Migration Centre Roncesvalles · GURELUR

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Migration Centre Roncesvalles-Orreaga

Migration Centre Roncesvalles

The Migration Centre Roncesvalles Orreaga is placed at the Alto de Ibañeta (Roncesvalles), at an altitude of 1.057 m in an area of Pyrenean meadows and beechs groves. The Centre is 50km from Pamplona, the capital of Navarra, to get there take the Pamplona-France road via Valcarlos (N-135).
 
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The Centre opened to the public in 1995. It consists of a 200m² building which includes a 50m² exhibition about bird migration. It is also used to support other activities related to migration and to the Pyrenean eco-system, such as study and observation “in situ” of migration along the hills surrounding the centre and realization of excursions.
 
The Centre is open to the public, completely free, from the 1st of July, when the migration of the first black kites can be observed, until the end of November, when the migration is over.
 
The strategic location of the centre, barely some metres from the Alto de Ibañeta road -where one of the most important landmarks of Santiago’s way is located- enables access to people of all ages and physical conditions.

Ibañeta gets an important part of pyrenean migration, therefore it is chosen by a large number of people in order to observe and study bird migration.
 
The 50m² exhibition consists of series of panels explaining in a clear way the migration phenomenon, the involvement of Navarra in this international issue, the problems affecting migration species, and the projects carried out in favour of these species in our Community. As a complement to the panels, there are real-size models of migrating and perched birds and birds from the pre-Pyrenean area. Biologists specialised in bird migration and environmental education are in charge of this exhibition.
 
Due to its geographical location, a significant number of visitors come from the European Union (mainly from France, England and Germany). In order to inform them properly all texts, panels and leaflets can be read in English and French as well as in Basque and Spanish (official languages in Navarra). The exhibition also has a library with books and ornithological journals in several languages.
The exhibition opens to the public at 10 in the morning and closes in the evening when daylight is over. As this activity doesnt depend on migration it opens daily.

The centre has an observatory which is placed on the field near the centre and in other nearby areas depending on the dominant winds. The observatory enables the visitor to observe and study in situ the migratory birds which fly over this pre-Pyrenean area. This observatory has graphic material which helps to recognise the birds under observation, ten binoculars, two telescopes and monitors who explain every relevant aspect about the flying birds and the migration phenomenon itself. The hill on which the observatory is placed not only reaches a very important part of the birds in the area, but it is also a strategic point to observe birds flying over other hills nearby, such as Lindux and Ortzanzurieta. When there is a south wind virtually all migrating birds must cross over this hill (Ibañeta), flying low in order to protect themselves from the strong wind. The observatory opens from the end of August, a time when the number of birds is worth the waiting time of the observer, and it lasts until mid-November, when crane, geese and rook flocks signal the end of migration.

Calendar of postnuptial migration of birds through Navarra

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