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Vulture watching on a walk in
La Garrotxa
© Phil Blatcher
Walking and wildlife
Daily wildlife excursions in and around Girona province
From Besalú, north of Girona (north-eastern corner of the Iberian Peninsula), the possibilities of year-round wildlife walks are endless: the coast is but 45 minutes away, while inland the high peaks of the eastern Pyrenees (2,700 m +) are just a little over an hour's drive. So why not join me on one of my regular wildlife walks in Girona province. Choose which time of year suits you and look at the options on offer.
Alternatively, if you have any ideas where you want to go out walking to look for wildlife, I will happily make suggestions.
| Prices (VAT included): |
Up to 10 people – 120€ half-day, 180€ full day. |
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Over 10 people – 10€ per person half day, 15€ per person full day. |
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Children under 12 free. |
Booking: mail to
or
Phone: (00 34) 972 59 03 27 or (mob) 661 956 939
| Date |
Region |
Concepts |
Species to look out for |
January-
February |
Vall d'en Bas and Parc Nou, Olot |
Wintering passerines; vulcanism. |
Finches (hawfinch, bullfinch, brambling), larks (skylark, woodlark), short-toed treecreeper, firecrest. |
| Aiguamolls de l'Empordà |
Wintering waterfowl |
Ducks, herons, gulls and raptors. |
| Zona Volcànica de la Garrotxa |
Types of volcanic activity, geology and lithology of la Garrotxa Volcanic Zone Natural Park PNZVG. |
Tits, short-toed treecreeper, firecrest. |
| Biure |
Cork oak forest, scrub formations, post fire succession; geology of the Pyrenees. |
Scrub species including Erica multiflora; first giant orchids. |
| March |
Cap de Creus |
Geology |
Thekla lark, Dartford and Sardinian warblers, blue rock thrush. |
| Cap de Norfeu |
Early spring bulbs and ferns |
Cheilanthes vellea, Ch. pteridioides, Narcissus dubius, Tree spurge, Coronilla minina, Iris lutescens, Cneorum tricoccon |
| Massís del Montgrí |
Early spring orchids; coastal garrigue |
Giant orchid, dull ophrys, Iris lutescens. |
| Serra del Corb |
Flowering of the herbaceous strata of the Garrotxa beech and oak forests. |
Wood and yellow anemones, Pulmonaria affinis, rue-leaved isopyrum, pinnate coralroot, Pyrenean squill. |
| April |
Aiguamolls de l'Empordà |
Early spring breeding birds, flora of the granite outcrops, hilltopping swallowtails. |
Bittern and other herons, marsh harrier, white stork, great-spotted cuckoo, hoopoe, crested lark. Cistus crispus, sawfly orchid, Euphorbia serrata, grape hyacinthScarce and common swallowtails |
| Darnius |
Cork oak forest and acid scrub; spring butterflies. |
Cork oak, strawberry-tree, green heather, Genista monspessulana. Chapman's green hairstreak. |
| Aiguamolls del Baix Ter |
Birds, coastal flora |
Waders, terns, gulls and herons on migration. Tragacanth, early spider and tongue orchids. |
| Montmajor |
Limestone flora; geology of L'Alta Garrotxa |
Endemic milkwort Polygala vayredae, limestone flora. |
| Santa Magdalena |
Influence of orientation on the flora |
Ramonda myconi, Alyssum spinosum, Pyrenean saxifrage, Wild jasmine, Iris lutescens. |
| Etang de Canet and dunes |
Migrating birds |
Greater flamingo, gulls and herons. Dune flora. |
| Cap de Creus |
Coastal flora, seabirds. |
Tragacanth, Thymelaea hirsuta, Armeria ruscinonensis, Plantago subulata, Silver ragwort. Tawny pipit, Sardinian, Dartford and spectacled warbler, black-eared wheatear, blue rock thrush, red-rumped swallow. |
