18 BRITTANY FERRIES
Lake Ercina – Covadonga – Asturias
SPAIN
ESPAGNE
The wildlife ‘Big Five’
Les joyaux de la faune sauvage
Head out in search of Spain’s
rarest, most captivating
wildlife
On a Brittany Ferries crossing to Spain,
the wildlife wow factor begins long
before land hoves into view. In the Bay
of Biscay, acrobatic common dolphins
skip through the bow wave. And if you’re
lucky, you’ll see a fin whale creating a
splash!
Let’s now look for Spain’s ‘Big Five’. Two
of these are birds: the Spanish imperial
eagle and the Lammergeier. Look out for
the threatened eagle anywhere west
from Madrid to the Atlantic coast south
of Seville; and for the Lammergeier, try
the 1,000-metre-deep Cares Gorge in
the Picos de Europa, northern Spain.
These bearded vultures have a unique
trick: they pick up bones and hurl them
off cliffs, before wolfing down fragments
that their strong gastric juices make a
meal of.
The remaining three are predators
– Iberian lynx, wolf and bear. For a great
chance of wolf and bear sightings, visit
Boca de Huérgano in the Cantabrian
Mountains and organise outings
through WildWatching Spain or other
local tour providers. In summer, look out
for denning she-wolves and playful
cubs, and at dusk scan the fields for
hunting wildcat and 22 species of bat!
Cantabrian mountain peaks thrum with
life in spring – especially in the protected
areas and UNESCO Biosphere Reserves,
such as the Picos de Europa National
Park. Look for enormous wild boar,
chamois (a goat-antelope also known
as a ‘rebeco’) and – in late summer – red
deer stags, their first bellows heralding
autumn as they reverberate through
steep-sided beech groves.
The final creature on our ‘Big Five’ tick
list takes us to the heart of the Sierra de
Andújar, 250 kilometres north of
Málaga. Here we search for a near-mythical
beast as it slinks silently on
enormous paws, its pointed ears pricked
upwards and yellow eyes on red alert.
Iberian lynx are certainly elusive, but
with a recovering population there’s
never been a better time to experience
the spine-tingling sensation that comes
with witnessing Spain’s biggest cat as it
pads through a glowing dawn, cubs in
tow…
DISCOVERY ADVENTURES
10x55 Binoculars
Jumelles 10x55
£15.00
KIPLING
Backpack Sac à dos
£51.90 RRP £77.00
SAVE £25.10