Rare Birds in Spain Blog

© Ricard Gutiérrez, 14.2.2015 And it was relocated. And hundreds of observers came to see it. And they all watched it... Not a religious reference, but true. The Brown Shrike ( Lanius cristatus) , the first for Catalonia and Spain, and the longest-distance known record from its usual breeding grounds, had been found on 31.12.2014 then on 6.1.2015 by Iain Hartley ( see this blog entry on the finding ). Many observers, even coming from Teruel, Girona or Barcelona, came in the immediate days after the 6th of January to attempt relocating the bird. Without luck. Despite the fuzzy photos of the original sighting, the description from Iain was good, particularly pointing out the key features of the bird, e.g. its tail structure, with the pointed shape due to the length of the central feathers. In order to accept the record into the official national list, it is widely agreed that having at least a couple of observers, or having supporting evidence, helps to get the record homologa...

Aspect of the area where the bird was seen. Deltebre, Tarragona, 9.1.2015 (Ricard Gutiérrez) A bird was seen at the suburban areas of Deltebre, Tarragona, by the river Ebre, on 6.1.2015 (Iain Hartley). The bird was seen intermitently and was elusive. Many local birders visited the area until 10.1.2015 without further relocation of the bird. Until 9.2.2015 (see below). After contacting the observer, Iain supplied a full account of the observation included below plus record shots of the bird in the bushes which show a bird which looks like a medium sized shrike. 1st contact was made on 31.12.2014 . Iain Hartley account as follows with our capitals or bolds: Since there don't seem to have been any further records, I thought I should contact you around the circumstances of the finding of the brown shrike in Deltebre and explain why I was not able to release the news sooner.  On 31st December , I went for a short walk along the River Ebre from my wife's family hous...