Wallcreeper was one bird that I really wanted to photograph and I was really pleased with some flight shots after failing to see the bird at the canyons of Alquézar, north-east of Huesca, I finally caught up with it at one of the dam walls on the Río Guara
Northeastern Spain's autonomous Aragon region, borders France and has a variety of stunning habitats which include Alpine peaks and meadows, Mediterranean forest mixed with spectacular limestone rock cliffs, semi-arid steppes and inland lakes. It's a huge area covering nearly 48,000 km2. Having only been to this area a couple of time before, I decided that a visit to seek out some of the key birds and stunning scenery. I certainly wasn't disappointed with either...
Tapas at the famous Bar Marpy, Zaragoza - a must for any traveller to the city
Lammergeier over Las Peñas de Riglos 42º 21' 8.87'' N 0º 43' 25.85'' W
Black Wheatears are also present around the village of Riglos
Alpine Accentors are particularly confiding on the edge of town
Alpine Accentor on the church roof
The town of Riglos with such an impressive backdrop
Lammergeier hugs the updraught close to the rock face on one of the massive pillars
Lammergeiers are such huge birds with a wingspan larger than a Griffon Vulture!
Riglos nestling under the rock face
Red Kites are a very common bird of prey in Aragon
The Church of the Alpine Accentor
Riglos streets
There are many dams on the Río Guara and winter is a good time to search for Wallcreeper
Wallcreepers are more closely related to Nuthatches and their body colour when pressed against the rock face, searching for insects and spiders, blends in perfectly. It's not until they open their wings and flit from one part of the cliff to the other that you see this amazing flash of bright red on their wings.
You can see here the length of the birds legs and the structure of their quite dumpy body
Here on the dam face, they were easier to photograph as the lighter colour of the concrete lit up the bird in the open sunlight.
Wing length is also quite impressive. Again you can see that the long legs and claws make it a real specialist feeder
Gripping onto an almost clean surface
...then off again this time descending right down the face to the shadow of the rocks
Typical wintering habitat
High speed setting on the camera was almost good enough to freeze the bird's wing tip movement, although the eye and shadow cast on the wall was pin-sharp
Some photographers prefer a little bit of blur in the photograph of the wing as this gives the impression of incredible speed and shows that instance where captured speed is frozen. I probably should have cranked the speed up to a 6,oooth of a second to eliminate the movement, but then again perhaps it all works quite well at 2,000.
The butterfly effect
The lovely Wallcreeper (Tichodroma muraria)
A Green Hairstreak active in the winter's sun
To the south of Zaragoza you can quickly reach the Laguna de Gallocanta, a Natural Reserve on an ancient naturally depressed plain that began to form over 2 million years ago and lies about 1,000 meters above sea level. The laguna is an important wintering ground for thousands of Common Cranes, duck and other birds and has a depth of only 40-50cms
Above you can see a wintering Hen Harrier hunting along the reed-fringed water
Common Cranes
The town of Gallocanta across the 2.8 km breadth of the almost 8km long lake
An adult Common Crane at Gallocanta
The south end of the lake where there's a visitor center and viewing platform
All along the Huesca foothills there are some beautiful areas with old villages, dramatic scenery and some wonderful birding areas
Arid plains full of salts and minerals give way to rolling countryside with strip cereal farming and lots of sheep, goats and pig farms
Alquézar has some secret places to stay
I would thoroughly recommend a short break to Aragon with David Boyer of Aragon Birding. He's an excellent companion and guide to organise your visit and take you to all the key birds of the area
