In late February, 2014, Barcelona Birding Point set up a three days long tour to explore the Gallocanta lagoon, at SouthWest of Aragón. The tour reported unforgettable sights on Cranes and a short visit to Los Monegros allowed us to add to our list most steppe birds specialities such as Great Bustard, Little Bustard, Black Wheatear and Pin-tailed Sandgrouse!
The first and second we mainly explored the main Gallocanta salty lagoon as well as the farm land around. At winter time this area hosts interesting specialities while huge flocks of Cranes feed on the farm land around. The tour enjoyed mild temperatures that were always over 0ºc.
The last day of our tour, after enjoyed the massive flocks of Cranes facing North, we visited some interesting steppe spots in Los Monegros. The main goal was to find both species of Sandgrouses and both species of Bustards living there. Even before lunch we had already got really nice sights on three of them, and fourth (Black-bellied Sandgrouse) was appearing few after lunch.
Main specialities included:
+50.000 Common Cranes, 33 Pin-tailed Sandgrouses, 5 Black-bellied Sandgrouses, 29 Great Bustards, 4 Little Bustards, 1 Dupont’s Lark, 2 Golden Eagle, 2 Short-eared Owls, +7 Hen Harriers
, 12 Choughs, 2 Merlins, +70 Pintails, +10 Lesser Short-toed Larks, 2 Blue Rock Thrushes, 1 Black Wheatear as well as several Calandra Larks and Rock Sparrows.
Mammals: Iberian Hare & Roe Deer (4).
