Birding the Camino

[Grahamby]

My partner and I are thoroughly committed birdwatchers and nature-lovers. When she, my dad, and I decided to do the Camino Le Puy together, I was determined to devote a good portion of the experience to seeing as many birds as I could along the way. The region of France that the route from Le Puy en Velay to SJPP runs through is hardly a biodiversity hotspot. But, as I was reminded constantly, “this is not a birding trip!”, and birding the Camino was less about a single-minded focus on birding (impossible, of course), but adding birding to the daily routines that make up life on the path.

Birding has always given me a chance to slow down, observe, and tune in to the natural world that surrounds us everyday and I was really excited to see species in France that I was not familiar with. I was also keen to list my daily observations on eBird, a citizen-science platform that is helping record and map observations for scientists and conservation efforts. At least as far as eBird records are concerned, it is a relatively under-birded area, and while my daily lists were somewhat informal (“incidental” in the eBird parlance) given the daily walking distances involved, this minuscule contribution still felt satisfying.

Deciding to bird brought on some additional challenges, namely weight and comfort. Not bringing a full-on field guide was not an option for me. I am not familiar enough with European species to forgo a book, and prefer a book to looking at my phone. The lightest weight, back-pocket sized guide I could find was Lynx Editions’ Aves de Europa at 12.7 ounces. We also decided to leave the big (29.5 ounces) binoculars at home and looked for the best, lightest weight binoculars still suitable for birding. We ended up settling on the Leica Ultravid 10x25 at 9.4 ounces. I rigged these up through tiny carabiners on the shoulder straps of our packs to take the weight off our necks.

Because birds are most active in the morning, we started out slow and birded through mid-morning, always walking, but lingering when we wanted. My dad blazed ahead and we’d all meet up late-morning or midday. After lunch, it was time to put the binoculars away, or at least, until something unusual appeared. Birding had added benefits that dovetailed nicely with the needs dictated by the Camino: slow but steady pace, regular breaks with stretching, stopping regularly to take in the landscape. Sometimes feeling the pressure to push on was frustrating when searching for elusive birds (damned Black Woodpeckers), but with days and days of birding ahead in similar surroundings, it felt okay to let go and say “we’ll get ‘em tomorrow”. Turns out, there were a number of birds that I really wanted to see and never did (damned Bullfinches), but the next medieval abbey, plate of aligôt, glass of local armagnac, or cheerful reconnection with a fellow pilgrim more than made up them. Now I say, "we'll get 'em on the next Camino".

Walking and birding, day after day, over varied terrain, through different habitats, allowed for a feeling of connection to the landscape that can only be experienced at a walkers pace and with an attentive eye. Gradually descending from the high plateau of the Aubrac into the Lot Valley and beyond was seeing the season change from Winter to Spring in the matter of a single day. Of course, the species of birds also changed from higher altitudes to lower, the birdsong more varied and frequent as we came off the windy heathlands into full, blooming May.

Of course, none of this activity distracted us in the least from the enjoyment of the camaraderie, hospitality, architecture, food, sense of historical and spiritual being-ness, the trials and exhaustion that the Camino invokes. All of that is surely for another story. I will say if you want to experience the wilder aspects of walking the Camino, don’t hesitate to bring some lightweight binoculars and a field guide (or a bird identification app).

A list of the birds that were seen between Le Puy en Velay and Éauze:

