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Delta del Llobregat - advice on timings? (1 Viewer)

Hi all,

I will be in Barcelona in mid October and am looking to pay a visit to Delta del Llobregat. Where I'm from, shorebirding is typically done during low tides, as mudflats are exposed and the birds will be feeding. Does this apply to birding at Delta del Llobregat? Will birding be better at high or low tide or does it not matter?

Thanks
 
Yes. Tide is irrelevant. Check opening times. Last time we were there the reserve was closed on Mondays and opening & closing times were later/earlier than you might imagine.

Most of the birding is not on the shore.

Do you know how you will get there?
 
Yes. Tide is irrelevant. Check opening times. Last time we were there the reserve was closed on Mondays and opening & closing times were later/earlier than you might imagine.

Most of the birding is not on the shore.

Do you know how you will get there?

I read online that the reserve closes at 3pm but am not sure what time it opens. Online says 9am to 5pm.

Im not sure if im taking a bus or train but there are public transport options. Something along the lines of alighting at Tanatori and walking 20 minutes, haha. Do you have any suggestions?
 
I read online that the reserve closes at 3pm but am not sure what time it opens. Online says 9am to 5pm.

Im not sure if im taking a bus or train but there are public transport options. Something along the lines of alighting at Tanatori and walking 20 minutes, haha. Do you have any suggestions?

Well the public transportation in the area is utterly frustrating. I have had a lot of fun over the years trying to stop by some birding areas during my many short visits in Barcelona, but ultimately I haven't been extremely successful. If you mention Tanatori, then you are talking about the area east of the airport - this was relatively nice but I remember the bus connection turn out to be terrible and there was a lot of walking. This area is freely walkable and afaik there is not "opening hours" because there is nothing to open.

Then there is the area west of the airport, that's where the opening hours matter - you can still walk through a lot of the area whenever you want, but there is a fenced part close to the sea. However trying to walk there from the airport is utterly futile, it's just super difficult to manage around the freeways, I think I actually reached it only once and that was with a car.
 
Well the public transportation in the area is utterly frustrating. I have had a lot of fun over the years trying to stop by some birding areas during my many short visits in Barcelona, but ultimately I haven't been extremely successful. If you mention Tanatori, then you are talking about the area east of the airport - this was relatively nice but I remember the bus connection turn out to be terrible and there was a lot of walking. This area is freely walkable and afaik there is not "opening hours" because there is nothing to open.

Then there is the area west of the airport, that's where the opening hours matter - you can still walk through a lot of the area whenever you want, but there is a fenced part close to the sea. However trying to walk there from the airport is utterly futile, it's just super difficult to manage around the freeways, I think I actually reached it only once and that was with a car.

Have you tried taking bus 46 from the airport before? I guess if all fails i'll just get a cab from the airport. Thanks for the tips!
 
I don't think that the 46 bus from the airport is going to be much help. It doesn't go near the reserves.

You can certainly try using a taxi from the airport. The driver will almost certainly be clueless about the location of the reserves and entrances so you will need to have Google Maps open and show him where you want to go. For the area to the west of the airport (Las Filipinas) I think you need to get to Parking Las Filipinas which is reached by the minor road that skirts the airport or possibly the car park shown on Google as "Aparcament Public del Delta de Llobregat". We haven't been to this part for years but there were hides and a small visitor centre. I have no idea how you would get back to civilisation from here. Perhaps arrange something with the taxi driver?

On the east side of the airport there certainly is an area of controlled access. Opisska must have failed to find it so far. It took us some effort. It's down the road Carretera de la Marina that heads south from the southern edge of the town of El Prat de Llobregat close to the restaurant called Marisqueria el Capitan Garfio. Go down this road for a couple of kilometres and the reserve, which is in the area between the river and the road has an entrance not far from Parking Cal Tet, which is where we parked last time we were there (indeed we're considering dropping in on Tuesday 29th October if we can get our act together). There are several hides and a variety of habitats. There are flamingos in the river, often just down from the new road bridge.

It is also possible to reach this reserve , with some effort, by bus from Barcelona. It's currently route 21 that begins on Paral.lel. The stop you need is Ctra de la Marina/Av Onze de Setembre. From there just walk down Carretera de la Marina. It's flat and exposed but there are likely to be birds around and perhaps a few snakes in the roadside ditches. Take drinks and snacks because you'll need a few hours to complete the round trip plus appropriate sun protection. I feel that the reserve is worth the effort, though. A good chance of Little Bitterns, Red-crested Pochard and plenty more, plus perhaps terns and gulls at the river mouth.

Hopefully this is not too late for you (I don't check the forum regularly enough) and perhaps you could add something to the access info if you discover anything new.
 
@pandachris: that is interesting, I have not reached that area yet indeed. Maybe next time :) It's a funny little adventure to try to locate these places in Barcelona - but it should be easier now that there is free roaming.
 
It's a decent part of the reserve, opisska. The bus ride is quite long and goes through some charmless areas but it's covered by a single zone T-10 from the city centre so it's cheap to get to. There's no obvious way to avoid the longish walk in from the edge of town unless you were to head into town to try to find a taxi, which might be self defeating. However there are birds along the road, so it's not without some interest. There's also a tower hide just before the beach that is outside the reserve, if I remember correctly and if you're unlucky enough to be there on a Monday there are a couple of points in the fence where you can get a view inside the reserve.
 
Did you make it, sandrasandra? We were there yesterday for about an hour before our flight. The reserve seemed in good nick although we didn't have time to explore properly. There were lots of school parties visiting, though. Fortunately it's big enough to absorb them.
 
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