2021/12/23 Delta de l’Ebre (Ebro Delta) → Lleida
We stayed in the Ebro Delta in the morning, mainly in the southern half. We revisited La Tancada after sunrise and then headed to the salt pans. It was still cloudy and a little foggy in that morning. At the lagoon La Tancada, we got an even larger number of Greater Flamingos than the first day. We spent about half an hour watching them feed, which was interesting. We got more waders and a view of some close Slender-billed Gulls. We were lucky to meet two local birders at the Punta de la Banya salt pan. They kindly showed us a Red-breasted Merganser and a Great Skua through their telescopes. For the rest of the morning, we explored the rice field around. We got 2 Ospreys, 3 Crested Larks, 1 White Stork, 1 Bluethroat, and many other beautiful birds.
After a short visit to the tourist center, we left the Ebro Delta before lunch. It was nice that such a wonderful place could be saved and well-conserved by locals. We have a total of 63 species here. I wanted to spend a longer time appreciating this splendid wetland after suffering from thirsty birds for half a year in Sweden, but I had to face the truth that we wouldn’t have such sufficient time.
Following Bernat’s suggestion, we spent another one and a half days in a different landscape—grasslands and steppes around Lleida. We were then heading to a plain in the central region of Catalonia, just between the Pyrenees mountains and the coastal mountains region. It is under the Mediterranean climate with continental influence, making it extremely hot and dry during summer. The climate becomes gentler during winter. Though divided by scattered agricultural regions, the grasslands and steppes here still provide suitable habitats for some birds of open areas, such as larks, sandgrouses, and wintering Iberian Grey Shrike. On the way, the mountain villages reminded one of my friends of his hometown in Anhui, a province in southern China. In his words, the building styles were pretty similar.
The first stop we made was in Erms d’Aitona. That was a relatively isolated place with other sites in our plan, so we decided to visit it first and leave the others for the third day. We followed the road and explored casually within that region. There was a mixed landscape, including rocky hills, semi-deserts, steppes, grasslands, and fields, and all the habitats mixed up. On a small patch of woods adjacent to some dwellings, we saw a small group of yellow-colored buntings, about 10 in number. In the distance, they looked like Yellowhammers, and when we approached, their eyebrows became clear. We soon realized they were Cirl Buntings, another target for this trip. Some other birds near the dwellings included a Stock Dove, several Carrion Crows, and an Iberian Grey Shrike. When driving, we saw some partridges walking in the grassland; sadly, we couldn’t stop to have a better look. From the binoculars, I was sure they were Red-legged Partridges. We tried to get some larks in the fields, but except for Crested Larks and Thekla’s Larks, we could only confirm some Corn Buntings. It was too early for Dupont’s Lark’s display. That was a big challenge since the larks were invisible on the ground, either hidden by grass or because of the angle of the version, while after flushed, they usually only made a fast and short-distanced flight, then soon disappeared as before. The most friendly bird here is European Starlings, which are still countless.
We arrived in Lleida just before the sunset. Lleida is a crowded city with complicated road design. I needed help finding the correct place to park the car near our hotel. Luckily, the lady at the hotel reception could speak fluent English this time.
We met another problem at the time for dinner. Some of us got vaccinations for COVID-19 outside the EU, and the restaurant people couldn’t confirm the validity using their phones. Because of the language barrier, we couldn’t explain it clearly, and thus, we could not find a restaurant willing to serve us. Finally, we entered a bar run by Chinese people by accident! We communicated and ordered in Mandarin there. Surprisingly, that was in Catalonia, but we got a place where Mandarin is more valuable than English. The servers there were very kind, and we had a pleasant dinner.
Leave a Reply