| Basses de la Jonquera |
Amphibians, reptiles, birds, flora |
Stripeless tree frog, painted frog, natterjact toad, ocellated lizard. Tawny pipit, hoopoe, short-toed eagle, golden oriole. Narrow-leaved lupin, birthwort. |
| May |
Coll de Malla and El Far |
Birds, butterflies and limestone flora |
Alpine swift, red-backed shrike, short-toed eagle, honey buzzard, cirl and rock buntings, crested tit, woodlark, crested tit. Wall brown, orange tip, Glanville fritillary. Ophrys catalaunica, rock soapwort, Saxifraga corbariensis, bird's-nest orchid. |
| Les Agudes |
Flora (endemic saxifrages), birds and butterflies |
Saxifraga genesiana, S. vayredana, pheasant's eye daffodil, wild tulip, European silver-fir. Rock bunting, alpine accentor. Queen of Spain fritillary |
| Serra de Bac Grillera |
Ridge flora |
Monkey orchid, Helianthemum canum, hoary rockrose, felty germander, violet limodore, hedgehog broom, Thymelaea dioica; |
| Salt de Sallent, Plana Mitjana |
Beech forest, butterflies, moths orchids |
Beech forest with Pyrenean squill, wild tulip, elder-flowered orchid, trumpet and spring gentians. Tau emperor, Duke of Burgundy's fritillary. Rock bunting. |
| La Barroca |
Butterflies, orchids and birds |
Scarce swallowtail, Berger's clouded yellow, Provence chalkhill and Adonis blues, marsh fritillary. Monkey and man orchids, lesser and greater butterfly orchids, twayblade sword-leaved helleborine. Subalpine warbler, golden oriole, woodlark. |
| La Mare de Déu del Mont |
Wild peony; changes in floral communities with altitude |
Wild peony, Ramonda myconi, Pyrenaen bellflower, Valeriana montana, fairy foxglove, blue aphyllanthes, fly orchid. Palmate newt, fire salamander. Chiffchaff, Bonelli's warbler, Subalpine warbler. Berger's clouded yellow, Adonis and Escher's blue. |
| L'Albera |
Flora, birds and butterflies |
Potentilla hirta, spotted rock rose, Dianthus pyrenaicus, everlasting flower, Cytinus hypocistis. Tawny pipit, ortolan bunting, spectacled and Orphean warblers, rock thrush, rock sparrow, alpine swift, blue rock thrush. Scarce swallowtail, Spanish gatekeeper, western marbled white. |
| Vall d'en Bas |
Last hay meadows in La Garrotxa; raptors, beech forest. |
Pyrenean squill, leopard's-bane, ransoms, livelong saxifrage, Saxifraga corbariensis, Rhinanthus mediterraneus. Short-toed and booted eagles, peregrine falcon. |
| June |
Basses de Monars Comanegra |
Subalpine orchids, birds. |
Black vanilla, elder-flowered, fragrant, frog, bee, burnt-tip and military orchids, lesser and greater butterfly orchids, livelong saxifrage, Ramonda myconi, clustered bellflower. Skylark, water pipit, raven, chough, golden eagle. |
| Puigsacalm La Garrotxa |
Birds, orchids, rock flora, butterflies. |
Marsh tit, nuthatch, chough, peregrine falcon, hedge sparrow, tree pipit. Elder-flowered, black vanilla, frog and fragrant orchids, livelong and Pyrenean saxifrage. Moroccan Orange tip, de Prunner's ringlet, scarce swallowtail, Duke of Burgundy's fritillary, Glanville fritillary, turquoise blue, black-veined white. |
| Barranc de la Coma de l'Infern |
Reptiles, amphibians, flora, birds. |
Ocellated lizard, viperine snake, painted frog, stripeless tree frog. Cork oak forest, chaste-tree, Jersey fern, Tree lavatera. Golden oriole, woodchat shrike, Orphean and melodious warblers, wryneck, bee-eater, short-toed eagle, corn bunting, hoopoe. |
| El Pasteral and river Ter La Selva |
Dragonflies, birds, flora. |
