Birding around Madrid and guide help (1 Viewer)

[Polinatje]

Hi I am also heading for Madrid in May. Birdwatching is not my primary goal but I want to make the most of it in the time that I will have there and was hoping for some advice/reality check.
I will arrive around noon on May 22nd and have the rest of the day to look for birds. I would also like to squeeze in a least a couple of hours in the early morning on May 24th before leaving for the airport (my flight is around 12:30).
After reading this thread, Casa de Campo, Retiro park and Madrid Rio seem like the right places to go.
I was thinking of going to Rio straight from the airport for a couple of hours, then check in and spend later afternoon in Casa de Campo area, and leave Retiro for the early morning before heading for the airport.
I'm mostly into smaller birds and am particularly keen on finding penduline tit (!), sylviid warblers (as many as possible) and Iberian magpie. Hoopoe, bee-eater, nightingale, ringed plover, turtle dove, bank swallow, red-rumped swallow, pallid swift, any larks or buntings would be a great bonus!

My thought was also to travel super light - so that I don't have to worry about my luggage, so I'm expecting to bring only my binoculars.
Does this sound like a plan?
Also, are Casa de Campo, Retiro park and Madrid Rio safe to explore alone?
Is Retiro safe at 6-7 am on a Saturday? 👀

Thanks a lot in advance for any advice!

 

[la_ravachol]

Hi I am also heading for Madrid in May. Birdwatching is not my primary goal but I want to make the most of it in the time that I will have there and was hoping for some advice/reality check.
I will arrive around noon on May 22nd and have the rest of the day to look for birds. I would also like to squeeze in a least a couple of hours in the early morning on May 24th before leaving for the airport (my flight is around 12:30).
After reading this thread, Casa de Campo, Retiro park and Madrid Rio seem like the right places to go.
I was thinking of going to Rio straight from the airport for a couple of hours, then check in and spend later afternoon in Casa de Campo area, and leave Retiro for the early morning before heading for the airport.
I'm mostly into smaller birds and am particularly keen on finding penduline tit (!), sylviid warblers (as many as possible) and Iberian magpie. Hoopoe, bee-eater, nightingale, ringed plover, turtle dove, bank swallow, red-rumped swallow, pallid swift, any larks or buntings would be a great bonus!

My thought was also to travel super light - so that I don't have to worry about my luggage, so I'm expecting to bring only my binoculars.
Does this sound like a plan?
Also, are Casa de Campo, Retiro park and Madrid Rio safe to explore alone?
Is Retiro safe at 6-7 am on a Saturday? 👀

Thanks a lot in advance for any advice!

I believe there are Penduline Tits on the river, but I've never seen them there so I'm not sure how easy they are to find. Nightingale is relatively easy - you can definitely find this on the Arroyo de Meaques that leads west from the lake in Casa de Campo. In Casa de Campo you can also find Hoopoe (listen for them!), Bee-eater and Cirl Bunting further into the middle of the park. You can find several sylviid warbler species in Casa de Canpo. There are Pallid Swifts in the city, but they can be difficult to distinguish from Commons (which are the vast majority). They nest around Plaza Elíptica and Lavapiés, so they're more obvious in those areas. Iberian Magpie is very unlikely in the city, especially in May.

You might consider a location called Arroyo Valchico too, perhaps instead of Casa de Campo. You're more likely to find your Penduline Tits and Turtle Doves there. However, it's slightly further from the city centre.

Essentially all of Madrid is safe. Lone women may want to take care at night and tourists are occasionally targeted by pickpockets, but it's generally quite safe.

What you've suggested should work fine and you won't need more than binoculars.

 

[Polinatje]

I believe there are Penduline Tits on the river, but I've never seen them there so I'm not sure how easy they are to find. Nightingale is relatively easy - you can definitely find this on the Arroyo de Meaques that leads west from the lake in Casa de Campo. In Casa de Campo you can also find Hoopoe (listen for them!), Bee-eater and Cirl Bunting further into the middle of the park. You can find several sylviid warbler species in Casa de Canpo. There are Pallid Swifts in the city, but they can be difficult to distinguish from Commons (which are the vast majority). They nest around Plaza Elíptica and Lavapiés, so they're more obvious in those areas. Iberian Magpie is very unlikely in the city, especially in May.

You might consider a location called Arroyo Valchico too, perhaps instead of Casa de Campo. You're more likely to find your Penduline Tits and Turtle Doves there. However, it's slightly further from the city centre.

Essentially all of Madrid is safe. Lone women may want to take care at night and tourists are occasionally targeted by pickpockets, but it's generally quite safe.

What you've suggested should work fine and you won't need more than binoculars.

Thank you so much for the tips! Case de Campo sounds pretty promising - especially thanks to the specific locations that you mentioned. And I just realised that I might be able to get an extra couple of hours out of my early morning on the second day before other commitments... So I will consider Arroyo Valchico for sure! Maybe even go there first 👀 Thank you!

 

[NickBrown]

Thank you so much for the tips! Case de Campo sounds pretty promising - especially thanks to the specific locations that you mentioned. And I just realised that I might be able to get an extra couple of hours out of my early morning on the second day before other commitments... So I will consider Arroyo Valchico for sure! Maybe even go there first 👀 Thank you!

