Birding Southern Spain (Doñana, Tarifa, & Gibraltar) so much to do, so little time

[hihi]

Hello, I am going on a five day trip in Spain for birdwatching in mid August. I am actually leaving for Spain on August 1st for something unrelated, and – as today’s date would suggest – that is approaching quickly. I am going to try to see as much as I can, and so I will be covering a lot of area.
My current plan (starting from Madrid) is to head down to Doñana NP (I don’t know specifically where to go there and what to do ) and then down to the strait, up to Valencia and Ebro Delta (with some stops along the way), then to Balsas de Planeron and Miradores de Revilla and finally to Barcelona where I catch my flight back to Canada where I will be soon after be back to solving radical equations in school and wanting to gouge my eyes out.

The only issue is that around Gibraltar, there is a lot, and I’m not too sure what to do and what not to. Since I know that Spain (particularily Gibraltar) is a favourite spot for many of the hardcore birders of the British Isles and elsewhere I thought that it might be worth asking:

• Is Tarifa worth doing along with Gibraltar? Or are they the same/similar?
• Where oh where do I have the best chance of seeing Barbary Partridge? Windmill Hill or Mediterranean Steps?
• Best place to see Northern Bald Ibis?
• Where to go in Doñana???
• Where to go in Brazo del Este???
• For people more familiar with Madrid, which is better for birds? El Retiro or Polvoranca Park?
• For people more familiar with Barcelona, where do I have my best bet of seeing Red-billed Leiothrix?

I will be forever in debt for anyone who answers one of these questions for me, and I look forward to entering the confusing and magnificent world of European birding, where robins aren’t robins, redstarts aren’t redstarts, blackbirds aren’t blackbirds, and there are crow species named after chess pieces (or the other way around?).

[susanne-kasimir]

Hi, I live in southern Spain so I can probably answer some of your questions.

That sounds like a pretty tight schedule. How do you plan on getting around? car? public transport? I read something about school, so remember you have to be 18 to be allowed to drive in Europe. And you need an international driver’s licence. Even if you have just turned 18, car rental agencies might not be happy/ willing to give you a car.

Gibraltar is a quaint mixture of England, Spain and Morocco and has lots of tourists and monkeys, but I don’t know what’s special about birding. I don’t know if there is something that you can’t see in Spain. Yes, probably the barbary partridge. Here we only have the normal red-legged, which you only see by chance.

Tarifa is the hotspot for migrating birds of prey, but honestly I don’t know when that starts.

The newly established reintroduced colony of bald ibis is near Vejer de la Frontera (Cádiz province), but I’ve never been there. (Difficult to get to without a car)

El Rocío is the easiest place to get to in Doñana, I’ve seen my first squacco heron and Cetti’s warbler there in the marismas right next to the famous church. There are three visitor’s centers around the area, the blue winged magpies are much less shy than in other places.

Brazo del Este sounds good, but I’ve never been there. I’ll list a few places which are accesible by public transport (if you know how - like bus/ train timetables etc.)

In the Parque Alamillo in Sevilla is a bird observation area where you’ll find crested coots and ferruginous duck.

From the famous Roman bridge in Córdoba I saw black crowned night herons.

Another famous bridge is in Ronda, there you’ll find red-billed choughs.

There is a little nature reserve close to the airport in Málaga, the Guadalhorce river mouth, there you can often see white-headed ducks, different species of gulls etc.

The Laguna de Fuente de Piedra has the second biggest breeding colony of flamingos, but I don’t how much water is left there at the moment. They have reintroduced marbled teals there as well.

Having written all of this, I think you should skip the whole of Andalucía (as much as I regret it, because I think of course it’s the best part of Spain) and concentrate on Madrid, Valencia, Barcelona. You’ll be busy enough for 5 days. [Albufera Natural Park] (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albufera_Natural_Park) near Valencia is quite famous for birdlife.
You can also write me a PM with more detailed questions.
Susanne

[apusaffinis]

Tagging on to susanne-kasimir’s response -

In El Rocio it’s a given that you’ll see flamingoes and euro spoonbills, and it has a few small supermarkets, and the best part of the marshes is very accessible. The other side of the marsh, on the other side of the road (A-483) is La Rocina, one of the three other visitors centres. La Rocina is a bit larger, and I’ve seen snipe there. It sometimes has more flamingoes, but I’ve also seen none there before too.

The second visitors centre is Acebuche, a lynx breeding centre, but I hate to say that las lagunas are better described as matorrales. It has been dry for so long (a guide said ~9 years), that all of the lagoons now have dense vegetation throughout them and you won’t find any water birds.

Laguna de Fuente de Piedra has been very very dry for a long time, but sometimes the flamingos and also black wing stilts are visible from incredibly close up in the first ponds before you arrive at the visitor centre! This site is probably less accessible than El Rocia without a car, as it’s not a big destination.

Those stilts are also visible in Gaudalhorce reserve by Malaga airport, even before you enter the reserve - in the canals that run parallel to it right next to the caravaners mad max car park.

Beyond that, I think the point about cities is correct, the high speed trains (AVE) are very fast, and you can travel between the next cities in a couple of hours, for probably ~$40. Cordoba from Madrid is only 1h 46 minutes, and though I have a bias, I think Cordoba is genuinely one of the best urban birding cities in europe -
There are cattle egret, little egret, grey heron, black crowned night heron, glossy ibis, white storks, kingfishers, cormorants, spotless starling, red kite, black kite, hoopoe, booted eagle, lesser spotted woodpeckers. Goodness I hope I’m not forgetting anyone. And this is all essentially from the promenade, or yes the gorgeous roman bridge. A little further out you can see euro rollers, euro bee eaters, crested larks, vultures, woodchat shrike and iberian grey shrike, but you’d need a car for that, and with so much already in the city centre, it would be easy to stay there. Just bear in mind that in August the temperature in Cordoba is likely to be all high 30s and a few 40C days thrown in.

I assume when people say Gibraltar they mean Tarifa, which is crossing point for the migrating birds. August is a bit early for the biggest groups of them.

I hope I haven’t left anything off.