We began amid the stunning landscape of the Spanish Pyrenees, where sheer rock faces tower from wooded slopes to summits in the clouds, still bearing a winter coat of snow. Down on the wide open steppes of Los Monegros, we stop by a grain silo supporting a colony of at least 11 White Stork's nests with over 20 of these large birds in residence. Aroundabouts there seem to be birds in every direction. 

The Ebro Delta produces a stream of new ticks including cracking views of one of the stars of the trip, when we find a small colony of Collared Pratincoles. With long brown wings, a forked tail and agile flight for catching insects, they resemble a cross between a Swallow and an Arctic Skua. As we marvel at their graceful aerobatics and fine detail in the scope, we debate their merit for bird of the trip with worthy rivals like those beautiful Bee-eaters, the exotic Great Spotted Cuckoo and of course that unforgettable view of the simply magnificent Lammergeier.

Full Report