Picos De Europa Trip Report
(23/6/2005 – 26/6/2005)
Peter Jones
Introduction:
This was a weekend trip to take advantage of a cheap flight offer from Ryanair. target species were Alpine Accentor and Snowfinch neither of which I have seen before despite a week in the Pyrenees. I also hoped to record some Bats not present in the UK, and Chamois.
Click here for Photo gallery from Picos De Europa
General information:
Flight: A cheap flight from Standsted to Santander worked out fine. Cheap and no delays.
Car Hire: A small car from Europcar at Santander was used for the 4 days.
Accommodation: I didn't book in advance as this was outside the peak holiday season, and there appeared to be several hotels and hostels in the Potes, Espinama, and Fuente De area. The very picturesque and quaint village of Espinama seemed to be in ideal surroundings, and I easily found a reasonable room (20Euros per night) for the duration.
English was not readily spoken in this little village so a dictionary was useful to at least attempt to speak to the locals in their language!
Highlights
The weather was extremely hot when I arrived in Spain, and early highlights around San Vicente and en route to Espinama were mainly butterflies. A particularly good area of waste ground near Potes held good numbers of Cleopatra, plus Long Tailed Blue, Scarce Swallowtail, and a Spotted Fritillary. The area around San Vicente was quite difficult to explore on a short stop, but I did see a small group of Spoonbills.
The next two days were spent high in the alpine regions around the top of the Fuente De cable car. As would be expected, the number of species was fairly low, but I did get excellent views of Alpine Accentor, Snowfinch and Alpine Chough. I also had a good view of 2 Wallcreepers thanks to a tip off from another birder. Whilst staking out the Wallcreeper area, I was fortunate to turn around just in time to see a small family of Chamois crossing a distant cliff top. Excellent, although distant, views of these shy animals were had before they disappeared over a ridge.
A surprising number of butterflies were present at this high altitude, and I did see Small Tortoiseshell, Painted Lady, Clouded Yellow, and what I believe to be Piedmont Ringlet (?) in large numbers. Plus a Hummingbird Hawkmoth.
The lower altitude was accompanied by poor weather, and birds were fairly thin on the ground. I did manage a few typical species for the area in Red Backed Shrike, Serin, Crag Martin and Black Redstart.
The evenings I searched for Bats although only for an hour or so each night. I did see Leisler's, Schreiber's and Noctule, plus a likely Natterer's Bat.
Systematic List
Picos De Europa
| Egyptian Vulture (Neophron percnopterus) | 1 |
| House Martin (Delichon urbica) | 1 |
| White-throated Dipper (Cinclus cinclus) | 1 |
| Alpine Accentor (Prunella collaris) | 2 |
| Wallcreeper (Tichodroma muraria) | 2 |
| Common Raven (Corvus corax) | 1 |
| White-winged Snowfinch (Montifringilla nivalis) | 3 |
| Eurasian Griffon-vulture (Gyps fulvus) | 4 |
| Booted Eagle (Hieraaetus pennatus) | 1 |
| Peregrine Falcon (Falco peregrinus) | 2 |
| Tawny Owl (Strix aluco) | 1 |
| Eurasian Crag-martin (Hirundo rupestris) | 2 |
| Water Pipit (Anthus spinoletta) | 6 |
| Grey Wagtail (Motacilla cinerea) | 1 |
| Alpine Accentor (Prunella collaris) | 2 |
| Black Redstart (Phoenicurus ochruros) | 2 |
| Blackcap (Sylvia atricapilla) | 1 |
| Great Tit (Parus major) | 1 |
| Red-backed Shrike (Lanius collurio) | 1 |
| Eurasian Jay (Garrulus glandarius) | 1 |
| Red-billed Chough (Pyrrhocorax pyrrhocorax) | 2 |
| Yellow-billed Chough (Pyrrhocorax graculus) | 19 |
| Carrion Crow (Corvus corone) | 1 |
| Common Raven (Corvus corax) | 1 |
| White-winged Snowfinch (Montifringilla nivalis) | 2 |
| European Serin (Serinus serinus) | 3 |
| Eurasian Linnet (Carduelis cannabina) | 3 |
| Black Kite (Milvus migrans) | 1 |
| Common Buzzard (Buteo buteo) | 1 |
| Common Swift (Apus apus) | 10 |
| Eurasian Crag-martin (Hirundo rupestris) | 3 |
| White Wagtail (Motacilla alba) | 1 |
| Grey Wagtail (Motacilla cinerea) | 2 |
| Eurasian Wren (Troglodytes troglodytes) | 1 |
| European Robin (Erithacus rubecula) | 1 |
| Eurasian Blackbird (Turdus merula) | 2 |
| Blackcap (Sylvia atricapilla) | 1 |
| Blue Tit (Parus caeruleus) | 1 |
| House Sparrow (Passer domesticus) | 2 |
| Chaffinch (Fringilla coelebs) | 1 |
| European Serin (Serinus serinus) | 4 |
San Vicente
| Cattle Egret (Bubulcus ibis) | 1 |
| Eurasian Spoonbill (Platalea leucorodia) | 3 |
| Black Kite (Milvus migrans) | 2 |
| Common Buzzard (Buteo buteo) | 1 |
| Common Kestrel (Falco tinnunculus) | 1 |
| Eurasian Curlew (Numenius arquata) | 10 |
| Atlantic Yellow-legged Gull (Larus michahellis atlantis) | 20 |
| Wood Pigeon (Columba palumbus) | 2 |
| Eurasian Swallow (Hirundo rustica) | 6 |
| Eurasian Magpie (Pica pica) | 1 |
Mammals
| Chamois (Rupicapra rupricapra) | 4 |
| Red Fox (Vulpes vulpes) | 2 |
| Schreiber's Bat (Miniopterus schreibersi) | 4 |
| Natterer's Bat (Myotis nattereri) | 1 |
| Noctule (Nyctalus noctula) | 9 |
| Leisler's Noctule (Nyctalus leisleri) | 1 |
| Common Pipistrelle (Pipistrellus pipistrellus) | 7 |
Butterflies
| Clouded Yellow (Colias crocea) |
| Painted Lady (Vanessa cardui) |
| Small Tortoiseshell (Aglais urticae) |
| Piedmont Ringlet (Erebia meolans) |
| Scarce Swallowtail (Iphiclides podalirius) |
| Cleopatra (Gonepteryx cleopatra) |
| Long-tailed Blue (Lampides boeticus) |
| Spotted Fritillary (Melitaea didyma) |
| Marbled White (Melanargia galathea) |
| Meadow Brown (Maniola jurtina) |