The Llobregat Experience

                                                          

All concentration in the Sabogal observation hut

  Virtually every three minutes an international airliner bore down on us as it prepared for the touchdown at Barcelona’s El Prat airport a few hundred metres away. The birds were obviously used to the planes flying overhead, even if we weren’t.  It is, after all,  their natural habitat, occupying 90 hectares of the Llobregat River delta nature reserve between the south bank of the river and the Cal Tet and Ca l’Arana Lagoons.  Just beyond the lagoons lie the runways of El Prat.

Taking the continuous roar of the jets in their stride are these Great Cormorants basking on a reed sandbank in the Cal Tet lagoon. Barely visible among the reeds on the right is a Grey Heron.

 For an ardent bird-lover, nothing could be more gratifying than the Llobregat experience. With none of the hassle of woodland trekking to contend with, the Llobregat Delta is a veritable birding hotspot, where some 360 species, including migrants, seek sanctuary at different periods all year round. Herons, waders, shorebirds and passerines often make daily flights across the airport to their feeding, roosting  and nesting in the river, the lagoons, marshes, beaches and pine groves of the reserve.

On any specific half-day trip, however, you’d probably chalk up no more than 30 sightings. That was the tally for GOT birders who spent a gloriously sunny mid-November Saturday morning there.
The delta is no more than a half hour’s drive from bustling Barcelona, and covers an extensive area. Our group had time only for a visit to the wetland  between the Llobregat  River and the Cal Tet and Ca l’Arana lagoons.

Another jet about to touchdown while Mallards and Red-crested Pochards frolic in the water by the reed-lined  bank in the background. In the foreground: Great Cormorants and a Grey Heron (among the reeds on the right) bask in the morning sun.

     From an observation hut at another end of the Cal Tet lagoon: Great Cormorants, common Gulls and, on the left, a Herring Gull

Apart from the lagoons, the landscape took in marshland filled with rushes, meadows with grazing horses, pine groves with nest boxes on many trunks, and the wide sandy Ca l’Arana beach. Well-signposted itineraries covering up to 5 km of discovery trails took us from one bird observatory and watch tower to another. And along the route the experienced eye of our guide Pedro Bescós pointed out birds hidden among the reeds that we might not have spotted on our own.

Left: Penduline Tit (Remiz pendulinus, Spanish: Pájaro Moscón, Catalan: Teixidor). Right: Entrance to the reserve. 

Left: One of the watch-towers.  Right: GOT birders on the trail

Veteran GOT birder Ferran Pascual drew up this list of birds, all except one, seen by everyone on that Saturday morning. Only Ferran and our guide Pedro managed to make out  the elusive Great Bittern among the tall grass, but  their excitement and sheer joy more than made up for the disappoint the rest of us felt.

(English, Latin, Spanish, Catalan) 

American flamingo; Phoenicopterus ruber;  Flamenco del caribe; Flamenc del carib

Black Redstart; Phoenicurus ochruros; Colirrojo Tizón; Cotxa fumada

Black-headed Gull; Larus ridibundus; Gaviota Reidora; Gavina vulgar

Cattle Egret; Bubulcus ibis; Garcilla Bueyera; Esplugabous

Common Chiffchaff; Phylloscopus collybita; Mosquitero Común; Mosquiter comú

Common Coot; Fulica atra; Focha Común; Fotja vulgar

Common Sandpiper; Actitis hypoleucos; Andarríos Chico; Xivitona

Common Starling; Sturnus vulgaris; Estornino Pinto; Estornell vulgar

Common Teal; Anas crecca; Cerceta Común; Xarxet comú

Crested Lark; Galerida cristata; Cogujada Común; Cogullada vulgar

Dunlin; Calidris alpina; Correlimos Común; Territ variant

Gadwall; Anas strepera; Ánade Friso; Ànec griset

Great Bittern; Botaurus stellaris; Avetoro Común; Bitó comú

Great Cormorant; Phalacrocorax carbo; Cormorán Grande; Corb marí gros

Great Crested Grebe; Podiceps cristatus; Somormujo Lavanco; Cabusó emplomallat

Grey Heron; Ardea cinerea; Garza Real; Bernat pescaire

Grey Plover; Pluvialis squatarola; Chorlito Gris; Pigre gris

Greylag Goose; Anser anser; Ánsar Común; Oca vulgar

Hoopoe; Upupa epops; Abubilla; Puput

House Sparrow; Passer domesticus; Gorrión Común; Pardal comú

Little Egret; Egretta garzetta; Garceta Común; Martinet blanc

Little Grebe; Tachybaptus ruficollis; Zampullín Común; Cabusset

Magpie; Pica pica; Urraca; Garsa

Mallard; Anas platyrhynchos; Ánade Azulón; Ànec collverd

Monk Parakeet; Myiopsitta monachus; Cotorra Argentina; Cotorreta de pit gris

Moorhen; Gallinula chloropus; Gallineta Común; Polla d'aigua

Purple Swamp-hen; Porphyrio porphyrio; Calamón Común; Polla blava

Red-crested Pochard; Netta rufina; Pato Colorado; Xibec

Sociable Lapwing; Vanellus gregarius; Avefría Sociable; Fredeluga

White Wagtail; Motacilla alba; Lavandera Blanca; Cuereta blanca

The amount of avian activity throughout the year, however,  means that no two visits would provide the same birding experience. We shall return soon.