Mute Swan
Mallard
Great Crested Grebe
Rock Pigeon
Common Wood Pigeon
Eurasian Collared Dove
Common Cuckoo
Alpine Swift
Common Swift
Eurasian Coot
Black-Headed Gull
Yellow-Legged Gull
Common Tern
Great Comorant
Gray Heron
Purple Heron
Great Egret
Little Egret
Cattle Egret
Red Kite
Black Kite
Common Buzzard
Eurasian Hoopoe
European Bee-eater
Eurasian Wryneck
Middle Spotted Woodpecker
Great Spotted Woodpecker
Eurasian Green Woodpecker
Eurasian Kestrel
Eurasian Golden Oriole
Eurasian Jay
Eurasian Magpie
Eurasian Jackdaw
Carrion Crow
Common Raven
Coal Tit
Crested Tit
Marsh Tit
Eurasian Blue Tit
Great Tit
Wood Lark
Eurasian Skylark
Zitting Cisticola
Melodious Warbler
Bank Swallow
Barn Swallow
Common House Martin
Western Bonelli’s Warbler
Willow Warbler
Common Chiffchaff
Long-tailed Tit
Eurasian Blackcap
Greater Whitethroat
Goldcrest
Common Firecrest
Eurasian Nuthatch
Eurasian Treecreeper
Short-toed Woodcreeper
Eurasian Wren
White-throated Dipper
European Starling
Mistle Thrush
Eurasian Blackbird
Fieldfare
Spotted Flycatcher
European Robin
Common Nightingale
European Pied Flycatcher
Common Redstart
Black Redstart
Whinchat
European Stonechat
Dunnock
House Sparrow
Gray Wagtail
White Wagtail
Meadow Pipit
Tree Pipit
Common Chaffinch
European Greenfinch
Eurasian Linnet
European Goldfinch
European Serin
Corn Bunting
Cirl Bunting
Yellowhammer

 

[Caminotellers]

My partner and I are thoroughly committed birdwatchers and nature-lovers. When she, my dad, and I decided to do the Camino Le Puy together, I was determined to devote a good portion of the experience to seeing as many birds as I could along the way. The region of France that the route from Le Puy en Velay to SJPP runs through is hardly a biodiversity hotspot. But, as I was reminded constantly, “this is not a birding trip!”, and birding the Camino was less about a single-minded focus on birding (impossible, of course), but adding birding to the daily routines that make up life on the path.

Birding has always given me a chance to slow down, observe, and tune in to the natural world that surrounds us everyday and I was really excited to see species in France that I was not familiar with. I was also keen to list my daily observations on eBird, a citizen-science platform that is helping record and map observations for scientists and conservation efforts. At least as far as eBird records are concerned, it is a relatively under-birded area, and while my daily lists were somewhat informal (“incidental” in the eBird parlance) given the daily walking distances involved, this minuscule contribution still felt satisfying.

Deciding to bird brought on some additional challenges, namely weight and comfort. Not bringing a full-on field guide was not an option for me. I am not familiar enough with European species to forgo a book, and prefer a book to looking at my phone. The lightest weight, back-pocket sized guide I could find was Lynx Editions’ Aves de Europa at 12.7 ounces. We also decided to leave the big (29.5 ounces) binoculars at home and looked for the best, lightest weight binoculars still suitable for birding. We ended up settling on the Leica Ultravid 10x25 at 9.4 ounces. I rigged these up through tiny carabiners on the shoulder straps of our packs to take the weight off our necks.

Because birds are most active in the morning, we started out slow and birded through mid-morning, always walking, but lingering when we wanted. My dad blazed ahead and we’d all meet up late-morning or midday. After lunch, it was time to put the binoculars away, or at least, until something unusual appeared. Birding had added benefits that dovetailed nicely with the needs dictated by the Camino: slow but steady pace, regular breaks with stretching, stopping regularly to take in the landscape. Sometimes feeling the pressure to push on was frustrating when searching for elusive birds (damned Black Woodpeckers), but with days and days of birding ahead in similar surroundings, it felt okay to let go and say “we’ll get ‘em tomorrow”. Turns out, there were a number of birds that I really wanted to see and never did (damned Bullfinches), but the next medieval abbey, plate of aligôt, glass of local armagnac, or cheerful reconnection with a fellow pilgrim more than made up them. Now I say, "we'll get 'em on the next Camino".

Walking and birding, day after day, over varied terrain, through different habitats, allowed for a feeling of connection to the landscape that can only be experienced at a walkers pace and with an attentive eye. Gradually descending from the high plateau of the Aubrac into the Lot Valley and beyond was seeing the season change from Winter to Spring in the matter of a single day. Of course, the species of birds also changed from higher altitudes to lower, the birdsong more varied and frequent as we came off the windy heathlands into full, blooming May.

