Well, I have to say that my week in Spain was quite dissapointing from a bird point of view. I normally manage to eek out a bit of birding from a family holiday but this time I failed completely.

I did see birds (of course) but other than the ubiquitous Serins and Yellow legged Gulls, well I might as well have been in England. The area I was hoping to provide some bird life just didnt have much at all apart from a Little owl and single Cetti's Warbler. Ok, the area I'm talking about was just agricultural land but I expected a bit more than Magpies and Woodpigeons with House Sparows and 'Alba' Wagtails. I didnt hire a car so couldnt get any farther into the forested hills a few miles away, and these could have been more worthwhile. I did however pick up a lovely leaflet about a nature reserve some miles north of us that sounds nice for next time.

Needles to say, I wont be writing a trip report.

One thing I did notice (or maybe it was just my eyes) - many of the birds out there, particularly the Jays and Woodpigeons, were much darker than our birds. I've never really noticed it before, has anyone else? The first Jay I saw had me really confused for a couple of seconds as it was almost dark brown.