Limosa - Birdwatching and Wildlife Hoildays Worldwide

With snow-capped mountains to the north and pine-clad rocky hills rising dramatically from the Aragón Valley floor to the south, the Spanish Pyrenees make a truly spectacular setting for a wildlife holiday. The area is one of the best in Europe for raptors: Red and Black Kites, together with Egyptian Vultures and Eurasian Griffons soar overhead, while Short-toed and Booted Eagles hang over the open hillsides, searching for snakes and lizards, and Golden Eagles hunt amongst the highest peaks. But for most birdwatchers, one of the major goals of a visit to the Pyrenees must be to see that most rakish of vultures, the Lammergeier. This is one of the best places in Europe to see this threatened species, and most years we encounter individuals on several occasions during our stay.

The high alpine meadows - where Water Pipits pick their way through sheets of buttercups, gentians and orchids - are the birth place of ice-cold streams, soon to become cascading torrents, frequented by White-throated Dippers, as they crash past pinewoods and plummet into deep gorges that have to be seen to be believed. The massive chasms of rock, sprinkled with endemic Ramonda and Pyrenean Saxifrage, are also home to Rock Buntings and the fabulous Wallcreeper, which ekes out its existence in a vertical world.

As the landscape opens out, the influence of the Mediterranean is immediately apparent. The air is heavy with the scent of gorses and Spanish Broom, while the likes of Woodchat Shrike, Hoopoe, Spotless Starling and European Bee-eater start to appear. South of the Pyrenees the landscape unfolds as a series of craggy sandstone outcrops, each with its own different hue of pink or brown. Between these ridges runs the pretty Aragón River, with its gravel beds and cultivations, whilst the mixed woodlands harbour Crested Tit, Short-toed Treecreeper and Western Bonelli’s Warbler.

Such a variety of landscape and habitat ensures that we always have somewhere new to go each day - whether it be in search of the impressive Black Woodpecker in shady stands of pine, or out onto limestone scarps in pursuit of an impressive array of butterflies and to admire the truly magnificent Lady’s Slipper Orchids.

We’re based throughout in the town of Jaca, in the central Spanish Pyrenees, keeping daily travel time to a minimum and within comfortable reach of the high mountains to the north and the impressive rock pinnacles of Riglos to the south. With its lush green forests, breathtaking ravines, warm scented hillsides and fabulous range of Mediterranean and alpine birds and wildlife, this is Wild Spain at its very best!