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Ebro Delta Birding - Rarities spotted on our birding tours.
Rose-coloured Starling
Rose-coloured Starling
Rose-coloured Starling
The Rose-coloured (or Rosy) Starling is a rare vagrant in Catalonia and was spotted on one of our birding tours around the Ebro Delta in late March. Interestingly, the bird appears to be gathering material for nesting. Picture credit goes to our client, Susa Stonedahl from the US, who was on hand to get this nice click of the bird.
Red-footed Falcon
Rose-coloured Starling
Rose-coloured Starling
This handsome bird was spotted on two occasions in 2019 with clients on bird watching holidays, both during the spring migration period. The Red-footed Falcon is a long distance migrant that will occasionally stray into north-eastern Spain, and we had good sightings of male birds on the Ebro Delta in April and also on the Lleida plains in mid May
White-winged Tern
Rose-coloured Starling
White-winged Tern
This variety of tern is a close relative of the Black Tern but usually occurs in more easterly parts of Europe. Despite this we had a few isolated sightings this spring, mainly on the Ebro river boat birding tours. White-winged Tern can be distinguished from Black Tern by it's red legs and white wing coverts and rump.
Ruddy Shelduck
Leucistic Swallow
White-winged Tern
A group of 4 Ruddy Shelduck were present for a week or two during the autumn bird migration in 2020. Natural range of this species is more to the far east of Europe, but small colonies occur in western Europe mainly due to escapees from private waterfowl collections which have become naturalized. A rare birding sight none the less!
Leucistic Swallow
Leucistic Swallow
Leucistic Swallow
This unusual sighting caused a little bit of head scratching on one of our Ebro River boat birding tours back in the summer! The bird is a leucistic Swallow, which has pigment deficiencies that cause this odd, pale looking appearance. The chances of seeing a Swallow with this strange condition are believed to be 1 / 1,000,000!
White-headed Duck
Leucistic Swallow
Leucistic Swallow
Rare and localized in Europe, the White-headed Duck has been present on the Ebro Delta during the autumn / winter months in 2020. This diving duck is best seen in the breeding season, when the male birds develop an absolutely stunning bill of powder blue coloration. Sure to be a popular target species on our bird watching tours in 2021!