Mary’s Blog – Zaragoza to Anso

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We arrived at Zaragoza Airport on Thursday night and the first bird we saw was, as predicted, a Black Kite. The hotel was next to a park and it was quite surprising to see Mute Swans on the lake there.

On Friday we set off North and as we approached Huesca we saw the first of many White Storks on their nests. Black Kites were seen at regular intervals along with a few Red Kites. From Huesca we headed towards Riglos and soon started to see many Corn Buntings on the wires, along with Griffin Vultures, Magpies and Woodpigeons. We stopped for coffee at Aguero, seeing a single Bee eater on the road there. While we had our drinks we watched House Martins, Swallows and an Egyptian Vulture which flew right overhead. A Nightingale could be heard singing from the bushes nearby.

We continued our journey, heading for San Juan de La Pena seeing Swift and Crag Martin on the way. In the woods near the monastery we added Great Spotted Woodpecker, Nuthatch, Robin, Great Tit, Blackbird, Jay and Black Redstart to our list. Strangely, we heard a Tawny Owl call just once. A Raven was seen near Puente la Reina de Jaca before we headed up the Hecho Valley seeing more Black and Red Kites on the way to our apartment in Anso.

Species list – Mute Swan, White Stork, Griffin Vulture, Egyptian Vulture, Red Kite, Black Kite, Woodpigeon, Collared Dove, Tawny Owl (HO), Swift, Bee eater, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Crested Lark, Crag Martin, Swallow, House Martin, White Wagtail, Robin, Black Redstart, Blackbird, Sardinian Warbler Great Tit, Nuthatch, Jay, Magpie, Raven, House Sparrow, Serin, Corn Bunting.