Winter Solstice 2016,a very eerie sunrise.

Today was the shortest day, the Winter Solstice, and we had an extraordinary sunrise. It came a week after we had seen beautiful sunrises and misty starts to the day.

When I took the photographs, everything seemed normal, albeit the sun was shrouded in mist. But now, reflecting on them, I find it hard to understand the sun's size! But I guess the mist is just cutting out the sun's glare!

A few days before the Winter Solstice.

Mist shrouds the entire river basin.

Merry Christmas to all our readers,
may the sun shine for you this Christmas.

Chamois, a Wild Goat-Antelope, In the Cordillera Cantabica.

Having seen an Iberian Wolf, we felt on a high, but we also realised that a Brown Bear would not be walking out in front of us anytime soon!
We had headed on for a night stop at Aguilar de Campóo. There are snow-capped mountains, cold, clear skies, and stunning scenery.

We had searched for supplies in Salinas de Pisuerga, but no shop was in sight!

We headed for the town of Guardo. The route took us across a rugged plateau; Golden Eagles were seen hunting in front of the rugged mountains, and Common Wheatears, migrating North, perched atop fallen stones for a snack.

After Guardo, the scenery became vast and bleak. With the snow line about to meet us, we constantly scrutinised the mountainsides, hoping to see Chamois.
A few years ago, this act produced good results when we found the Iberian Ibex in Almeria province.
http://roadrunnersmikelinda.blogspot.fr/2014/04/in-search-of-iberian-ibex.html

And once more, it worked; we got a sighting as we approached the Puerto de Monteviejo, just south of Riaño. In the Cordillera Cantabrica.

We had seen them before on the high mountainsides of Zuriza, but we could only discern them in Navarra through our telescope.

These guys seemed as happy to watch us!

They actually seemed quite inquisitive!

The leader decided enough, and they started their retreat back up the mountain.

Their last glance back!

That's it, they were off and good luck to them!

Riaño looked beautiful but also quite desolate as we passed around the shores of the Embalse de Riaño.

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As we approached Puerto de San Isidro, the snow was getting quite deep, but the very efficient Spanish snowploughs had cleared the road.

There was no stopping as we passed over the top and descended into Asturias.

Through the tunnel at the Puerto, with its giant 18" inch-long icicles, the road was only passable, albeit we could not turn around had we tried. The steep mountainsides seemed to whisper avalanche! Draped thick in snow, this was a very different World to our accent, and yes, in two sections of our descent, avalanches had fallen, damaging the road, but we had no option but to continue. 

  

We stopped for any photographs once we had passed through the village of Felechosa and out of the snow!

We parked for the night safely at (Aller) Cabañaquinta and were rewarded with seeing a male Bullfinch.

What a superb day of "travels".

Tomorrow, we head for the Reserva Nacional de Somiedo,

Brown Bear, not a chance, not even a glimpse.

Iberian Wolf, our first ever sighting.

We hand-made it to the Castillo de Los Rojas.

The road had become very narrow and steep; we had to evaluate our onward journey. 

We decided over lunch that we would continue having come up this far.

After lunch, we had good views of the Sierra de la Testa in the Province of Burgos. This province hosts a healthy population of Wolves. The information we have been given estimated
twenty-eight packs, numbering between 140 and 196 Wolves.

As we stopped to take this photograph, we saw a considerable-sized animal crossing the road some distance ahead of us.
  

At first, we thought it was a Fox, but then we realized its size—this was a large animal. It was our first-ever sighting of an Iberian Wolf. By the way, it marked the territory. It must have been a Male, as they are more commonly seen; females, it appears, are much scarcer. We just stood in a state of disbelief as it looked back and then disappeared over the hillside.

Vincente de Sonsierra, tomorrow we start are search for the Iberian Wolf!

We continued across La Rioja, headed for Vincente de Sonsierra and our night stop.
From there, we would head towards Puerto del Paramo de Masa.
We are going to look for Iberian Wolves!

The Sierra Del La Demanda is looking very wintery.
A few years back, we spent time there looking for Crossbills.
See here: LA RIOJA & CASTILLA-LEON

As we passed through Briones, the air was full of wood smoke, reminding us how cold it had become.

The Castillo-Fortaleza de Vincente de Sonsierra.

The houses built around the Castello, with their roofs, gave a good impression of how to stay warm and dry in such miserable weather.

It rained, and it rained!

Yes, the sun was trying to break through the low cloud, and we were back on the road.
Did we see an elusive Iberian Wolf?
See the next post!

Night Herons (Black-crowned) Nycticorax nycticorax, along the Sotos of the Río Ebro in Spain.

Purple Herons behind us, from beautiful sunshine to pouring rain, everything had changed as we headed out to find Sotos along the río Ebro.
Sotos are areas of the river where Popular Willow and shrubs grow along the river banks. These woodlands are rare amongst all the agriculture bordering the local rivers. These oases are great for birds, especially the bird we were looking for, the Black-crowned Night Heron.   

By early afternoon, we had found a small group of Night Herons. Their behaviour, actively hunting food during the day, probably indicated that they were just migrating through this area, although they can sometimes be seen feeding during the daytime.

Once hidden away, we achieved good views of their movements. 

All five birds were showing their breeding plumage.

As well as the Night Herons, we observed, Grey herons, and Great white Egrets.

Male Serins were also evident, singing from the trees, hoping to attract a female mate!

We had to continue our journey, leaving these beautiful Night Herons.

Purple Herons nesting at the Laguna de Pitallas.

With perfect spring weather in late March, we visited the Laguna de Pitallas. This time, our hope is to see Eurasian Bitterns. A few years before, Pitallas had produced two flying Bitterns on a stopby.

Alas, there would be no sightings for us, but we were treated to the spectacle of Purple Herons building nests in the extensive reed beds.
Here are a few photographs of that day.
  

Corn Buntings were singing in the warm sun.

Migrating Marsh Harriers searching for a meal.

The graceful Purple Herons.

Their striking colour gave camouflage as they landed back at the nesting sites, crashing into the reeds!

Going down.

 Already starting to disappear into the reed cover.

  

Further out, on the reeds, a fourth pair are busy constructing their nest.

Black Necked Grebes in silhouette.

Yellow Wagtails search for food as they pass north during their migration.
This Male bird is a variant from Central Europe, a Flava, but could be a Bemma from the Northern Kirghiz steppe. It is challenging to determine.

This one is a Lutea from the Southwest of Siberia.

They are, however, all Yellow Wagtails.