In early July, 2015 together with David Tipling I went on a 5 day trip to the Catalonia region of Spain where we were guided by Photo Logistics. We made our own travel arrangements flying into Barcelona where we picked up a hire car and had a 3 hour drive to Montgai where we were met by Roger one of the directors of Photo Logistics. This was a fairly new experience for me as in all the years that I have been photographing wildlife I have only once used a commercial/paying hide, this was almost 10 years ago in Finland for Golden Eagle when sadly we were not successful! So why now with Photo Logistics, two reasons, firstly David T knew both of the directors of Photo Logistics, Roger and Carles and had a very positive previous experience using their hides. Secondly two of the many species they had on offer were Black-bellied and Pin-tailed Sandgrouse, two birds that I had seen before but not well and would love to photograph. I knew that without assistance my chances of photographing either species well was highly unlikely.
Black-bellied & Pin-tailed Sandgrouse at water hole, Spain
Roger had arranged our accommodation close to where we were to photograph the Sandgrouse which was very comfortable and only 25 euros a night. Up at 0500 hours we were met and driven to the hide by Roger which was spacious and comfortably seated 3 photographers. At this point I will mention that like many other commercial hides you are shooting through one way glass! Now I must admit this was a concern of mine as friends who had used hides with glass before had complained of soft images particularly if not square onto the glass and I also knew that you lost a stop of light, which once the sun was up was not a problem. For both me and David T sharpness was not an issue, yes when images are viewed at 100% you could see that there was a very slight loss of sharpness, contrast and a slight red colour cast but not enough to be a concern as this was easily corrected during processing and the final image for most applications was as good as you would have achieved if you had not been shooting through glass. It does also have it’s advantages as you have a perfect wide view of everything outside and you are far less likely to miss a shot!
Male & female Black-bellied Sandgrouse, Spain
For the first 30 minutes or so the light was too poor to photograph but even in this half light the bird watching was excellent with Stone Curlew being the first visitors and the Sandgrouse not arriving until shortly after 0900 hours. However before their arrival there was plenty to photograph including 4 species of lark, Hoopoe, Turtle Dove, Great Grey & Woodchat Shrike and Red-billed Chough – 21 species during the 5 hours in the hide! I think our head count was possibly a little higher than usual as it was very hot throughout our trip and it had been very dry for weeks prior to our visit!
Stone-curlew, Spain
Stone-curlew, Spain
Great Grey Shrike, Spain
Turtle Dove, Spain
However the stars of the show for me were the Sandgrouse and because we were a little late in the season and had missed out on a number of other species we would like to have photographed we decided to have 2 more days in the Sandgrouse hides.
Pin-tailed Sandgrouse, Spain
Female Pin-tailed Sandgrouse, Spain
Male & female Pin-tailed Sandgrouse, Spain
Male Pin-tailed Sandgrouse, Spain
Male Pin-tailed Sandgrouse collecting water in breast feathers to take back to chicks, Spain
For our last 2 days we drove to Solsona close to the foothills of the Pyrenees about 2 hours north of Barcelona where we hoped to photograph Lammergeier. In Solsona we booked into our hotel which had been arranged by Carles a director of Photo Logistics – again very comfortable and only 25 euros a night. Our start time for the vulture hide was much more leisurely and after breakfast Carles collected us from our hotel and drove us to the hide in the foothills of the Pyrenees around 35 minutes away. As Carles regularly puts food out for the vultures at this site, whilst he was putting food out we could see Griffon and Egyptian Vultures were already circling overhead. The hide was again spacious and very comfortable easily accommodating three photographers with a large panoramic glass window giving great views of the site making it easy to track birds as they flew in. Within about 10 minutes of Carles leaving us in the hide several Ravens flew in quickly followed by a pair of Egyptian Vultures.
Egyptian Vulture, Spain
Shortly after the Egyptian Vultures arrived the Griffons started to come in and this was quite spectacular as over the course of only a few minutes well in excess of 100 birds landed in front of us and fed. Needless to say with this number of birds the food didn’t last long although they left the sheep legs which were put out for the Lammergeier, as they had no flesh on them.
Griffon Vulture, Spain
Griffon Vulture, Spain
Griffon Vulture, Spain
Egyptian and Griffon Vulture, Spain
However we were to experience our only disappointment of the trip so far as the Lammergeier had not appeared when Carles came to get us out of the hide in late afternoon. Yes we were a little disappointed but the photography of the other vultures and a visiting Red Fox had still been excellent and the day was not over as Carles took us to one of his woodland drink in pools a little higher up in the Pyrenees. Again the hide was comfortable and spacious and we spent a little over an hour in the hide where there was an almost continuous stream of small passerines visiting to drink and bathe. One of the most frequent was Common Crossbill but we also had Citril Finch (new bird for me!) Serin, Siskin and even a male Ring Ouzel to name just a few!
Male Common Crossbill, Pyrenees, Spain
We wished we had been able to spend more time in this hide but the light was fading so we drove back to our hotel. On the trip back, Carles knowing that our flight home wasn’t until late afternoon, suggested we might like to try another morning in the Lammergeier hide as he was surprised we hadn’t seen them as they had been very reliable with sometimes as many as three visits in a day! We jumped at the chance and the following morning met Carles close to the hide. On our arrival things looked very promising as in addition to a few Griffons circling overhead there were also two Lammergeiers. Carles had told us there would still be plenty of sheep legs left on the hillside and he was also able to put out a Badger carcass (road kill). Shortly after Carles left again the Ravens were first to arrive quickly followed by the Egyptian Vultures and shortly after the Griffons. Within about 5 minutes the Badger carcass had gone and as the Griffons slowly departed we could see the two Lammergeier circling much lower. This was where the large panoramic glass window was a positive advantage as we had good early views of the Lammergeier and were able to capture many flight shots as they passed overhead and also when coming into land. Having not seen Lammergeier before I was amazed to see them feeding on the sheep legs which were in excess of 20cm long complete with hoof, they would just swallow them whole! Had I not been able to take a picture I would still have enjoyed this experience and it is one I will not forget!
Adult Lammergeier, Pyrenees, Spain
Adult Lammergeier, Pyrenees, Spain
Pair adult Lammergeier, Pyrenees, Spain
Adult Lammergeier, Pyrenees, Spain
In summary our trip was highly successful being, well organised with some great birds in natural settings and we returned home with some super images! Based on my experience with Photo Logistics and an earlier trip David T had taken with them I would highly recommend photographers and birdwatcher alike using their services. In those few short days in Spain I got to know Roger & Carles quite well (both speak very good English) and discovered that they have both worked in conservation and are very knowledgable naturalists with a genuine love of wildlife. They are also keen and accomplished photographers and know what as photographers we are looking for and being very hands-on are also very flexible and where possible will structure your visit to suit your requirements. You can also be assured that where licences are required for a given species these will have been obtained!
I’m sure no experienced wildlife photographer or watcher needs reminding that these are wild animals we have come to see and that birds and mammals don’t always put in an appearance when you want them to but they will have done everything possible to ensure you get the species you want. If a particular hide/location has become unreliable they will tell you in advance, for example we had hoped to photograph the Sandgrouse last year but some early rain meant the water holes were not reliable and Roger was quick to inform us of this, so we cancelled!
Finally the most important part, how much will this cost you? At the time of writing this review their prices are very competitive and if you take one of their 4 day packages they are very good value for money – you could spend a two weeks in Spain and not photograph as much as you would on a 4 day package and you would have spent a lot more money!
To check out their prices and what they can offer click on this link Photo Logistics
David