Of course, none of this activity distracted us in the least from the enjoyment of the camaraderie, hospitality, architecture, food, sense of historical and spiritual being-ness, the trials and exhaustion that the Camino invokes. All of that is surely for another story. I will say if you want to experience the wilder aspects of walking the Camino, don’t hesitate to bring some lightweight binoculars and a field guide (or a bird identification app).

A list of the birds that were seen between Le Puy en Velay and Éauze:

Mute Swan
Mallard
Great Crested Grebe
Rock Pigeon
Common Wood Pigeon
Eurasian Collared Dove
Common Cuckoo
Alpine Swift
Common Swift
Eurasian Coot
Black-Headed Gull
Yellow-Legged Gull
Common Tern
Great Comorant
Gray Heron
Purple Heron
Great Egret
Little Egret
Cattle Egret
Red Kite
Black Kite
Common Buzzard
Eurasian Hoopoe
European Bee-eater
Eurasian Wryneck
Middle Spotted Woodpecker
Great Spotted Woodpecker
Eurasian Green Woodpecker
Eurasian Kestrel
Eurasian Golden Oriole
Eurasian Jay
Eurasian Magpie
Eurasian Jackdaw
Carrion Crow
Common Raven
Coal Tit
Crested Tit
Marsh Tit
Eurasian Blue Tit
Great Tit
Wood Lark
Eurasian Skylark
Zitting Cisticola
Melodious Warbler
Bank Swallow
Barn Swallow
Common House Martin
Western Bonelli’s Warbler
Willow Warbler
Common Chiffchaff
Long-tailed Tit
Eurasian Blackcap
Greater Whitethroat
Goldcrest
Common Firecrest
Eurasian Nuthatch
Eurasian Treecreeper
Short-toed Woodcreeper
Eurasian Wren
White-throated Dipper
European Starling
Mistle Thrush
Eurasian Blackbird
Fieldfare
Spotted Flycatcher
European Robin
Common Nightingale
European Pied Flycatcher
Common Redstart
Black Redstart
Whinchat
European Stonechat
Dunnock
House Sparrow
Gray Wagtail
White Wagtail
Meadow Pipit
Tree Pipit
Common Chaffinch
European Greenfinch
Eurasian Linnet
European Goldfinch
European Serin
Corn Bunting
Cirl Bunting
Yellowhammer

Thanks a mil for sharing! One of the forgotten parts of Camino is Nature, that we sometimes give for granted! But farther we go in the Camino path, the more connected we might be with the all surrounding Nature.

I’ ve discovered bird watching away from Camino, in Dholavira, a small salty land in northern India during one of the Indian Pilgrimages and… it was amazingly enriching! The ability to slow down, remain silent and simply observe helped me to perceive the world in in totally different way. And those experiences I brought back to Camino, immersing into a mindful walking and being open to details that normally are easily missed. Bird watching has become a way to connect more to the nature and to others, listening more!

Thanks for bringing up this conversation.

Erica and Ricky

 

[VNwalking]

Great job, @Grahamby!
You saw a Wryneck - wonderful. They're really hard to see...

I used to be a professional ornithologist (long ago and not in Europe) and have never stopped appreciating how watching birds (or just noticing them) causes me to slow down and pay attention.

if you want to experience the wilder aspects of walking the Camino,

And I'd you have the time to creep along at a much slower pace than you might otherwise.

don’t hesitate to bring some lightweight binoculars and a field guide (or a bird identification app).

I use Merlin, as do a huge number of other folks. The Cornell Lab gang have done a super job - and at least in Northern Europe the sound ID works pretty well. I haven't tried it in Spain yet and look forward to trying.

 

[Camino Chrissy]

Great job, @Grahamby!
You saw a Wryneck - wonderful. They're really hard to see...

I used to be a professional ornithologist (long ago and not in Europe) and have never stopped appreciating how watching birds (or just noticing them) causes me to slow down and pay attention.

It's nice to have a little background info, @VNwalking, on your past career path;very interesting.

And I'd you have the time to creep along at a much slower pace than you might otherwise.

I creep along pretty slow already, although I do absorb nature, pretty rocks(I even collect a few), and conga lines of ants crossing the trail as I walk on the Camino de Madrid. The main birds I've been able to zone in on are...pigeons.