Based on the list of birds you're looking to find and the time frame you have, I would strongly recommend Valdeloshielos. It's 30 minutes by train from the centre (get off at Tres Cantos), and is very consistent for Iberian Magpie. It also has tonnes of Thekla's Lark, Woodlark, Bee Eater, Woodchat Shrike, Iberian Shrike, Nightingale, I see Spanish Imperial Eagle there about 50% of the time and Black Vulture is ubiquitous. See my most recent checklist there for an idea of what you can expect: https://ebird.org/checklist/S223044327.
Otherwise if you're more pressed for time, as la_ravachol said, Casa de Campo is excellent.

 

[Polinatje]

Based on the list of birds you're looking to find and the time frame you have, I would strongly recommend Valdeloshielos. It's 30 minutes by train from the centre (get off at Tres Cantos), and is very consistent for Iberian Magpie. It also has tonnes of Thekla's Lark, Woodlark, Bee Eater, Woodchat Shrike, Iberian Shrike, Nightingale, I see Spanish Imperial Eagle there about 50% of the time and Black Vulture is ubiquitous. See my most recent checklist there for an idea of what you can expect: https://ebird.org/checklist/S223044327.
Otherwise if you're more pressed for time, as la_ravachol said, Casa de Campo is excellent.

Valdeloshielos looks like a vast area and is surely tempting! Could you give me some guidance on the best direction or area to focus on for a better chance of finding Iberian magpies?
Thanks a lot! 🙂

 

[NickBrown]

Valdeloshielos looks like a vast area and is surely tempting! Could you give me some guidance on the best direction or area to focus on for a better chance of finding Iberian magpies?
Thanks a lot! 🙂

I normally get off the train and walk to the purple area on the map and back, it's about 2km there (so 4km total), and takes 2 hours at a slow birding pace. The whole area is popular with dog walkers and there are trails everywhere, I usually criss-cross the landscape to the north of the main route, it can also be good just following the road although beware lots and lots of cyclists. To cross the motorway, there's a path to the right of Ronda de Europa, follow that and you should see a red pedestrian bridge.

Where you first enter (where the green walking icon is on the map) you can get some tits and serins in the fenced off pine woods to the south, but I usually walk past this bit quite quickly. Make sure you check all of the pylons, I get Spanish Eagles on them quite often. Once you reach the fork, take the right hand turn towards Valdeloshielos - this is the point that I stop following the path and go down random dog-walking trails in the general direction of Valdeloshielos. The open area to the south of the main route isn't too productive, although often has lots of Corn Bunting and Woodlark. I focus most of my time to the north: the blue circled area has lots of Thekla's Lark and occasionally (though quite uncommon) Cirl Bunting along the little stream that runs through there. Anywhere around the green and blue area is quite good for Iberian Shrike.

The green area is the best place for Iberian Magpie in my experience, make sure you learn the call as I hear them 100% of the time before I see them. They often fly between the green area and the trees in the area to the south of the road. I sometimes also see them in the pine woods at the start. The purple area is easy for Nightingale and scan the fields on the other side of Arroyo de Tejada for Spanish Sparrow as well. Woodchat Shrike can be anywhere and are quite common.

If you keep an eye on the sky you should comfortably get 6+ raptor species.

You'll likely hear Iberian Green Woodpecker but they're very shy basically everywhere apart from Retiro, so I definitely recommend going to Retiro for them. I also found a very central pair of Penduline Tit a few days ago (walking distance from Principe Pio), PM if you want info on that.

Hope this helps!

 

[Polinatje]

View attachment 1640945
View attachment 1640952I normally get off the train and walk to the purple area on the map and back, it's about 2km there (so 4km total), and takes 2 hours at a slow birding pace. The whole area is popular with dog walkers and there are trails everywhere, I usually criss-cross the landscape to the north of the main route, it can also be good just following the road although beware lots and lots of cyclists. To cross the motorway, there's a path to the right of Ronda de Europa, follow that and you should see a red pedestrian bridge.

Where you first enter (where the green walking icon is on the map) you can get some tits and serins in the fenced off pine woods to the south, but I usually walk past this bit quite quickly. Make sure you check all of the pylons, I get Spanish Eagles on them quite often. Once you reach the fork, take the right hand turn towards Valdeloshielos - this is the point that I stop following the path and go down random dog-walking trails in the general direction of Valdeloshielos. The open area to the south of the main route isn't too productive, although often has lots of Corn Bunting and Woodlark. I focus most of my time to the north: the blue circled area has lots of Thekla's Lark and occasionally (though quite uncommon) Cirl Bunting along the little stream that runs through there. Anywhere around the green and blue area is quite good for Iberian Shrike.

The green area is the best place for Iberian Magpie in my experience, make sure you learn the call as I hear them 100% of the time before I see them. They often fly between the green area and the trees in the area to the south of the road. I sometimes also see them in the pine woods at the start. The purple area is easy for Nightingale and scan the fields on the other side of Arroyo de Tejada for Spanish Sparrow as well. Woodchat Shrike can be anywhere and are quite common.

If you keep an eye on the sky you should comfortably get 6+ raptor species.

You'll likely hear Iberian Green Woodpecker but they're very shy basically everywhere apart from Retiro, so I definitely recommend going to Retiro for them. I also found a very central pair of Penduline Tit a few days ago (walking distance from Principe Pio), PM if you want info on that.

Hope this helps!

Nick, thank you SO MUCH for taking the time to lay it out in so much detail!!! This is super helpful!!! I will report on my findings after the trip! ☺️