14-day Spain birding spectacular

Guide: Nigel Moorhouse

Spain is one of Europe’s most diverse countries. The habitats range from high mountains to almost desert-like plains, and this mixture leads to an equally diverse birdlife. The tour begins in the north, where the snow-capped Pyrenees rise to form a border with France. Here are several scarce European species including Black Woodpecker, Snow Finch, Yellow-billed Chough and the enigmatic Wallcreeper. The areas lower down towards the coast offer a mix of steppe, fields, lagoons and cliffs, and a variety of birds, including Great Bustard, Little Bustard, European Roller, Common Crane and the rare Audouin’s Gull. Corys, Yelkouan and Balearic Shearwaters can all be spotted from the shore. From this area, we move in to central Spain, where Monfragüe offers some of the best birding in Europe. The rock faces along the rivers provide nesting sites for Griffon Vulture, Egyptian Vulture, Eagle Owl, Black Stork, Red-billed Chough, plus all the Spanish eagles are also regularly encountered here. Many of these, along with Alpine and White-rumped Swifts can be viewed from the castle, Castillo de Monfragüe. We finally spend time in the south-west, among the lagoons and steppes at the Coto Doñana. Marbled and White-headed Ducks have their sole European strongholds here, and one of the specialities is Azure-winged Magpie, which occurs commonly here, but whose only other distribution is in Eastern Asia! Overhead, we need to look out for Spanish Imperial, Booted and Short-toed Eagles. Sardinian Warbler is common and Spotless Starling as a southern European speciality.

Day 1: Arrival and local birding, dependent on arrival time.

 

Day 2: In the Ebro Delta is circus of herons, terns, warblers and waders, but there is more on offer here with 'the world's rarest gull' the Audouin's Gull, the Slender-billed Gull and nine terns, including White-winged and Lesser Crested Tern. Throw in Glossy Ibis, Spotted Crake, Bluethroat and Collared Pratincole and a host of other wetland species.

 

Day 3: Catalonia's unique range of habitats is demonstrated no more so than by the rocky peninsulas and the spectacular oceanic and mountain birds on offer. Where else can you watch sea birds such as Cory's, Balearic and Yelkouan Shearwaters without the aid of binoculars? Turn around and, against a backdrop of such astounding beauty, the pallete is completed with Bonelli's Eagle, Orphean Warbler, Pallid Swift, Alpine Accentor, Rock Thrush, Ortolan Bunting and, in winter, Wallcreeper.

 

Day 4: The Catalan Steppes serve up a remarkable number of rare species. Great and Little Bustard, Black-bellied and Pin-tailed Sandgrouse, Lesser Kestrel, Lesser Grey Shrike. Roller, Calandra Lark, Montagu's Harrier, Stone-Curlew, Dotterel and Great Spotted Cuckoo.

 

Day 5: The Garraf mountains provide the setting for our search for the breeding Bonelli's Eagle. Wallcreeper, Spectacled Warbler, Black Wheatear, Rock and Ortolan Buntings, Pallid Swift, Southern Grey Shrike and migrant raptors all occur. IN the evening, we can look for Eagle and Scops Owls.

 

Day 6: The Empordà to the north will offer a final chance not only to see some of Catalonia's harder-to-find species such as crakes, Glossy Ibis and Moustached Warbler, but also to say goodbye to some of the week's favourites, including Roller, Stone-Curlew and Short-toed and Booted Eagles. Migrants usually include Red-footed Falcon, Red-throated Pipit and Common Crane, and for the photographers, the compact reserve at El Cortalet will offer the best chance yet to snap close-ups of Purple Gallinule, White Stork and a host of waders.

 

Day 7-8: The final day is spent in the Pyrenees. Lammergeier, Wallcreeper and Black Woodpecker all occur, and with luck, we may even add Honey Buzzard, Ring Ouzel, Alpine Accentor, Red-backed Shrike, Snow and Citril Finches and Alpine Chough. We then transfer to Madrid by air.

 

Days 9-10: The Monfragüe nature park, heart of the Cáceres province, is arguably one of the best birding spots in Europe and an essential part of a birding visit to southwest Spain. The landscape is as spectacular as the birds, and one day is rarely enough to capture all the impressions of Monfragüe. The rock faces along the rivers provide nesting sites for species such as Griffon Vulture, Egyptian Vulture, Eagle Owl, Black Stork, and Red-billed Chough, and all the Spanish eagles are also regularly encountered here. The ruins of the castle Castillo de Monfragüe are always worth a visit for close views of vultures, eagles, and swifts, and this is where you have the best chance of spotting the rare White-rumped Swift.

The dehesas (a characteristic, savanna-like habitat type formed by cattle grazing below the oak trees) provide habitat for many smaller birds, and this is the place to go looking for Bee-eater, Great Spotted Cuckoo, Azure-winged Magpie, and Black-shouldered Kite.

 

Day 11: Continuing to the southwest, we visit the Lagunas of Comisario and Taraje near Jerez de la Frontera (after which Sherry is named). Marbled and White-headed Duck, Black-necked, Little and Great Crested Grebe as well as Greater Flamingo, Black Kite, Marsh Harrier and Purple Swamphen can be seen.

 

Day 12-13: We end at Coto Doñana, where we should be able to spot Hoopoe, Sardinian Warbler, Azure winged Magpie, Bee-eater and Spotless Starling. Later we will have time to explore several different areas inside the vast park to look for Spoonbill, Black Stork, Squacco Heron, Night heron, Purple Swamp-hen and Glossy Ibis, as well as Greater Flamingo, Avocet, Spotted Crake and Cattle and Little Egret. Other beautiful birds are present such as the very rare Spanish Imperial Eagle and Golden Eagle. Different raptors include Booted Eagle, Short-toed Eagle and Red Kite as well as the ubiquitous Black Kite.

 

Day 14: Today we depart, or have the option of adding a few days migration watch at Gibraltar.

 

 

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