News on birdlife around the Picos de Europa. From sub-adult Lammergeier incursions from the Pyrenees and the possible reintroduction programme to Avocets and Little egrets on the Costa Verde. Also included here are personal observations of resident and summer-visiting birds.
New birdwatching holidays in the Picos de Europa are being developed by an Asturian, English-speaking guide with more than 20 years' birding experience. Take advantage of his local knowledge
Last summer a new Lammergeier, a male named Atilano, was introduced to the Picos de Europa to join the remaining female, Deva, of the project run by the Bearded Vulture Foundation.
The three Ospreys, Pandion haliaetus, being monitored by conservation group Fapas have returned for another year to overwinter in the estuaries of Asturias, arriving mid-September and leaving towards the end of March.
Following the release of the two young birds in 2010 they both survived the winter but sadly one of them, Leoncia, was found dead last April in the Sierra del Cuera towards the Cantabrian coast. The post-mortem examination showed no signs of poison or any other unnatural causes of death.
The Fundación para la Conservación del Quebrantahuesos (Bearded Vulture Foundation) is planning on releasing another two young birds in the Picos this July to join Leoncia and Deva, the two female birds released last year.
