Spain's Picos De Europa Mountains

Spain's Picos de Europa Mountains Naturetrek Tour Report 10 - 17 June 2007 Above Fuente De Ciliate Rock Jasmine Spotted Fritillary Torre Cerredo Report & photos compiled by John and Jenny Willsher Naturetrek Cheriton Mill Cheriton Alresford Hampshire SO24 0NG England T: +44 (0)1962 733051 F: +44 (0)1962 736426 E: [email protected] W: www.naturetrek.co.uk Tour Report Spain's Picos de Europa Mountains Tour leaders: John and Jenny Willsher Participants: Gerrard and Sue Bakker Peter and Valerie Herring Stan and Wendy Bass Alan Bash Gill Woodley Diane Mathias Mark Bunch Day 1 Sunday 10th June Santander to Espinama The flight from Stansted was on time, and the group were soon through to meet John and Jenny who had been in the Picos for a few days already and had the vehicles ready and waiting. We were quickly on our way, leaving Santander behind and doing our best to ignore the industrial sprawl of Torrelavega. We take the E70 motorway to Unquera, which is a good road, but takes us through a managed landscape, mostly large plantations of pine and eucalypt for the paper mills at Torrelavega, a relic of Franco’s reign. Roadside birds include our first Common Buzzard and Black Kite. But once off the E70 and heading south, the countryside softens and we can appreciate some of the traditional architecture of dark stone and timber with terracotta tiles, and some buildings with strong colour-washed walls – some colours more sympathetic than others! We get our first view of one of the many peaks we will see in the next few days as Penamellera looms ahead of us as we head for Panes. Once through Panes, we are soon following the Rio Deva in the dramatic Hermida Gorge. The Rio Deva is still brown from torrential rain on Saturday night. The little village of La Hermida is so deep in the gorge that it does not receive any sun for 5 months of the year. We stop briefly to stretch our legs and get a flavour of the local flora and avifauna. On the gorge walls grows Narrow-leaved Valerian and the yellow Antirrhinum braun-blanquetii which is endemic to northern Portugal and Northern Spain. We find Woodcock Orchid in the grass and above us Crag Martins are patrolling their stretch of cliff. Leaving the gorge we reach our hotel in Espinama and our first taste of local food. Day 2 Monday 11th June Fuente De The weather forecast is good and we take this opportunity to go high. We take the vehicles up to the cable car at Fuente De, share the picnic between everyone’s rucksacks, and join the queue for the cable car. This is the longest cable car span in Europe, making a dramatic 800m ascent. We are a little early for the first car up but watch a Red Squirrel and Goldcrest while we wait. Once at the top we are in a shattered limestone landscape where there is a wealth of alpine flora. We soon find Pyrenean Trumpet Gentians, Ciliate Rock Jasmine (Androsace villosa), Sad Stock, Spurge Laurel (Daphne laureola ssp philippi), Anenome trifolia, Spring Squill, Alpine and Pyrenean Toadflax. © Naturetrek July 07 1 Spain's Picos de Europa Mountains Tour Report While the birdwatchers enjoy the antics of both species of Choughs we also find Vernal Sandwort, Pyrenean Mignonette, Euphorbia flavicoma and E. pyrenaica. There are many Griffon Vultures and around us, an Alpine Accentor and several Water Pipits plummeting down in song flight. Before we start our lengthy descent to Espinama, we make our way to the Wallcreeper spot, under the cliffs of Pena Vieja, where we see four chamois, or Isard as the local population is called, one crossing the track in front of us and scrambling up the scree. Between the rocks along this track is Holly and Brittle Bladder Fern, Maidenhair Spleenwort, the leaves of Alpine Hawkweed and Pyrenean Woodruff. A bird is seen on the rock wall so we set up our picnic, to watch and eat. Two Wallcreepers are seen on the wall but they are some way off. News gets to us that one has been seen feeding close to the track further on. Some of us then reach the spot and are rewarded with a brief but brilliant close view of a Wallcreeper hunting amongst the boulder scree. We now retrace our steps before making our way down through the montane pastures of Puertas del Aliva, grazed by cows, sheep and horses. Northern Wheatears and Water Pipits are singing around us and in some places the turf is blue with Spring Squill. Spring Gentian and Leafless-stemmed Speedwell, and we find two cushions of Moss Campion. On the track side we find the endemic Pink Sandwort, Spoon-leaved Candytuft, Hoary and Common Rockrose, Fairy Foxglove, Alpine Calamint, Chaenorhinum origanifolium, Carduncellus monspelliensis and low