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Birding in and around Tarifa, Cadiz, Spain (1 Viewer)

gerald762

Covid permitting, I will be in Tarifa 8th-12th September for a short visit with family. The 8th and 12th are travelling days. I have guided trips booked for 9th and 10th. On the 11th I plan to explore Tarifa on foot (its my first time in the area). So I won't require transport, but thank you for your kind offer!
 
You'll be most unlikely to see black wheatears in Tarifa. Wrong habitat. They are birds of bare rocky slopes and are only in low numbers in Cadiz province, with more in Malaga due to the more mountainous nature of the inland areas. The Sierra de las Nieves (Malaga), south of Ronda is a good place for them as is Sierra de Grazalema (Cadiz), but these are well north. The only place in Andalucia where I've seen them down to sea level is at the opposite end of the region, in Almeria, specifically the area around Cabo de Gata, where they are easy to spot around the lighthouse or in such coastal villages as San Jose.
 
Just checked my notes for my only autumn trip to Tarifa area, back in 2008, and we were still seeing 50+ Bee-eaters as late as September 19th.
 
You probably did the same as I do, Gerald. Countless times I've told somebody about a bird. My brain says 'black redstart', then my mouth says 'black wheatear'.

It's raised some eyebrows in the past, when the bird in question was bobbing about in Northumberland. :)
 
Just caught up with this post. I see you've had some excellent advice from Tarifa regulars already covering several sites I too would have mentioned. PM me with your email address and I'll send you my birding guide to Cadiz which should give you plenty of ideas (unless you've already got it as I vaguely recall getting a similar request a while back but the name of my correspondent escapes me), John
 
Hi all

Just thought I'd give an update. I am back in the UK now. I had a fantastic trip; saw 119 species in 3 days, including plenty of lifers! Highlights were White-headed and Marbled Ducks, a roosting Red-necked Nightjar, Black-winged Kite and of course all the migrating eagles, vultures and storks! Also, I tried for the Common Bulbul on my final morning and was successful :)

I have a question: In addition to lots of Cory's Shearwater, I saw several much smaller Shearwaters that I couldn't positively ID. Are there any likely candidates other than Balearic? Or can I just assume Balearic?

Also, I would appreciate opinions on the ID of the birds in the following photographs (I have a pretty good idea, but would like a second opinion):

Thanks everyone!
 

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