Picos de Europa
Spain's green mountains
Saturday 14 - Saturday 21 June 2008 (8 days)
Some of Europe's most spectacular mountain scenery, combined with a variety of plants virtually unmatched in so small an area, an excellent range of butterflies, and some choice mountain birds including Snow Finch and the delectable Wallcreeper, and all in the company of a superb naturalist in her own local patch… join us for spring in the fabulous Picos!
Rising spectacularly from the Bay of Biscay, on the rugged, green north coast of Spain, the Picos de Europa offer dramatic mountain scenery: jagged limestone peaks rising to more than 2,600 metres are dissected by sheer river gorges, with more open ground clothed in swathes of flower-rich haymeadows and ancient forests of beech and oak.
The varied plant life and its associated butterflies and other insects are the principal attractions of this superlative area. Traditional farming methods, particularly in the management of the hay meadows, have led to an abundance of grassland flowers probably without equal in Europe. Around 1,400 vascular plants, including some 50 species of orchid, grace the valleys, with a phenomenal 150 species of butterflies recorded.
During our week we expect to see most of Iberia's characteristic mountain birds, notably Snow Finch and Alpine Accentor, and we also hope to encounter Wallcreeper in its dramatic mountain habitat. Water Pipit and both Red-billed and Alpine Choughs are abundant at altitude, as are Griffon Vultures, while Egyptian Vulture, Black Kite and Golden, Booted and Short-toed Eagles haunt the valleys. Picturesque villages of red-roofed stone houses with wooden balconies have resident Serins and Black Redstarts, with Red-backed Shrikes, Middle-spotted Woodpeckers and Wrynecks inhabiting the old orchards.
Once again we are led by expert naturalist Teresa Farino on her home territory, at an excellent time of year before the high meadows are cut for one of the best possible trips to this superb area. We are based in a pretty mountain village, at a small family-run hotel. The food here is superb, abundant, and made with local ingredients and Teresa's picnics are legendary! As Teresa lives just opposite the hotel, we will be able to set the moth-trap at night, and examine the contents before breakfast: the abundance and diversity of moths here is simply amazing, including many rare British species.
The Picos is renowned as a walker's paradise, and the area certainly lends itself more to exploring on foot than driving about, such that there will be a little more walking on this trip than on many of our others, some of which may be on fairly steep tracks and hillsides.
Price: £ 1,245
Single supp.: £ 130
Deposit: £ 300 per person
The price is per person, and is fully inclusive of 7 nights accommodation as detailed above, meals, return flight London Stansted Asturias airport, transport and cable-car fees, and leadership.
The price excludes holiday insurance, optional tips to the local drivers/guides, drinks and other personal expenses.
Principal Leader: Teresa Farino
Days 1 - 7
We catch a morning flight from London Stansted to Asturias (the flight timings and destination airport make this the best choice!), where we will meet Teresa, and head to our base in the mountains of Liébana.
On the first day we will explore the limestone outcrops and humid meadows at the nearby pass of Piedrasluengas, where we can expect to find Lizard, Early Marsh and Green-winged Orchids in the grasslands, as well as clouds of butterflies, particularly blues and fritillaries. Rufous-tailed Rock Thrush, Northern Wheatear and Wood Lark are the typical smaller birds of the area, and we should keep an eye out for Short-toed Eagle and Egyptian Vulture in the skies above.
Another day will find us in the humid, acid meadows and genista scrub of the 1,600m road pass of San Glorio (the highest in the Cordillera Cantábrica), where Mazarine Blue, Chapmans Ringlet (unique to this area) and Queen of Spain and Marsh Fritillaries should be on the wing. Plants on offer include Large-flowered Butterwort and several species of lousewort in the damp flushes, as well as Early Marsh, Vanilla (Nigritella gabasiana) and Burnt Orchids. Rock Buntings and Whitethroats call from the scrubby hillsides and Golden Eagle can be looked for overhead.
A highlight of the trip will be the cable-car ride from the spectacular limestone amphitheatre of Fuente Dé to the edge of the Central Massif - an ascent to 1,800m in just three minutes - where we should encounter Isard, Alpine Newt, Midwife Toad, Alpine Accentor, Snow Finch and, with a bit of luck, Wallcreeper, amid carpets of Spring and Trumpet Gentians. Rocky areas here will be examined for saxifrages, particularly Grooved, Cone and the yellow-flowered Picos endemic Saxifraga felineri, which share their habitat with Moss Campion, Anemone pavoniana, Alpine Toadflax, Fairy Foxglove, the rock-jasmine Androsace villosa and Globularia repens. If time permits, we will also wander through the beech forests and meadows at the foot of the cable car, in search of Bird's-nest, Man and Barton's Orchids, Herb-Paris and Pyrenean Lily, as well as a host of butterflies and day-flying moths.
For a completely different range of flora and fauna we will visit the dry pastures and evergreen cork and western holm oak forests near Potes. Here the oaks are home to Firecrest and Cirl Bunting, while the understorey can be a mass of purple St Dabeoc's Heath and white Sage-leaved Cistus. Here we have previously recorded the dramatically-patterned Marbled Newt and Large Psammodromus, as well as several species of hairstreak, Baton Blue, Scarce Swallowtail and Cleopatra.
A trip to the Sierra de Beges is also a must, as it is home to a unique range of flora and fauna, which includes Sticky Flax, Bloody Cranes-bill, Red Pasque-flower (here almost black), Pink Butterfly Orchid, Fly Orchid and Large-flowered Serapias. This is also a renowned site for butterflies in the Picos, particularly Swallowtail and Marsh Fritillary.
The route from Potes to the coast follows the gorge of La Hermida, said to be the second-deepest drivable gorge in the world! Whether true or not, it is certainly an awe-inspiring place, and we aim to walk up one of the side-gorges, with its soaring limestone buttresses and ever-present squadrons of Griffon Vultures and Alpine Swifts overhead. In this inspiring setting we also hope to visit one of the best-preserved of the areas pre-Romanesque churches.
Seven nights Liébana
Day 8
We may have a little more time in the field before heading for Asturias airport and our return flight to London Stansted.
Accommodation
We stay in a two-star posada in the mountains of Liébana built using traditional materials to combine rural charm with modern comforts with a reputation for excellent cooking in the typical Cantabrian style. Situated in a little village twelve kilometres from Potes, in the beautiful Liébana countryside, with views to the high peaks, it is well located for exploring all corners of the southeastern Picos de Europa. The posada is centrally heated, has a bar, restaurant and small sitting room, as well as a terrace with views of the peaks to the south. There is an open-air swimming pool for exclusive use of hotel clients.
Numbers: Max. 14 clients