Spending 4 days in Northern Spain between 31 July and 4 August produced some excellent sightings. Best were:
Faro de Higuer lighthouse: Cory's and Manx Shearwater, Zitting Cisticola, Black Redstart with young.
Picos de Europa (Fuente De and Gloria Pass): 2 Wallcreeper, 6 Snow Finch, 2 Common Rock Thrush, Bearded Vulture, Alpine and Red billed Chough, Citril Finch, Serins, Griffon Vultures, Crag Martins, Alpine Accentor, Red Backed Shrike, Melodious Warbler, Cuckoo, Dipper, Water Pipits, Short Toed Eagle, Golden Eagle, Goshawk, Egyptian Vultures.
-- Edited by Chris Harper on Wednesday 26th of August 2026 09:24:31 PM
Travelled on Brittany Ferries Cap Finisterre, Portsmaouth to Bilbao:
Gannet, Fulmar, Kittiwake, Guillemot, Razorbill, Puffin, Manx Shearwater, Yellow-legged Gull and bizarrely on board, 2 Collared Dove, 1 Turtle Dove and a male 1 Blue-headed type Wagtail. Bottlenose, Common Bottlenose & Striped Dolphin, presumed Cuvier's Beaked Whale and or Bottlenecked Whale and a Sperm Whale.
In and around Santander:
Black Kite, Marsh Harrier, Griffon Vulture, Egyptian Vulture, Peregrine, Hobby, Kestrel, Cetti's, Reed and Fan-tailed Warbler (I know, I know..) Spotless Starling, Black Redstart, Little Egret, Cattle Egret, Water Rail, Spoonbill,
3 lifers, all of which were top birds, Alpine Chough, Snow Finch & Wallcreeper. This is possibly the most reliable site for Wallcreeper in Northern Europe and the location is quite stunning.
