return!

However, I cannot just leave this hanging. I'd like to thank Jason Atkinson for his help planning this trip, without his knowledge i'd never've visited Hermaness, Fetlar or Burravoe. More help also came from Dougie Preston, so thanks for help with the Black Guillies even if they didn't play fair in the end!