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

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

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