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Birding in Andalucia (1 Viewer)

Winter birding in the Serranía de Ronda (Málaga)

Today I'll be telling you a bit about birding in the mountains and valleys near Ronda. This is actually a big area located among 3 different natural parks. Many resident birds and winter visitors can be found among some 600 pairs of Griffon vultures (already preparing their nests). One of the most exciting birds to see now is the Iberian grey shrike (on the attached picture), that I sometimes have the privilege to find perched on a fence post imitating a smaller bird singing, so that any of these can get close enough for a good snack. I will be uploading a video showing this soon.
I hope you enjoy this and some of the other birds below:

PS: more of this "small trip reports" can be found on www.facebook.com/wildandalucia
 

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Birding the Axarquía - Eastern Málaga

The Axarquía is one of the eastern regions that make up the province of Málaga in Andalusia. It is therefore a convenient area for many birders that visit the coast of Málaga between Rincón de la Victoria and Maro.

Nice birding spots in the Axarquia include:
- the cliffs of Cerro Gordo
- the Sierra de Tejeda, Alminara y Alhama Nat Park
- the hills near Zafarraya
- Vélez river mouth

Just yesterday I was glad to see many summer visitors, such as Short-toed eagle, Barn Swallow, Pallid and Common Swifts. The display of a couple of Peregrines courting over the woods near Nerja was just spectacular. Other nice sights on my quick visit were Hoopoe, Crested Tit and Mediterranean Gull.

A very nice area worth to visit binoculars in hand!

More birding spots within Málaga here: http://www.wildandalucia.com/bird-watching-in-malaga/
 

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Early spring birding in Donana

Doñana is looking as never before. After very well deserved rains, the water is occupying areas that have been dry for months. It is just amazing to realize how fast the birds have spreaded to these "new" areas. As for the birds seen on our last days out, a remarkable presence of Purple Heron, Cuckoo, Swamphen and, of course, the many nesting pairs of White Storks. It was nice to see a young Spanish Imperial Eagle and a Peregrine of the tundra subspecies (attached images).

Did you know about the Doñana birdfair?: http://www.donanabirdfair.es/
 

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Birding in Andalucía Late Summer Update

Hectic times in southern Spain as we already encounter on passage, summer and juvenile birds at the same time, each one heading on one direction. Referring to our local area, the Serranía de Ronda, hundreds of Bee-eaters are passing by every day heading towards the South. At the same time, sylvia warblers' juveniles mix and gather on every water trough, which makes its sometimes hard identification a funny task. It is also good to check that some of the juveniles of Bonelli's eagle are still flying in the area, while dozens of juvenile Griffon vultures show themselfs very active on every thermal, thinking they must set off soon.
 

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Post breeding bird migration in Tarifa

Hectic and busy days for all birders in the Strait of Gibraltar. Easterly winds make observations at the Cazalla watchpoint near Tarifa a delight. Tomorrow will be more windy though. This area is highly recommended on these days!
 
Birding in andalucia trip reports

Those interested in real-time trip reports throughout southern Spain can now find useful information on our new link: http://www.wildandalucia.com/trip-reports/

No pictures there, but the best real time info on the birds for each of the visited spots. It'd be nice to know what you think of it. Good birding!
 
The wife and I are looking at booking a trip in early January to Southern Spain. We're from California and this is our first trip to Europe (since we became birders). We can't wait to explore and bird the region. Great information here. Given the time of year, are there any particular habitats or areas that would be ideal or should be avoided? We love looking for land birds, but aren't averse to waders and shorebirds either. Thanks!

Conor
 
The wife and I are looking at booking a trip in early January to Southern Spain. We're from California and this is our first trip to Europe (since we became birders). We can't wait to explore and bird the region. Great information here. Given the time of year, are there any particular habitats or areas that would be ideal or should be avoided? We love looking for land birds, but aren't averse to waders and shorebirds either. Thanks!

Conor

Southern Spain offers a very nice set of europenan wintering and resident birds in early January. Generally speaking, it is a sure bet no matter where you go. Some areas are particularly renown in winter, that is the case of Doñana and also the Laguna Fuente de Piedra. Those are great wetlands but of course raptors, cranes and passerines are to be found. If you visit Málaga then I'd recommend the Guadalhorce river mouth. Another nice wetland area is La Janda, near Tarifa. And for mountain birding then Ronda is outstanding, also for scenery. One of my favourite spots for steppe birds is near Osuna (Seville). You can find detailed info on all these areas on www.wildandalucia.com . Incidentally, if you'd like a guided itinerary I will be happy to help. Kind regards
 
Thanks Alvaro. These places you mention look really great. Awesome wetlands and the area around Ronda looks beautiful. We actually will probably want to do a day or two of guided birding during our stay. Perhaps we can be in contact.

Conor
 
Thanks Alvaro. These places you mention look really great. Awesome wetlands and the area around Ronda looks beautiful. We actually will probably want to do a day or two of guided birding during our stay. Perhaps we can be in contact.

Conor

Hi Conor,

My wife and I stayed in Ronda earlier this year and I can highly recommend it, a beautiful town well worth the visit! I also took advantage of a couple of days birding with Alvaro - he really knows his stuff!

Chris
 
Thanks Alvaro. These places you mention look really great. Awesome wetlands and the area around Ronda looks beautiful. We actually will probably want to do a day or two of guided birding during our stay. Perhaps we can be in contact.