 

[TrailRunner]

I've just walked the Camino Lebaniego and Vadiniense and I got a sore neck from looking up all the time! The birds of prey along that route were abundant, noisy (Griffon vultures) and spectacular. I frequently took time out to sit and watch them. It made me wish that I could identify them better and I too am thinking of lightweight binoculars to add to my packing list next time. Thanks to the OP for such a lovely post.

 

[VNwalking]

The main birds I've been able to zone in on are...pigeons

If you download Merlin and install the European bird pack, your horizons will expand! You can turn on sound ID and it will tell you who's singing in real time. It's very fun.

 

[Bradypus]

The birds of prey along that route were abundant, noisy (Griffon vultures) and spectacular

Apart from the hoopoes I saw on the Via de la Plata the vultures are my lasting bird memory of the Caminos. On my very first day on the Frances I had underestimated the amount of water I'd need. I arrived at the Fuente de Roldan hot and sweaty and a bit dehydrated. And discovered the fuente was dry Then I looked up and saw a pair of the buggers circling directly overhead. A tad premature! I shouted "Bugger off! I'm not dead yet!" and carried on to Roncesvalles.

 

[Theatregal]

Thank you for your post @Grahamby . Wonderful to read your experience and see your list. Home about a week now after birding along the Caminos Aragonés and Frances for 6 weeks. I regretted not having my binoculars - packed them and then took them out at the last minute because of the weight. As @VNwalking mentions, the Merlin app sound ID was a tremendous tool.

If you ever return and perhaps walk the the beautiful Camino Aragonés, do take the alternative route to the spectacular Foz de Lumbier!!

https://ebird.org/hotspot/L2378824

 

[Anniesantiago]

Coolest birds for me were the storks, the cuckoos, and the hoopoes.

 

[Camino Chrissy]

Coolest birds for me were the storks, the cuckoos, and the hoopoes.

I loved the cuckoo birds and was amazed how they sound identical to the German and Swiss cuckoo clocks my mother-in-in law collected on her travels.
I also loved the storks, their nests, their "clacking" sound, and the babies in the nests.

 

[JerryStroebele]

Yes, gracias for posting this. A gem of a (small, light) book about plants and birds on the Camino Frances (Spain side) is The Way of the Gardener by Lyndon Penner. A fun read and enlightening. Buen Camino

 

[Quahaug]

My partner and I are thoroughly committed birdwatchers and nature-lovers. When she, my dad, and I decided to do the Camino Le Puy together, I was determined to devote a good portion of the experience to seeing as many birds as I could along the way. The region of France that the route from Le Puy en Velay to SJPP runs through is hardly a biodiversity hotspot. But, as I was reminded constantly, “this is not a birding trip!”, and birding the Camino was less about a single-minded focus on birding (impossible, of course), but adding birding to the daily routines that make up life on the path.

Birding has always given me a chance to slow down, observe, and tune in to the natural world that surrounds us everyday and I was really excited to see species in France that I was not familiar with. I was also keen to list my daily observations on eBird, a citizen-science platform that is helping record and map observations for scientists and conservation efforts. At least as far as eBird records are concerned, it is a relatively under-birded area, and while my daily lists were somewhat informal (“incidental” in the eBird parlance) given the daily walking distances involved, this minuscule contribution still felt satisfying.

Deciding to bird brought on some additional challenges, namely weight and comfort. Not bringing a full-on field guide was not an option for me. I am not familiar enough with European species to forgo a book, and prefer a book to looking at my phone. The lightest weight, back-pocket sized guide I could find was Lynx Editions’ Aves de Europa at 12.7 ounces. We also decided to leave the big (29.5 ounces) binoculars at home and looked for the best, lightest weight binoculars still suitable for birding. We ended up settling on the Leica Ultravid 10x25 at 9.4 ounces. I rigged these up through tiny carabiners on the shoulder straps of our packs to take the weight off our necks.

