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Tuesday 30 May 2023

Irati Forest in Navara, Spain.

Dipping yet again on one of my bogey birds.
Ebird List for Mirador de Tapla.
Ebird List for the Forest.
Ebird List for the Village.

The view from Mirador de Taplaabove the Irati Forest.
We were up and out nice and early as it we had a bit of a journey over to the Forest of Irati on some quite windy roads but with some amazing scenery, on the way we saw Barn Swallow (Golondrina Común / Hirundo rustica), Carrion Crow (Corneja Negra / Corvus corone), White Wagtail (Lavandera Blanca / Montacilla alba), European Serin (Serin Verdecillo / Serinus serinus), Common Blackbird (Mirlo Común / Turdus merula), a pair of Eurasian Bullfinch (Camachuelo Común / Pyrrhula pyrrhula) which flew up from the side of the road and Eurasian Magpie (Urraca Común / Pica pica).
Moonwort (Lunaria menor / Botrychium lunaria).
Spring Squill (Scilla verna).
Puff-ball Fungus.
We reached our first stop at the Mirador de Tapla and almost straight away we had the first Water Pipits (Bisbita Alpino / Anthus spinoletta), Eurasian Skylark (Alondra Común / Alauda arvensis), Northern Wheatear (Collalba Gris / Oenanthe oenanthe), Red-billed Chough (Chova Piquirroja / Pyrrhocorax pyrrhocorax), Moonwort (Lunaria menor / Botrychium lunaria), Tormentil (Potentilla erecta), Spring Squill (Scilla verna), Rock Cinquefoil (Potentilla rupestris), Elder-flowered Orchid (Dactylorhiza sambucina) and the first Piedmont Ringlet (Erebia meolans).
Beardless Dwarf Iris (Iris graminea) New for Me.
Common Wall Lizard (Podarcis muralis).
Common Wall Lizard (Podarcis muralis).
Comma (Polygonia c-album).
We dropped down to the car park and paid the €7 parking charge per car and then went for a walk looking for the
White-backed Woodpeckers (Pico Dorsiblanco / Dendrocopos leucotos) one of my bogey birds in Spain.
Purple Toothwort (Lathraea clandestina).
Pyrenean Aquilegia (Aquilegia pyrenaica).
Yellow Archangel (Lamium galeobdolon).
Bladder Campion (Silene vulgaris).
As we walked some of the group stuck to the main track while the rest of us took a more undulating track up and down through the woodlands seeing Coal Tit  (Carbonero Garrapinos / Periparus ater)(Carbonero Garrapinos / Periparus ater), Eurasian Blue (Herrerillo Común / Cyanistes caeruleus), Great (Carbonera Común / Parus major), European Crested Tit (Herrerillo Capuchino / Lophophanes cristatus) and the wanted Marsh Tit (Carbonero Palustre /Parus palustris) but only heard unfortunately, Wren (Chochin / Troglodytes troglodytes), Common Chaffinch (Pinzón Vulgar / Fringilla coelebs), Short-toed Treecreeper (Agateador Común / Certhia brachydactyla), Firecrest (Reyezuelo Listado / Regulus ignicapillus) and Goldcrest (Reyezuelo Sencillo / Regulus regulus), Bullfinch, Common Chiffchaff (Mosquitero Común / Phylloscopus collybita), Nuthatch (Trepador Azul / Sitta europaea), Blackcap (Curruca Capirotada / Sylvia atricailla), Song Thrush (Zorzal Común / Turdus philomelos), Robin (Petirrojo Europeo / Erithacus rubecula), Crag Martin (Avión Roquero / Ptyonoprogne rupestris), Grey Wagtail (Lavandera Cascadena / Motacilla cinerea) and Griffon Vulture (Bultre Leonado / Gyps fulvus).
Birds-nest Orchid (Neottia nidus-avis).
Birds-nest Orchid (Neottia nidus-avis).
Birds-nest Orchid (Neottia nidus-avis).
Photographing the Birds-nest Orchid (Neottia nidus-avis) once I had convinced the group it was not already dead.
We also saw several species of plant including
Bladder Campion (Silene vulgaris), Purple Toothwort (Lathraea clandestina), Yellow Archangel (Lamium galeobdolon), Spurge Laurel (Daphne laureola), Pyrenean Aquilegia (Aquilegia pyrenaica), Beardless Dwarf Iris (Iris graminea) and a very exciting Birds-nest Orchid (Neottia nidus-avis) or two.
Yours truly and Ricky.
On the lower track.
On the upper track through the woods.
Other species seen included
Red Squirrel (Sciurus vulgaris), Common Wall Lizard (Podarcis muralis), Wood White (Leptidea sinapis), Common Orange-tip (Anthocharis cardamines) and Comma (PPolygonia c-album).
Lunch.
The Raven (Cuervo / Corvus corax) looking for some Lunch.
We returned to the car Park where we found the rest of the group who had see a Black Woodpecker (Picamaderos Negro / Dryocopus martius) before we arrived, sat and had lunch in the picnic area adding Raven (Cuervo / Corvus corax) and then later we had a walk around the far side of the river finding Pyrenean Cranesbill (Geranium pyrenaicum), Lithospermum occidentale, Yellow Rattle (Rhinanthus minor), Mallard (Anade Azulón / Anas platyrhynchos), Grey and White Wagtails (Lavandera Blanca / Montacilla alba) and Small White (Pieris rapae). 
Burnt Orchid (Neotinea Ustulata).

Burnt Orchid (Neotinea Ustulata).

We again returned to the cars and went back up to
Mirador de Tapla as I had spotted a couple of spikes of Burnt Orchid (Neotinea Ustulata) as we had driven down, Ricky and I walked down and took some photo's of this usually much commoner species and also added Red Kite (Milano Real / Milvus milvus), Alpine Chough (Chova Piquigualda / Pyrrhocorax graculus) and Linnet (Pardillo Común / Carduelis cannabina) before starting the drive back.
Monkey Orchid (Orchis simia).
Monkey Orchid (Orchis simia).
On the way up I had seen a couple of spike of
Monkey Orchid (Orchis simia) on the verge so we made a stop and took some photo's, in all we found 8 spikes as well as 3 pretty much passed their best Lady Orchid (Orchis purpurea) and a single yet to flower Lizard Orchid (Himanthoglosum hircinum). 
Dipper (Mirlo Acuático / Cinclus cinclus) adult.
Dipper (Mirlo Acuático / Cinclus cinclus).
We continued on down the hill and as we reached the first town Ochagavía, we made a stop for a coffee, whilst we were in there the rain arrived but even though it was throwing it down we still checked the river as we left and Ricky picked up a nice adult
Dipper (Mirlo Acuático / Cinclus cinclus) which was showing very well so we returned to the cars and got our camera`s.
Dipper (Mirlo Acuático / Cinclus cinclus) immature.
Dipper (Mirlo Acuático / Cinclus cinclus) immature.
We had brilliant views of the adult bird and at least 3 immature birds along with
Common Sandpiper (Andarrios Chico / Actitis hypoleucos), Common Swift (Vencejo Común / Apus apus), Black Redstart (Colirrojo Tizón / Phoenicurus ochruros) and House Martin (Avión Común / Delichon urbica).
We returned to Ansó, on the way we saw quite a few spikes of Greater Butterfly Orchids (Platanthera chlorantha) and a couple more Lady Orchids.

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