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"Arguedas" Ornithological Station

"El Raso"

environmental education classroom

 

The piece of land of the Ornithological Station is placed at El Raso de Arguedas (Navarra) and it has been bought by GURELUR from Argueda’s city council. This piece of land of two hectares is now uncultivated and therefore completely covered by natural vegetation, -caustic soda and reed-beds and surrounded by rice fields, as it is the case in all fields in the area.

We chose this piece of land for the Ornithological Station because it shelters a great and varied number of birds which nest, feed themselves, rest during migration and winter in this area all the year round.

These circumstances guarantee visitors the observation of birds at any time of the year and it enables the development of ornithological research activities, such as censors, ringing, study of space use and migration, among others. Several groves can be found not far from the rice fields, more specifically the following ones: Ebro river, Bergara, la Calva and Ramalete- and the natural Park of Bardenas Reales.

We now offer a brief account of the birds which can be found in this area: marsh, hen and montagu’s harrier, buzzard, black kite and red kite, kestrel, sparrowhawk, osprey and merlin among the raptors; grey and red heron, cattle egret, little bittern and white stork among herons and allies; several species of gulls; most migrating European waders, in addition to the ones nesting in Navarra, the important colony of black winged stilt being the most representative and a great number of passeriformes.

The Ornithological Station which we hope to inaugurate sometime this year is being built exclusively with GURELUR’s funds and with the work of its team of volunteers under the orders of experts in every aspect of the construction works. All this, together with the fact that we can only work at week-ends and days-off results in a slow process of construction which lasts more than two years. However, we don’t worry about this because we believe that the results will be worth the effort. So far more than 45 volunteers have co-operated in this project.

STATION ACTIVITIES

Bird watching is one of the main activities to be developed in the Station. Birds using the rice fields can be observed in all seasons. This activity will be carried out mainly from the observatory. In the observatory the visitor will find panels with drawings identifying the most representative species, telescopes and binoculars as well as experts in ornithology who will answer all visitors’ questions about the species and the space.

  The observatory has been built in such a way that most rice fields can be observed, because birds are scattered over all of them, as well as over the deposit ponds of Valtierra and Arguedas, inhabited by an important colony of black winged stilt, and in which there is a great concentration of waders, ducks, herons and gulls throughout the year.

For the observation of those birds which use other areas which are not so close to the station, ornithological walks will be organized. These walks will also include Bardenas and the groves for the observation of their ornitho-fauna.

"El Raso" 

environmental education classroom  

Activities related to environmental education will be set at the Station and its surroundings. In the classroom information will be provided to the visitors about the activities which will take place in the Ornithological Station. From this classroom visitors will be able to get to the observatory, take part in walks, visits and other Station programmed activities and observe the exhibitions.

The environmental education classroom will be equipped with an exhibition about the rice fields –layout, cultivation cycle, surroundings etc.- and about the ornitho-fauna which, thanks to the cultivations, uses this area for nesting, feeding and winter. The exhibition will also offer a panel about the Bardenas Reales and the Ebro River Groves, spaces included in the ornithological ways and in the environmental education activities. As a complement to the exhibition there will be models of the most interesting or representative birds which can be observed in this place. Finally, visitors will also have access to a library about Nature topics in which a group of monitors will be available for help.