Because birds are most active in the morning, we started out slow and birded through mid-morning, always walking, but lingering when we wanted. My dad blazed ahead and we’d all meet up late-morning or midday. After lunch, it was time to put the binoculars away, or at least, until something unusual appeared. Birding had added benefits that dovetailed nicely with the needs dictated by the Camino: slow but steady pace, regular breaks with stretching, stopping regularly to take in the landscape. Sometimes feeling the pressure to push on was frustrating when searching for elusive birds (damned Black Woodpeckers), but with days and days of birding ahead in similar surroundings, it felt okay to let go and say “we’ll get ‘em tomorrow”. Turns out, there were a number of birds that I really wanted to see and never did (damned Bullfinches), but the next medieval abbey, plate of aligôt, glass of local armagnac, or cheerful reconnection with a fellow pilgrim more than made up them. Now I say, "we'll get 'em on the next Camino".

Walking and birding, day after day, over varied terrain, through different habitats, allowed for a feeling of connection to the landscape that can only be experienced at a walkers pace and with an attentive eye. Gradually descending from the high plateau of the Aubrac into the Lot Valley and beyond was seeing the season change from Winter to Spring in the matter of a single day. Of course, the species of birds also changed from higher altitudes to lower, the birdsong more varied and frequent as we came off the windy heathlands into full, blooming May.

Of course, none of this activity distracted us in the least from the enjoyment of the camaraderie, hospitality, architecture, food, sense of historical and spiritual being-ness, the trials and exhaustion that the Camino invokes. All of that is surely for another story. I will say if you want to experience the wilder aspects of walking the Camino, don’t hesitate to bring some lightweight binoculars and a field guide (or a bird identification app).

A list of the birds that were seen between Le Puy en Velay and Éauze:

Mute Swan
Mallard
Great Crested Grebe
Rock Pigeon
Common Wood Pigeon
Eurasian Collared Dove
Common Cuckoo
Alpine Swift
Common Swift
Eurasian Coot
Black-Headed Gull
Yellow-Legged Gull
Common Tern
Great Comorant
Gray Heron
Purple Heron
Great Egret
Little Egret
Cattle Egret
Red Kite
Black Kite
Common Buzzard
Eurasian Hoopoe
European Bee-eater
Eurasian Wryneck
Middle Spotted Woodpecker
Great Spotted Woodpecker
Eurasian Green Woodpecker
Eurasian Kestrel
Eurasian Golden Oriole
Eurasian Jay
Eurasian Magpie
Eurasian Jackdaw
Carrion Crow
Common Raven
Coal Tit
Crested Tit
Marsh Tit
Eurasian Blue Tit
Great Tit
Wood Lark
Eurasian Skylark
Zitting Cisticola
Melodious Warbler
Bank Swallow
Barn Swallow
Common House Martin
Western Bonelli’s Warbler
Willow Warbler
Common Chiffchaff
Long-tailed Tit
Eurasian Blackcap
Greater Whitethroat
Goldcrest
Common Firecrest
Eurasian Nuthatch
Eurasian Treecreeper
Short-toed Woodcreeper
Eurasian Wren
White-throated Dipper
European Starling
Mistle Thrush
Eurasian Blackbird
Fieldfare
Spotted Flycatcher
European Robin
Common Nightingale
European Pied Flycatcher
Common Redstart
Black Redstart
Whinchat
European Stonechat
Dunnock
House Sparrow
Gray Wagtail
White Wagtail
Meadow Pipit
Tree Pipit
Common Chaffinch
European Greenfinch
Eurasian Linnet
European Goldfinch
European Serin
Corn Bunting
Cirl Bunting
Yellowhammer

Well done and quite a list. I only had 19 species but it was a short Camino and I didn’t have any glass with me.

 

[Grahamby]

Thanks everyone for the good words, I'm happy to see so many others enjoying birds on the different caminos. The variety of species between France, Spain, and Portugal is pretty impressive for a relatively small area.

I also meant to say how great it was to have the small binoculars to take in all the architectural and artistic details that are nearly impossible to see with the naked eye. I would bring them again if only just for this purpose.

 

[ElCee]

I was ID’ing plants on the Portuguese Camino earlier this month but wishing I had binocs to ID birds too. Has anyone written about the flora and fauna of the Caminos? I was wishing I’d done some reading on what to look for before I left.

