We then headed up into the rocky hillsides of the Garraf, where we got distant views of a large flock of Rock Sparrows, my first lifer of the trip. The following two days were spent mainly in the steppes around Lleida, where another five lifers followed in quick succession; Little Bustards displaying at close range, Pin-tailed (as well as Black-bellied) Sandgrouse in flight, at least four singing Dupont's Larks, all of which stubbornly refused to show themselves, several garrulous Great Spotted Cuckoos - my 2200th species in the world!, and five Black Wheatears. We also spent a long time searching for and eventually finding the recently-split Iberian Green Woodpecker, although, looking back at my notes, I realised I've already seen this in Portugal. Just as impressive as all the new species, though, was the phenomenal density of Calandra Larks singing all around us, together with Thekla, Crested, Greater Short-toed and Lesser Short-toed Larks. An Audouin's Gull which drifted over as we had a post-trip drink on the rooftop terrace of a hotel in Sitges was our 132nd species in three days, and I even found time to photograph this beautiful Adonis Blue, one of two new species of butterfly I got to see.
