What a magnificent few minutes of bird watching. I’m not a birder, per se, but the breadth and array of birds in Spain is remarkable — so many species and types of habitats. The filmmaker must have traveled thousands of miles getting these shots:
- Riglos and Valle de Tena (Pyrenees, Huesca)
- Bardenas Reales (Navarra)
- Montes de Toledo and Andújar (Jaén)
- Albufera de Valencia and Dénia
- Tablas de Daimiel (Ciudad Real) and Doñana (Huelva)
- Coast of Murcia and Almeria
Being an American, it’s the Spanish Imperial Eagle that captured my imagination: large, powerful, majestic. (Oh, you’ll know it when you see it!) It’s something to behold. Here’s a list of all the species in order of appearance:
- Bubo bubo
- Gypaetus barbatus
- Tichodroma muraria
- Chersophilus duponti
- Otis tarda
- Falco naumanni
- Pterocles orientalis
- Bucanetes githagineus
- Cercotrichas galactotes
- Aquila adalberti
- Sylvia hortensis
- Aegypius monachus
- Cyanopica cyana
- Galerida theklae
- Sturnus unicolor
- Dryocopus martius
- Dendrocopos leucotos
- Phylloscopus bonelli
- Serinus citrinella
- Montifringilla nivalis
- Pyrrhocorax graculus
- Prunella collaris
- Luscinia svecica
- Merops apiaster
- Upupa epops
- Circus pygargus
- Larus genei
- Porphyrio porphyrio
- Oxyura leucocephala
- Marmaronetta angustirostris
- Phoenicopterus ruber-Platalea leucorodia
- Grus grus
Waves of Murmuration (video)
by Trent Gilliss, senior editor
No, not a line from The Pixies. Liberty Smith and Sophie Windsor Clive will ensnare you in the majesty of this chance encounter with “one of nature’s greatest and most fleeting phenomena” — a collection of starlings rolling over a kayak canoe on a lake.
Editor’s note: In the comments below, Maureen Doallas reminded me of two spots where I first heard about starling murmurations and thought I’d share them with you: Paolo Patrizi’s magnificent photos of murmurations over Rome and a BBC documentary. Both are definitely checking out.
Hat tip to Anne Breckbill for the heads up!
