Totally Spain Solar Eclipse - August 2026
Dates: August 8–16, 2026
Leaders: Barry Lyon, David Ascanio, Rick Wright & Virgilio Beltran
E-bird
Total Species: 136 birds
Click Here to view list.
Overall Summary
Spain’s first total solar eclipse in 67 years would have been enough on its own, but in combination with this varied country’s cultural and culinary treasures, that breathtaking celestial phenomenon made our August 2026 event one of the most festive and most memorable in VENT history.
And there was birding, too—lots of it.
We started in Madrid, one of the most cosmopolitan of capitals; our fine hotel was just minutes from the Prado and wonderful restaurants. Our first day together started in the 500-year-old park of Casa de Campo, where feathered prizes included the noisy Iberian woodpecker, found exclusively in Iberia and southernmost France. We drove on to León; our base there would be the historic Hotel Plaza Mayor, just across from the grand old city hall and just around the corner from the city’s remarkable Gothic cathedral. Casual strolls and city tours introduced us to those and León’s other historic monuments, including Gaudí’s Casa Botines and the romanesque murals of St. Isidore of Seville.
Out in the countryside, we explored steppes with great bustards, Montagu harriers, and crested larks. Highlights in the foothills of the Cantabrian Mountains included the amazing wallcreeper, white-throated dipper, and a selection of Old World vultures, among them the giant cinereous and the rare bearded vulture, or lammergeier.
We viewed the eclipse, centerpiece of our program, from the Vitalis winery, where we enjoyed wines and an endless supply of fine tapas (and birthday cake) as we awaited the heavenly show. We’d been prepared in informative talks by Rob Broeren—but who, really, can be prepared for such a thing? We watched in excitement as the shadow of the moon obscured more and more of the sun until nothing remained but the dark disk, with solar winds and a bright prominence visible. Awed silence yielded to jubilation as totality ended—only to be overwhelmed again as the still partially obscured orb sank to the horizon a few minutes later.
We set out the next morning for an entirely different landscape and climate, across the Cantabrian Mountains in the ancient kingdom of Asturias. Once installed in the splendid Hotel Reconquista, we toured the cathedral and its famous Camara Santa, which houses the most revered relics outside of Santiago. Some spent the next days enjoying the city and the area’s pre-Romanesque monuments; others birded three different birding sites: the wetlands of Villaviciosa, the coast of Cabo Peñas, and the heights of the Picos de Europa. The cool, moist climate was welcome after blazing days to the south, and among our exciting finds were Iberian gray shrikes, water pipits, and at the very highest elevations in the Picos, friendly (or at least hungry) flocks of red-billed and yellow-billed choughs, most charming of the world’s corvids.
We had experienced so much of this part of Spain’s nature and culture that we could hardly believe it when it was time to part. We took with us new friends, new birds, and lasting memories of a genuinely once-in-a-lifetime trip.
- Rick Wright
Day-by-Day Summary
August 8 - Departure for Spain
August 9 - Arrival in Madrid and festive welcome dinner
August 10 - Casa de Campo birding, and on to León
August 11 - Field trips to Villafáfila and Cantabrian foothills and city tour of León; solar telescope viewing in León
August 12 - Field trips to Villafáfila and Cantabrian foothills and city tour of León; eclipse viewing and late night star party at Bodegas Vitalis winery
August 13 - Birding Valgrande-Pajares, Brañillin, and on to Oviedo; guided tour of cathedral and Camara Santa
August 14 - Field trips to Villaviciosa, Cabo Peñes, and Picos de Europa
August 15 - Field trips to Villaviciosa, Cabo Peñes, and Picos de Europa; guided tour of pre-Romanesque monuments
August 16 - Field trips to Villaviciosa, Cabo Peñes, and Picos de Europa
August 17 - Departures
Wildlife Seen:
MAMMALS:
European rabbit
Roe deer
Alpine newt