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Message: <blockquote data-quote="foresttwitcher" data-source="post: 3565962" data-attributes="member: 97625">Thursday 27th April:The original plan for this morning had been a return to the Irati beech forest to hunt for the woodpecker but decided that as I had a late afternoon flight to catch it may be better to do the tourist bit for some scenery and a wider range of birds than spend time looking for something I was unlikely to find. A good decision it turned out to be too.An early start had me at the Embalse de Yesa for first light and I took a slow drive up the Valle de Roncal admiring the scenery on the way up to the Collardo de la Piedra de San Martin. My first thought was to walk one of the waymarked nordic trails but the crust was very icy; it was -7 at the summit and I had passed the gritting truck on the way up! On returning to the car park there was a pair of Ring Ouzel in the stunted trees on the car park embankment. Heading over to the French side I soon stopped where the road passed through a rock cutting to see two female Crossbill and a Citril Finch picking through the grit on the tarmac and a male Crossbill perched up in a tree on top of the small crag. I turned round in the car park of the next ski area with a small flock of Alpine Chough flying around. On the descent I stopped off at the old refuge picking up Northern Wheatear and Water Pipit in the car park and Raven & Red-billed Chough overhead.Below the steep section at the head of the valley I parked up and walked a couple of the waymarked trails in the Belagua forests seeing familiar woodland species plus adding Crested Tit. I hit a flurry of 'birdy' activity in a scrubby area where the forest edge met alpine pasture and a small stream; a singing Blackcap and male Black Redstart in a hedge, the female Black Redstart on the rocks in the stream bed and a fine Yellowhammer and a single Marsh Tit in the same bush. On turning round when reaching a more farmed area a Griffon Vulture appeared low over the trees and soared up the adjacent ridge, followed by another, then another - 10 in all with the last being the unmistakable shape of a Lammergeier, which seemed to gain altitude much faster than the others as they thermalled upward.I stopped a bit further down the valley to do part of a wooded stream-side walk looking for woodpeckers but with no luck. However the gems in this valley had not finished as I had a low Egyptian Vulture overhead in the Foz de Burgui gorge section.Time to head for the airport. My route took me along a scenic road between Jaca and Huesca and past the very impressive sandstone cliffs at Los Mallos de Riglos. I couldn't find a safe place to stop on this road so took the side road further south leading up to the village. I only had a brief time to look at the climbing routes so did not have a chance to look for any birds around the cliffs.So, back to the airport to drop off the car and check-in for my flight home after a great trip - four main target lifers seen and a total of 152 species without having even seen the sea.Mammals:Roe Deer - surprisingly common - as well as the suicidal one in PN Cabaneros I also saw a couple of singles in the same area, a group of three in the crops at Laguna de Gallocanta, a pair from the Autovia over a high plains section and another that ran out in front of me on the way down the Valle de Roncal (I had some warning of this one as I saw it coming down the embankment).Red Fox  - one at the end of the walking route at El Planeron & another spooking the Lapwings from one of the raised hides at Laguna de Gallocanta.Rabbits - everywhere in crop, dehesa & steppe areas.Hare - one on the road through PN Cabaneros.Red Squirrel - one in mixed woodland in Valle de Roncal.Unidentified Martin - one crossed the road in front of me pre-dawn near the Embalse de Yesa - possibly Beech Martin!?Egyptian Mongoose - 2 roadkill in the sierras west of Madrid.</blockquote>

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