The uniqueness of early spring was evident all week long as many winter visitors such as ducks, Lapwing and Common Snipe remained as a backdrop to a constant stream of summer arrivals such as Black-winged Stilt, Alpine Swift, Spanish Yellow Wagtail, Spectacled and Sub-alpine Warblers, Black-eared Wheatear, Wryneck, Purple Heron and, bisected in flight by a pair of resident Eurasian Spoonbill, two passage Common Crane.

A surprisingly adept Hoopoe avoiding the attentions of a Sparrowhawk and a pair of displaying Red-billed Chough were early bonuses and a last day feast over a first winter Golden Eagle being mobbed by a Red Kite capped an impressive list of seventeen raptors for the trip (which also included Short-toed Eagle, Booted Eagle, Bonelli's Eagle, Goshawk, Osprey, Lesser Kestrel and Montagu's Harrier).

The sparse vegetation at this time of year afforded superb views of Great and Little Bustard, Stone-curlew, Pin-tailed Sandgrouse and Great Spotted Cuckoo but it was the Pyrenees that provided the week’s highlight.  After watching Alpine Accentors hopping along side the car we ventured into the rain to find a Wallcreeper catch and dismantle a huge caterpillar in front us before sheltering under a ledge and allowing us to soak ourselves in admiration.

When you see Bee-eaters hawking over open fields and Whiskered Terns doing likewise over water, you know summer isn’t far behind.  In the Steppes, the fart-jump display of Little Bustard was suddenly everywhere to be seen and the Quail ‘whip-poor-whip’ everywhere to be heard.

Common Cuckoo, Nightingale and Golden Oriole all sang along to complete the cliché whilst sneaking up on shreaking Wrynecks, peeking in on a pair of courting Montagu's Harriers and the discovery of a rare Red-rumped Swallow nest in the Garraf all added a few moments to remember.

Lead by a voluminous flow of Wood Sandpiper, every make and model of European wader seemed to pass through at some point, and often in full summer plumage, whilst the landing of parties of the rather odd-looking Collared Pratincole created the most excitement among many.

The last of the winter’s Great Bustard and Great Bittern vanished and the Alpine Accentor and Snowfinch similarly moved on to their breeding grounds, leaving us with the majestic Lammergeier and flocks of Alpine Chough, ‘singing’ and floating alongside the car as we descended.

Rarities included a female Blue-winged Teal at Llobregat, a quite beautiful Black-headed ‘feldegg’ Wagtail at Vilaut and a rather captivating Little Crake giving the impression that it can walk on water as it scuttled over scraps of reed debris at Riet Vell.

Morning departures to the sound of European Nightjar and Golden Oriole signalled just how the breeding season was progressing and, with birds like Little Bittern, Tawny Pipit and a host of warblers all having settled in, it wasn’t long before typical observations were of a crackling juvenile Great Spotted Cuckoo, a Lesser Kestrel delivering a large insect to its nest hole and a pair of Kentish Plover swapping nursery duties by urging their chicks to run from beneath one set of open wings to the other.

We even watched several pairs of Penduline Tit at various stages of nest-building so late arrivals like Rock Thrush, Red-backed Shrike and Red-necked Nightjar all had some catching up to do. A pair of Roller mating on a post then didn’t seem to be wasting any time, although I’m not sure what to make of a White Stork flying from a waste dump carrying a baby’s nappy!

The passage of Pied Flycatchers had ceased but the odd Wryneck and many Honey Buzzards, including a pair with an Osprey escort, were still on the move and very little can beat the sight of White-winged and Black terns dipping and diving a few metres in front of your hide.

Highlights though were my first Hooded Crow for Spain, thousands of Common Tern over the ocean, the encouraging presence of male Montagu’s Harriers at one particular site and watching male Red-footed Falcons hawking and hovering over a field containing Stone-curlew and Pin-tailed Sandgrouse.

After a particular treat at the end of the migration period when four species of falcon, including Hobby and Red-footed Falcon, were hunting around the same field, it was time to hone in on the rather helpful summer activity of some of the endemic species.

A Reed Warbler feeding its chicks was typical of such behaviour with many of its cousins, among them Garden, Bonelli’s, Melodious and Great Reed, all putting in equally conspicuous performances.  At the Cap de Creus, another, the stunning Orphean Warbler, singled himself out in an adjacent cork oak like a siren as a nearby Wryneck scampered around a dead tree and a marvellous family party of Bonelli’s Eagles soared overhead.

