RFI Cordoba Area for Next Week (1 Viewer)

Due to rather strange circumstances, I will be visiting southern Spain from 24-28th June. I am nominally there to provide support for my son's T1 diabetes during his school trip, but of course, like any teenager, he doesn't want his Dad training around after him and I only need to be available in the evenings. We will be based in Cordoba but I am happy to travel - the school are visiting Granada and Seville.

This means that I will hopefully have the days free for birding...

I have not been to this part of Spain before (I have birded Extremadura) so I have a few targets that would be nice to see. I have invested in the Where to Watch Birds in Southern and Western Spain and Birding and Nature Trails in the Sierra Morena Cordobesa to whet my appetite but will miss my usual birding companions, who usually do all the planning!

My target lifer species include White-headed and Marbled Ducks, Red-necked Nightjar, W Olivaceous, Orphean and Bonelli's Warblers Rufous Bush Chat. I have not seen Alpine species like Rufous-tailed Rock Thrush Alpine Accentor and Lammergeier - are these too far away? There are lots of other species I haven't seen for a long time too - Red-knobbed Coot, White-runped Swift, raptors etc.

I am also very keen to go looking for Iberian Lynx and any other mammals, as well as Butterflies and Dragonflies.

I will fly into Malaga, arriving about midday and collect the hire car. Any recommendations for the trip to Cordoba? I was thinking the Laguna de Fiente de Piedra? Any Marbled Duck sites locally?

Any up to date information on the target species or recommendations on places to go to or avoid (eg dried up lakes) would be gratefully received.

I will also post this in the Information Wanted sub-folder so apologies for duplication

Regards,

Robin

Although not entirely familiar with the area you're going to (so I cannot give you precise directions ) I'll give a couple of suggestions on what you’re asking. I hope some local people can complete or correct the following:

Zóñar lagoon, the place where the very last 22 white-headed ducks of all Europe survived in 1977 is just alongside your drive from Málaga to Córdoba. Although they after disappeared completely in 2000’s because of carp releases, after eradication program on this fish they are back again and I guess it is a good place to take a chance to see them (also for its role in the species history!) Also nearby Rincón & Amarga lagoons hold
WHD perhaps with closer views.

Fuente de Piedra is a major birding area. I don't know if this year water level will allow flamingos to breed.

Another nearby good spot for birding (but I think that it holds white-headed duck only during winter) is Guadalhorce mouth http://www.birdforum.net/opus/Guadalhorce_Estuary. There are some threads on it on Birdforum.

Please read before this:
http://www.birdforum.net/showthread.php?t=211067 and others

Here you can download visitor’s guides in English for all these three spots

http://www.juntadeandalucia.es/medioambiente/servtc5/ventana/busquedaEspacios.do?lg=EN

Within Córdoba town the Sotos de Albolafia in the Guadalquivir riverside are a good birding place. Last year a questionable heavy bush management was accomplished in the area, but again I cannot tell you the actual effect on birding.

The nearest lammergeier population is at Cazorla/Segura/Castril sierras, 3-3'5 hours drive from Cordoba. Now there are twenty individuals but these are huge sierras and I don't think that without some directions about where the actual territories are (sorry, I don't know!) you have any real chances of spotting them. Also, at this time of year Iberian lynx is quite difficult to see at the preferred spots in Sierra Morena.

Hope it serves!