Wildcat and brown bear in Somiedo

Wildcat and brown bear in Somiedo. Tour report from August 30th-September 4th. 

Day 1. Asturias airport – Mammals in Somiedo 

Mike, Ron, Lisa and Sandra arrive on time from London Stansted airport to Santander ready to start the wildcat and brown bear search in Somiedo. As the weather is sunny with a beautiful blue sky, we decide to grab some lunch and have it in el Playon de Bayas, one of the most beautiful coastal reaches of Asturias. There we see our first birds, Shag, Yellow-legged Gull, Grey Heron and a Peregrin Falcon soaring above us. After lunch, we go for a stroll seeing some migrants like Northern Wheatear and Whinchat. In addition, there are some resident such as Stonechat and Serins.

Around 2:00 p.m, we set off to the Natural Park of Somiedo. After check-in in our hotel in Pola de Somiedo, we drive to our first brown bear stakeout. Pau is informed that a mother bear and her cub have been reported the previous evening in la Peral, so we go straight there. In addition, the weather is fantastic so we have to make use of it and try to locate the bears. Around 5:00 p.m. Pau says “I got them”. Both, mother and the cub are walking peacefully in a rocky slope, about 1 km from where we are. Fantastic! The 5 of us get wonderful views of the bears. A gaggle of vans stop to check what we were watching and join us. On the sky, Common Buzzards, Griffon Vultures and a juv Golden Eagle soar in the crests.

After such a wonderful day start, we drive back to the hotel to have an early dinner. The group has got up early in the morning and we all deserve a  good rest.

Day 2. Somiedo. Storms over the mountains 

We check out la Peral first thing in the morning but the clouds have showed up and it is impossible to see anything in the peaks. Nevertheless we decide to drive down the valley to La Melva for a walk. There we find Coal, Crested and Great Tit and an approachable Firecrest. Some butterflies include Scarce and Swallowtail, Cardinal and whites. Mike spots a Southern Chamois in the hillside right in front of us. Later, once we are back to the car, Pau sets the scope and finds 6 more Southern Chamois. Around mid afternoon the sky darks and rains heavily. Time to go back to the hotel. On the way, we find an almost tame Red Fox who has been in the area for some time.

Day 3. Somiedo. Wildcat

After breakfast we set off to el Valle del Lago for a nice walk in a glacial valley. Rock Bunting and Yellowhammer are perched on the scrubs and Raven, Red Kites and Red-billed Chough fly above us. Later, once the sky clears we move to El Llamardal where we start our second stakeout. Pau finds a Roe deer grazing in a near field and Lisa 2 Honey Buzzards. While we have picnic, Pau jumps and gets its scope, a Wildcat hunting voles in a nearby field!! Superb! We enjoy the cat for 10 minutes before it hides in the bushes. Then, we walk through a local path searching the hills for more wildlife: Red-backed Shrike, Subalpine Warbler, Bullfinch, Iberian Chiffchaff and Water Pipit are seen.

Day 4. Somiedo. Cantabrian Brown Bear and Wildcat day

Today is our full last day and Pau wants to try another area for bears. We head close to la Rebollada. Soon after we get there, a huge male bear is seen for few minutes in an orchard feeding on rotten apples and vegetables. What a start! We walk a bit to try to relocate it and we found some colleagues from the FOP (Brown Bear Foundation), apparently the bear has been in the area for few days. We stay in the area until lunch time, hoping to see this wonderful mammal again. While we have lunch we see some birds such as: Woodchat Shrike, Short-toed Treecreeper, Spotted and Pied Flycatcher, Willow Warbler and common finches.

After lunch we drive to La Peral for our last stakeout. The afternoon is quiet, just the chat of various dozens of people congregate in the same area. When we were thinking to go back to the hotel, someone says “Gato montés”, a Wildcat has been spotted in the fields below. The feline walks slowly along the edge and soon disappears.  The weather has been good and that has helped us to get great views of our two main targets.

Day 5. Somiedo-Asturias airport 

We depart this stunningly beautiful part of Spain seeing Black Kites and two dippers in the river Somiedo on the way to the airport. Mike, Ron, Lisa and Sandra are over the moon (as well as me), not only for all the wildlife we have seen but also for the beauty of the mountains. End of our wildlife trip to enjoy to top carnivorous, the Wildcat and brown bear in Somiedo

For more details about our next trips to Picos de Europa, please visit our tour calendar.

This trip can be combined with Wolf watching during August and September. Should you have any questions please do not hesitate to contact us!