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About Us:

Wildlife Tours in Pyrenees & Aragon

If you enjoy nature, wildlife, and particularly birds, then add an Aragon Active Holiday to your travel plans. Based in Aragon, in the central Spanish Pyrenees wildlife, we offer small group wildlife, wildlife photography, and birding trips, all with our own unique personal touch.

We are Simon and Lucy, your hosts, passionate about nature, and cofounders of Aragon Active, our environmentally sustainable wildlife holiday business. This extends to our local guides and experts who are all Spanish. They know our area, speak good English, and share our passion.

Whatever trip you choose, you will be staying at our small boutique hotel, Casa Allué, in the tiny Pyrenean hamlet of Albella. The house, originally a 17th-century farmhouse, has been sympathetically renovated to a very high standard with spacious double rooms, wood-beamed ceilings and deluxe en-suite bathrooms.

Our green credentials include geothermal hot water, and underfloor heating, rain harvesting and our extensive organic vegetable patch. This supplies our kitchen, and together with other local produce is a vital part of our ‘0 km’ philosophy, in the preparation of our gourmet meals.

Most rooms have a balcony with open views across the valley of Ara. Whatever the time of year, don’t be surprised to see Wild boar or Fallow deer in the garden, whilst Black redstarts bob up and down from their vantage point.

Wildlife Species of Pyrenees

In Spanish Pyrenees, you will be able to see Griffon vultures, Red and Black kites and Common Buzzards soar. Summer visitors include Egyptian vultures, Short-toed eagles, Golden Oriole, Hoopoe, European bee-eaters, Wryneck, European nightjars, Swallows, Crag Martins, Western Bonelli’s warbler, Garden Warbler and Lesser-spotted flycatcher, all seen from the garden! In the winter the garden attracts Hawfinch, Serin and Citril finch and we have even seen Blue rock thrush and Wallcreeper on the stone buildings!

Come and explore the wonderful Pyrenees wildlife with us!

Aragon Active is a registered Travel Agency (reference: CAA 304) and licenced by the Government of the Community of Aragon.

Tours:

Northern Spain Birding Tour

Spain 7 Days

Starting From EUR 1,395 / per person

Discover this tour

Wildlife:

Bearded Vulture

Our Birding tour of Northern Spain takes you to one of the best places in the world to see the emblematic Bearded Vulture. The huge wingspan (nearly 3m) casts an unmistakable shadow on the landscape. Sometimes this is the first thing we see from the hide, we are so close you can even see the red scleral ring around the eye.

Golden Eagle

Our hide visit, a highlight on our Birding tour of Northern Spain, allows for stunning views of this majestic bird. Named after the pale golden plumage on the back of the head it is the most part it is a dark chocolate brown with white patches under the wing and on the tail.

Wallcreeper

Known by many pseudonyms, such as the “butterfly bird” or locally as “pintarpared” or “wallpainter.” This small passerine bird is about the size of a Nuthatch, yet weighs no more than a Great Tit. Deep crimson wings flash and flutter as it negotiates the vertical rockfaces we visit on our Birding tour of Northern Spain.

Firecrest

On our Birding tour of Northern Spain, we visit the local pine forests to find this Kinglet. Distinguished from the Goldcrest by the black and white stripe above the eye, it can be quite difficult to identify. The chestnut colour thumbprint on the shoulder is a good way to confirm it is a Firecrest.

Crested Tit

Both the common name and scientific name (Lophophanus cristatus), are derived from the distinctive chequered black and white crest which stands erect and quite pointed in the adult. This makes it much easier to spot in the red pine forests which we visit on our Birding tour of Northern Spain.

Black Woodpecker

We visit the Ordesa National Park on our Birding tour of Northern Spain to get a glimpse of this striking bird. It is the largest of the European woodpeckers. Both male and female are all black, the male having a large red crown covering most of the head, whilst by comparison on the female it is more of a thin red flash.

Common Crane

We time our Birding tour of Northern Spain to see between 20.000 and 60,000 Common Cranes, gathering on their annual migration. The adult bird has slate grey plumage; the throat, nape and sides of the face are black, a white stripe runs from the eye down each side of the neck to the upper back. The striking red crown is actually a bare patch of skin.

Great Bustard

On our Birding tour of Northern Spain, we often see this bird in a group, known as a ‘drove.’ Males and females only come together to mate. Similar in shape to a goose (but on stilts, with a much straighter neck), they are one of the heaviest flying birds in the world.

Marsh Harrier

Gallocanta, a stop-over on our Birding tour of Northern Spain, is a great place to see this, the largest of all the harriers. Probably the most noticeable characteristic is the absence of white on the rump and the long tail.

Black-bellied Sandgrouse

The steppe plains we visit on our Birding tour of Northern Spain are the ideal habitat. The male has an orange throat with black half-band, pale salmon breast and defined black border. Both male and have a black belly but the female is less showy; buff/beige with speckled breast, and less defined black bands.

Conservation:

All our tours include a day visiting an area that supports more Bearded vultures than any other place in Europe. The increasing population in our area is a direct result of the work carried out by theFundación para la conservación del Quebrantahuesos’ (FCQ). This is an NGO established in 1995 to re-establish the population of the Bearded Vulture across the Pyrenees. During our day in the mountains, we talk about the bird, it’s unique feeding habits, mating cycle, spotting a Bearded Vulture, and it’s persecution. Education is an important element in the conservation of this magnificent bird.

In addition to education, we also make an annual donation to FCQ. Throughout the year our guests are encouraged to buy merchandise relating to our business and the Bearded Vulture itself. We make no profit on these sales and hand all monies received (including donations) are given to the FCQ. Each year we raise hundreds of Euros for this conservation project.

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