Steppe dawn: Dupont's lark and the Belchite larks
Dupont's lark (Chersophilus duponti), calandra, short-toed, lesser short-toed and thekla larks, black-bellied sandgrouse, stone-curlew. El Planerón (Belchite), Aragón; Layna & Páramos de Soria, Spain.
Best time: 20 Mar – 15 May (March to May). Where: Reserva Ornitológica El Planerón (SEO/BirdLife), Belchite, Páramo de Layna (Soria), Saladas de Chiprana / Monegros (Spain). Time of day: Dupont's lark sings in the dark from about 90 min before sunrise and stops soon after first light.
- You can go on your own
- Free
- Binoculars helpful
- Sound 5/5
Open it in the interactive calendarSunrise and sunset listening times for the day you pick, and the map.
When is the best time?
Peak: 20 Mar – 15 May. Late March to mid May; Dupont's lark sings mostly in the last hour of darkness
Active from 1 Mar to 15 Jun (March to June) in a typical year.
Time of day
Dupont's lark sings in the dark from about 90 min before sunrise and stops soon after first light; calandra larks take over at sunrise for 2 h. Be in place 2 h before sunrise.
- Dupont's lark (dark): 100 min before sunrise → sunrise
- Steppe dawn chorus: sunrise → 2 h after sunrise
What will you hear?
Dupont's lark's strange nasal, ventriloquial phrases from the dark steppe, then a wall of calandra lark song at sunrise, sandgrouse and stone-curlews — one of Europe's rarest dawn choruses.
Binoculars?
Binoculars helpful. Dupont's lark sings unseen in the dark; binoculars at sunrise for calandra larks and sandgrouse over the steppe.
Where to go
- Reserva Ornitológica El Planerón (SEO/BirdLife), Belchite — SEO's steppe reserve with a signed trail and hide; free access, stay on the trail. Map
- Páramo de Layna (Soria) — Densest Dupont's lark population in Spain on high limestone steppe at 1,100 m. Map
- Saladas de Chiprana / Monegros — Salt-lake steppe with larks and sandgrouse. Map
How to go on your own, and what it costs
El Planerón: from Belchite take the A-222 then the signed track to the SEO reserve — free, signed trail and hide, be there 2 h before sunrise and stay on the trail. Layna: the páramo tracks off the A-2 (exit Layna); Chiprana: the saladas track from the village. No playback.
Cost: Free.
Field-recording notes
Dupont's lark is endangered and notoriously hard to see; it sings in the dark and drops silent at dawn, so you record it, you don't watch it. No playback — this is one species where tape-luring has measurably harmed local populations. Wind on the Monegros is relentless; the calm pre-dawn hour is short. Military exercises from the San Gregorio base can be audible near Belchite.
Sources
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More: all spectacles in Spain · dawn choruses · Spain in March · Spain in April · Spain in May