Woodpeckers too seemed to claw for our attention with Black, Green and Great Spotted all showing up more frequently than usual and, in the Steppes, a Pin-tailed Sandgrouse sat next to the car, a pair of Roller failed in their attempt to raid a Lesser Kestrel nest and a Magpie struggled to feed its adopted juvenile Great Spotted Cuckoo.

Adopted too, surely, were at least some of the twenty-four Red-legged Partridge chicks counted bouncing behind an adult in the Garraf as if on invisible strings.  Nearby, the sight and sound of an Ortolan Bunting proved to be a false hope but the presence of an immature Montagu’s Harrier near Lleida confirmed at least one success for the summer.

Jory Langner, USA

"I loved birding with Stephen. He knows his birds and where to find them. Great guide.. friendly and flexible.. and lots of birds."

From those still being nursed, as witnessed in a family of Spectacled Warbler and a rather demanding Great Spotted Cuckoo of its Magpie parent, to those already making it alone, such as the immature Mediterranean Shag on the cliffs of the Garraf, it seems that the world is full of juveniles.

The vast majority of course will succumb, if not to the weather then to predation, and when you see young, bush-top Bullfinch and Rock Thrush naively chirping a breakfast call to their parents its not surprising. Although, even predators can be nervous of their first few steps with a pair of Lesser Kestrels observed for twenty minutes squealing an ‘its-time-to-go’ call at a fledgling perched at the entrance to their nest hole (the same one the Rollers tried to invade!).

Ron Lockwood, USA

"Stephen is a fantastic guide. I had very limited time to bird around Catalonia and was particularly interested in some of the more difficult birds such as Lammergeier and Black Woodpecker.

Stephen knew exactly where to go was extremely knowledgeable about habitats, behavior and vocalizations.

In just three days of birding we saw about 150 species during the last week of July, not an optimal birding time."

The build-up of herons is synonymous with August and was typified by hundreds of Little Egrets perching like Christmas tree lights on leafless trees along the Vidala at Llobregat.

Night Heron, Squacco Heron and Little Bittern all landed within arm’s reach at some point, the latter being upstaged by a fierce-looking Moustached Warbler, which ventured even closer in search of insects amongst the reed stems in front of the viewing screen.

Spectacled and Garden Warbler, amongst others, seemed to hold pre-migration parties in every patch of blackberry bushes available whilst Red-rumped Swallow and Sand Martin were doing the same on the telephone cables.

Dotterel, Temminck's Stint, Redstart, Pied Flycatcher and Whitethroat started to turn up in small numbers and the disappearance of Rock Thrush, Roller and Collared Pratincole provided further evidence of the start of autumn migration. Kingfishers, having moved down to the coastal wetlands from the rivers, were everywhere and Black-necked Grebe and Common Snipe had already begun arriving for the winter.

And the raptors were at it too with juvenile Montagu’s Harrier and Osprey seen quartering their respective habitats, a flock of forty Honey-buzzard lazily flapping into the twilight of the southern skies and a stunning Eleonora’s Falcon hawking overhead in the Garraf Massif.

September was like august, but more.  More birds left.  In conspicuous flocks like Bee-eaters and Hirundines, or low-key, like the Golden Oriole and Red-back Shrike.  More birds passed through, like the Osprey and Pied Flycatcher (one was observed eating a stick-insect). And more birds arrived for the winter.

Of these the Lapwing, Common Snipe and Common Teal were the most conspicuous, all arriving in vast numbers to carpet Catalonia’s wetlands but a single Bluethroat, still in that remarkable plumage and singing as if it were spring, was the most welcome.

Finally everything had settled down into the predictability of winter. Thankfully, what was predictable was also pretty amazing.

Red-breasted Merganser, Black-necked Grebe, Great Bittern, Bluethroat and Booted Eagle made up the winter contingent on the Ebro Delta, with bonuses including Squacco Heron and a Crested Coot. In the Steppes, driving through a flock of over five thousand Common Starlings eclipsed the usual highlight of bustards and sandgrouse which, with the help of the seasonal lack of vegetation cover, were easy to find. In the Pyrenees, Fieldfare, Alpine Accentor and Alpine Chough dominated the landscape with a few Citril Finch showing too.

The Garraf was where it was at though, with favourable winds bringing in an oceanic spectacle comprising Gannets, Balaeric Shearwater and Great Skua on the one side whilst the local Wallcreeper continued to creep on the rock face behind us.