Thursday 19 February 2009

Northern Spain in Winter Day 4


Saturday 14 February

Spent the morning in the Echo Valley, managed to get about a Kilometre beyond Boca Del Infierno at which point the road was blocked with snow. We parked and enjoyed a short walk through a wonderful sparkling winter landscape of snow covered hills and forest and icicles hanging from the roadside trees and rocks. On top of all this we had more Wallcreeper and Lammergeir sightings.

We wanted to be back at Gallocanta for dusk so we headed south on the road that runs via Ayerbe. Here in the village of Plascencia we saw our first White Storks on a roadside Church and just south of a here a Golden Eagle was hunting a roadside field.

We arrived at Gallocanata late afternoon much sunnier and stiller than on our first visit. Lots of birdwatchers and photographers scattered about the place and perhaps as many as 23,000 Common Cranes. We had a wonderful last couple of hours of daylight and probably an hour after sunset watching and listening to thousands of Cranes flighting into roost. A truly stunning sight and an amazing testament to the wildness that does still manage to survive in western Europe.


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