Spanish trip

The annual October trip to northern Spain took place a little earlier than usual this year. A very dry summer meant that the water levels on the Costa Brava were very low but a few flamingos were gracing what was left of the pools at Aigumolles. Most of the shallow water seemed to be being hogged by the white storks and wader numbers were vey low with just a few ruff, wood and green sandpipers, lapwings and little ringed plovers.
A single great white egret and two purple herons were flying around and large numbers of cattle egret were in many fields.The only wildfowl beside mallards were a few teal, gadwall and shoveler.
There was little sign of any passerine migration except for the occasional wheater and yellow wagtail, but swallows, house martins and swifts were still plentiful.
I failed to see a hobby in Charente this year but, very pleasingly, one of these graceful falcons gave us a display of dragonfly chasing.
The very hot weather that we have been experiencing in Charente persisted on the Costa Brava and it was still very hot in the central Pyrenees when we moved to the Hecho valley later in the week. Crag martins were plentiful at Los Riglos as were griffon vultures and we saw one or two blue rock thrush.
This was the first time that I have failed to see bearded vultures in the Hecho valley but the absence of the elusive wallcreeper was less surprising. Still, the place was as stunningly beautiful as ever with the high rock peaks startlingly bright against the blue sky  and the beech woods beginning to turn golden.
The ridges were thick with griffon vultures and in the conifers crested tits were common. There was some evidence of passerine migration taking place with plenty of chiffs, blackcaps, pied flycatchers and redstarts about. We saw just a couple of rock buntings and a single dipper but then we were in the valley for little over a day. Not a single black kite was seen on the whole trip, perhaps they have already migrated further south but red kites were a common sight even as we drove back through south west France.