growing rosettes of Pyrenean Thistle. We stop at the Refugio de Aliva for a welcome drink and facilities before heading onwards and downwards first watching three Egyptian Vultures on the ground amongst the grazing cattle. Then on through the woods with singing Bonelli’s Warblers, and meadows of the Nevandi valley which brings us to our hotel of the same name in Espinama. In one steep meadow we find some good spikes of Pink Butterfly Orchid and Serapias lingua, alongside Winged Greenweed, White Asphodel, Greater Yellow Rattle, Pyrenean Eryngo, Selfheal and Large-flowered Selfheal. Day 3 Tuesday 12th June Espinama to Fuente De via Pido Another fine day is forecast, so we again pack the picnic into our rucksacks and plan a day of walking locally. After watching Common and Black Redstarts opposite the hotel, we take the track to the small village of Pido, crossing the river Deva, and strolling up through meadows and woods to the cable car station at Fuente De. Our first botanical finds include some perfect spikes of Lizard Orchid, a few yards from the hotel. In the little lane to Pido we find Bath Asparagus (Ornithogalum pyrenaicum), Scrambling Gromwell, Spreading Bellflower, Bloody and Hedgerow Cranesbill, Tragopogon crocifolius, Hemlock, Dog Rose and Field Rose. In Pido the wall above the spring is a mass of Mossy Saxifrage and sedums, and in the walls along the lanes are Rusty- back Fern, Maidenhair Spleenwort, Wall Rue and Black Spleenwort. Birds include a smart male Pied Flycatcher , singing Blackcaps and Garden Warblers. There is a family party of Nuthatches and again several Griffon Vultures are seen high above us. The walk is steep in parts and at one resting point we find a spike of Bird’s-nest Orchid. We picnic under trees overlooking one of the many flower-rich meadows along our walk, before making our way to the restaurant at Fuente De. Some choose to take a lift back to Espinama, while other walk back and are rewarded with more botanical gems amongst the meadows, including Sawfly and Early Spider Orchids, and Thapsia villosa with its 2 © Naturetrek July 07 Spain's Picos de Europa Mountains Tour Report dramatic starburst heads of yellow. Butterflies are more visible with Clouded Yellows, Turquoise Blue, Adonis Blue, Sooty and Small Coppers, and a Red-backed Shrike and Yellowhammer finish off the day. Day 4 Wednesday 13th June Espinama to Arenas de Cabrales We say our farewells to Santi, our host and head north for Arenas. First we stop briefly in Potes for some provisions and postcards. Then we wend our way through the Hermida gorge, stopping to look at the pre- Romanesque church of Santa Maria de Lebena. On previous trips we have seen nesting Wryneck, and today is no exception. Some of the group wander around the church and the surrounding meadows looking at the flowers and butterflies, while John patiently waits to see the Wryneck. We soon regroup around the ‘scope to get good views of this secretive bird bringing food to a nest. Many Griffon Vultures and a single Egyptian Vulture are also seen. Butterflies here include our first Cleopatra, Short-tailed Blue, Weavers and Spotted Fritillary. Good butterflies and flowers are also found. The gorges of the Picos have their own micro-climates and we find Mediterranean species such as Strawberry Tree, Kermes Oak, St Lucie’s Cherry, many vetches such as Lucerne, Restharrow and Pitch Trefoil, Sage-leaved Cistus, Swallow-wort, Galactites tomentosum and Smilax aspera. At Panes we head west, along the north bank of the Rio Cares, firstly passing through a wide fertile valley, where there is another Black Kite before the gorge walls close in again, for more spectacular scenery. We picnic near the village of Mier, in a neglected playground which gives us the luxury of picnic tables and a wander by the river, before heading for our next base in Arenas. Our simple hotel is situated in a meadow, away from the busy little town, and has a view of the highest peak in the Picos, Torre Cerredo. We have a welcome cup of tea or coffee before heading out for an afternoon walk in the Vega de Sotres an upland valley with flower rich meadows. The strong wind means that butterflies are fewer than hoped but Northern Wheatears, Black Redstart, Linnets and Water Pipits are seen. We have a long and good view of a Golden Eagle crossing the valley and then an all too brief view of a Rock Thrush fly from a building in the village further up the valley. Day 5 Thursday 14th June Covadonga Lakes The forecast for today was for early showers, but somehow the showers seemed to have got rolled into one huge downpour and we all got wet.

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