 

[VNwalking]

Has anyone written about the flora and fauna of the Caminos?

There've been the occasional thread here about that, but none from the Portuguese.
I use Google Lens to ID plants on the camino, and the Merlin app for birds.

also meant to say how great it was to have the small binoculars to take in all the architectural and artistic details that are nearly impossible to see with the naked eye. I would bring them again if only just for this purpose.

I'm going to take my binoculars next time, too. You can get really good lightweight ones.

 

[ElCee]

There've been the occasional thread here about that, but none from the Portuguese.
I use Google Lens to ID plants on the camino, and the Merlin app for birds.


I'm going to take my binoculars next time, too. You can get really good lightweight ones.

INaturalist is my go to app for IDing plants and bugs. It makes suggestions that you have to vet and then other users will confirm or challenge your ID. I don’t trust an app that claims to make an ID from a photo alone. There are too many variables.
What is the little red breasted sparrow-y bird seen commonly in Spain and France? It’s much smaller than our North American robin.

 

[dbier]

I believe I was told it was an European robin. They are much smaller. ;-)

 

[Theatregal]

What is the little red breasted sparrow-y bird seen commonly in Spain and France? It’s much smaller than our North American robin.

This one? It's a European Robin. The second photo is a juvenile.

 

[JerryStroebele]

One let me walk by 4 feet away on the Alto de Perdon today. So cute. Buen Camino

 

[dbier]

Yes, they would perch on tall grasses/weeds ahead of me on the Primitivo and wait until I got my camera out, then fly away. I think they were trying to encourage me to move faster... ;-)

 

[Bradypus]

What is the little red breasted sparrow-y bird seen commonly in Spain and France? It’s much smaller than our North American robin.

As a child in the UK I was very surprised to see the giant thrush-sized robin that appears very briefly in "Mary Poppins". And the skunks which I never knew were native to the UK but which appear near London in the live action version of "101 Dalmatians". You would have thought that a reputable company like Walt Disney would have more concern for scientific rigour and realism in their films...

 

[Paul McAmino]

Thanks @Grahamby for your post about an aspect of the Camino (any Camino!) that seemingly is often ignored, perhaps a victim of the modern trend for hurry and busyness. I’ll second those who added the Merlin app to their mobiles and were able to identify by bird song, even if the songster was playing hard to see. Our days were enriched on the Inglés by helping us to identify the local birds with the help of Merlin, and we were surprised by how comprehensive it was for the locality.

All the best,
Paul

 

[VNwalking]

I don’t trust an app that claims to make an ID from a photo alone. There are too many variables.

Agree completely. Nor do I.
I have enough botanical knowledge to use the photo ID as a starting place, going from there.

I find I naturalist too cumbersome and labor-intensive. Maybe I haven't learned how to use it proplerly, but I don't want to have to login and go through their process each time I just want a quick ID of some common camino-side plant.

 

[Poccaman]

I walked some of the camino del norte recently and used the merlin app. Lots if bird life on the walk which made it great. Griffon Vultures, honey and common buzzards, iberian green woodpecker, black phoebe,etc. Excellent app. Many thanks for posting.

 

[ElCee]

This one? It's a European Robin. The second photo is a juvenile.

View attachment 159071 View attachment 159072

That’s the one! They were quite friendly !

Agree completely. Nor do I.
I have enough botanical knowledge to use the photo ID as a starting place, going from there.

I find I naturalist too cumbersome and labor-intensive. Maybe I haven't learned how to use it proplerly, but I don't want to have to login and go through their process each time I just want a quick ID of some common camino-side plant.

Oh I agree! i take photos and do it later.

 

[David Tallan]

Agree completely. Nor do I.
I have enough botanical knowledge to use the photo ID as a starting place, going from there.

I find I naturalist too cumbersome and labor-intensive. Maybe I haven't learned how to use it proplerly, but I don't want to have to login and go through their process each time I just want a quick ID of some common camino-side plant.

I noticed when I went into the App store looking for these that iNaturalist seems to have another app called "Seek". I haven't tried it yet but I wonder if it is easier to use than the "iNaturalist" app.