Get all your news in one place.
100's of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Travel
Stephen Phelan

The Basque Country nature reserve at risk from Guggenheim expansion plans

Landscapes at Urdaibai Bird Center, near Bilbao, Spain.
Since opening in 2012, the Urdaibai Bird Center has successfully reclaimed and rewilded a previously dried-out, chewed-up agricultural tract Photograph: Urdaibai Bird Center

The Urdaibai Bird Center has been cutely styled like an international airport terminal, with multilingual boards marked Arrivals and Departures, and a raised observation platform resembling an air traffic control tower. Through a roof-mounted telescope I watch various avian species landing or taking off from little floating archipelagos on the adjoining lagoon.

I am not a birder so I don’t know what they’re called, though I do recognise the (grey) heron by its pterodactyl flight profile.

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100's of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
One subscription that gives you access to news from hundreds of sites
Already a member? Sign in here
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.