Scarlet darter, Gomphus pulchellus, Onychygomphus forcipatus, demoiselles, Platycnemnis spp Crag martin., |
| Les Salines |
Butterflies, ridge flora, |
Cardinal, marbled and Queen of Spain fritillaries, de Prunner's ringlet, black-veined white, grayling, purple-edged copper. Green lizard. Dartford and garden warblers, firecrest, crested tit, raven. Arenaria grandiflora, creeping snapdragon, crested lousewort, dwarf's sheep-bit, angular Solomon's seal, martagon lily |
| Rocacorba |
Riverine forest and butterflies |
Martagon lily, Canary oak. Marbled fritillary, white and southern white admirals. |
| Estany de Banyoles |
Dragonflies, wetland vegetation |
Great fen-sedge, marsh fern. Emperor and lesser emperor, Norfolk hawker, scarce chaser, golden ring dragonfly. Golden oriole. |
| EspinavellTorre de Mir |
Flora, butterflies and birds |
Globeflower, trumpet and great yellow gentians, Luzula nivea, tufted catchfly, Pyrenean honeysuckle, reddish and livelong saxifrage, common butterwort, fairy foxglove. De Prunner's ringlet, chestnut and pearly heaths, swallowtail, silver-studded blue. Quail, skylark, tree pipit, rock bunting, chough, bullfinch. |
| July |
Vall del Bac La Garrotxa |
Butterflies |
Large, silver-studded, Damon, Escher's, Chapman's, turquoise and Osiris blues, chestnut and pearly heaths, false ilex and sloe hairstreaks, knapweed and Glanville fritillaries, southern white admiral. |
| Pic de la Dona Ripollès |
Alpine flora, birds and butterflies |
Water, starry, livelong, mossy, geranium-like and hairless mossy saxifrages, Pyrenean poppy, mountains avens, viscid primrose. Lammergeier, griffon vulture, chough, wheatear, rock thrush, water pipit, citril finch. Many ringlets, Eros and Glandon blues, shepherd's and mountain blues. |
| El Montseny |
Butterflies. |
Ilex hairstreak, high brown fritillary, great banded grayling, violet fritillary, Camberwell beauty, white admiral. |
| Cabrera |
Mature beechwoods |
Xilophagous beetles. High brown and marbled fritillaries, Amanda and Ripart's anomalous blues. |
| August |
Rivers Borró and Fluvià |
Dragonflies and damselflies |
Orange-spotted emerald, Calopteryx haemorrhoidalis, southern migrant hawker, lesser emperor, Platycnemis acutipennis, Lestes virens. |
| Canigó Conflent |
Alpine flora and fauna |
Lammergeier, alpine chough, ringlets. Saxifrages. |
| Bastiments |
Alpine flora and fauna |
Lammergeier, griffon vulture, ring ouzel, citril finch, crossbill. Shepherd's and pearl-bordered fritillaries, Apollo, dewy ringlet, marsh (alpine) fritillary, Glandon blues. Water, starry and mossy saxifrages, Pyrenean lousewort, southern gentian, Senecio leucophyllus. |
| Bosc de Tosca |
Geology |
Volcanoes and lava flows. |
| September |
Les Gavarres |
Butterflies |
Two-tailed pasha. |
| Pla de Martís |
Karstic scenery |
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| Cadiretes |
Ferns, migrating raptors |
Royal fern, black kite, honey buzzard, white stork. |
| Cap de Norfeu |
Seabirds; autumn flowers |
Autumn narcissus, autumn squill. Gannet, gulls, shearwaters. |
October-
November-
December |
L'Albera |
Raptor migrant, autumn colours |
Sweet chestnut, downy oak and Montpellier maples. |
| Vall d'Hormoier |
Autumn colours, limestone scenery.. |
Field, Italian and Montpellier maples, downy and English oaks. |
| Massif de Cadiretes |
Geology |
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| Fluvià valley |
Birds |
Cormorant, lesser spotted woodpecker, kingfisher, cirl and corn buntings, skylark, crested lark. |
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