Conor

Ronda is one of the most attractive towns in the area with good birds such as Red-billed Chough easily seen from the bridge across the famous gorge. Within 20 minutes you have Grazalema Natural Park to the west and Sierra de la Nieves to the east. To the NE, and about an hour away by car, is Fuente de Piedra where you can see masses of Flamingos and much else. Not birds but I'd also recommend a visit to Palacio de Mondragon in Ronda to get a sense of the area's Moorish past and the Cueva de la Pileta (in Grazalema NP) to see the prehistoric cave paintings.
 
from malaga to tarifa

For those arriving to Málaga airport and heading towards Tarifa I would like you to consider this nice detour just in the middle of the route. This makes a nice day out itself with almost no extra time on the road:

Pull off the AP7 near Manilva, then head to los Baños de la Hedionda. From here you can walk el cañón de la Utrera go get Black Wheatear and Bonelli's Eagle. It is good to go here first and early enough to avoid hikers.

Then continue towards Sotogrande / Torreguadiaro and check the Camelias lagoon for Swamphen. Lots of reed in the lagoon, but it is worth to approach it and try to check the sound. Opposite side of the marina you can walk the path along the Guadiaro estuary for waterfowl. It can be a magnificent site for Kingfisher.

Hope you enjoy this one, and please let me know about it!
Álvaro



PS: Thanks Scridifer for your nice words. We had unforgettable days out!
PPS: Thanks John Cantelo for sharing your extensive knowledge of the Cadiz province.
PPS: Jos Stratfor, you've already made your point, do please stop here. We want people to enjoy this thread as we work to promote this magnificent area of Spain.
 
PPS: Jos Stratfor, you've already made your point, do please stop here. We want people to enjoy this thread as we work to promote this magnificent area of Spain.

The point, shared by quite a number of other persons (and specifically highlighted in a recent thread elsewhere on Birdforum), is that there seems to be strangely Spanish tendency for tour operators to use the forum to post after post advertise their company, which basically is not what many think is the spirit of Birdforum.

Note, forum guidelines state: " If you do own a bird or nature related company, you may add a signature to your posts containing a link to your site but you may not direct members to visit this site in the text of your post."

Yet how many times do you do exactly this? eg. "if you want to join a trip like this, contacts us on www.wildandalucia.com".

Please do share the amazing wildlife of southern Spain, but please do not turn this site into little more than a commercial platform.
 
Hi there. Andalucia is just about my favourite part of the world and not least for birding. Been out there many times and indeed have a family holiday coming up in July/August. This time we're based near El Chorro. As it's a family holiday I'll be only doing "here and there" birding (like going out for Red necked nightjars and probably a morning for Great Bustards). But to cut to the chase - do you know of any possible/probable white rumped swift sites or areas within say an hour of El Chorro?
Kind regards
Denis
 
Wallcreeper

Following on from the last post about El Chorro, only last month, I visited the area on the 1st March. What we didnt know then was the whole country would be in total lockdown in less than a week, and all outdoor activity would be banned. I am pasting the article I wrote for the Andalucia Bird Society's news page on their website, with some photographs. Hope you find it interesting...
"Reports came through during Semana Blanca of a Wallcreeper being seen on the infamous Caminito del Rey to the north of Málaga, in the area that is known as El Chorro, or to give it its full title, the Paraje Natural Desfiladero de los Gaitanes. Pedro Cantelejo Espejo had seen the bird on the 25th of February and through his friend Francisco, the information was disseminated on social media. A large group of local Spanish birders visited the site on the Sunday, 1st March and saw and photographed the bird. One week later, I was due to meet up with friends Ricky, Sonia, Derek and Barbara early in the morning on Saturday to see if we could see the bird. Tickets for the Caminito del Rey were already fully booked for the whole of March, so the only option was to arrive at the site early in the hope of obtaining one of the 50 un-booked cash only tickets that would permit entry on to the this mountain hugging footpath. I had done part of the Caminito nearly 30 years ago, when the route was in a sorry state of repair, and quite frankly lethal. However, the new walkway was opened 5 years ago and is an incredible experience for anyone who is not a sufferer of vertigo! However, due to personal reasons, I was not able to go and meet the others at the site. Later that day, Oliver Reville sent me a message saying that he was going up to to El Chorro on Sunday morning and passing through Marbella, if I wanted a lift. Alarm set for 6:00 am, and off on the road at 06:30.
Tickets bought and once through the entrance, a short walk to arrive at the boardwalk itself. We had literally gone 5 metres and I spotted the bird on the rocks to the left. We quickly got our cameras on to the bird and fired off a few shots before it flew off south down the gorge. We knew that it was faithful to an area about 400m further down the gorge and we quickly picked it up again there. Despite the passing traffic of hundreds of day-trippers in luminous lycra and bright safety helmets, we watched the bird for about 2 hours in the company of José Marquez from Córdoba and his friend. It was difficult to photograph, since it always seemed to prefer the shadows on the opposite side of the gorge, before flying to our side, hiding in a small under-hang beneath the path, partially out of sight. Anyway, over a 1000 shots later, we left the bird and continued to enjoy the rest of this amazing walkway. It is a one-way linear route, so even though we had seen the bird in the first half a kilometre, we had to complete the rest of the walk, all be it in beautiful light and very warm temperatures. Once finished, we had to catch a bus back to the start at the opposite end of the gorge to pick up our car.
The Wallcreeper is a scarce winter visitor to the area and I believe the last time it was recorded at El Chorro was some 3 years ago. It breeds in the north of Spain, in the Pyrenees and disperses in the winter, but we were very lucky to catch up with this bird so far south in the Iberian Peninsula and less than a week before total lockdown."
 

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