Birding Trip Report: Southern Spain 2019
Birding Trip Report - Southern Spain:
Overview: In September 2019, my dad and I set out on an ambitious self-guided trip to Southern Spain to attempt to see all the specialities it has to offer with just two full days. We landed in Malaga airport at lunch time on the 10thand spent the rest of the day birding our way up through the mountains to Dos Hermanas near Seville where we stayed the night. The following day we made the journey down to Tarifa via Brazo del Este and the Bonanza and Trebujena area. On our final full day, we enjoyed the incredible raptor migration at Tarifa and explored the vast La Janda. After a pre-dawn trip to Los Lances on the final morning we made the drive back to Malaga and flew home at lunchtime on the 13thafter just 72 hours.
This was a fast-paced and extremely exciting trip which really tested my fieldwork and planning skills. In total, we recorded 143 species and covered hundreds of miles. I loved the thrill of trying to make the most of such a short space of time and revelled the challenge. This trip is testament to the fact that with only 3 days you can cover and enjoy a huge cross-section of Spanish wildlife.
Naturally, some species were missed – particularly those that require more time and a dose of luck such as Bonelli’s Eagle, Little Bittern and Rufous Bushchat. Among the many highlights however were Bald Ibis, Isabelline (Western Olivaceous) Warbler, Audouin’s Gull, White-headed Duck, Purple Swamphen, Black Wheatear and of course the incredible display of raptor migration, which was mostly composed of Short-toed and Booted Eagles with some Egyptian Vultures mixed in. Despite the distance covered, the trip didn’t feel rushed or hugely tiring – we had time to enjoy an infinity pool in Tarifa, traditional Spanish bars in Seville and of course a compulsory paella.
The only two surprising and disappointing misses were Black-winged Kite (we tried both La Janda and Cantarranas for these) and Slender-billed Gull (I found the saltpan area in Bonanza somewhat hard to navigate, and with limited time I think we failed to fully cover the whole area). Both were species that should definitely have been seen given the itinerary and we were either unlucky or simply failed to spot them despite searching!
Logistics:We rented a car from Malaga Airport and did a round trip from here. We found this was a cheap and easy way to cover the country. We were lucky enough to be given a 4x4 Mitsubishu which we later found was almost essential on some of the roads we tried to negotiate (Llanos de Libar). Without this luck, we would have likely had to alter the itinerary significantly.
Accommodation:We stayed in two hotels for the three nights.
This was a great modern hotel, which was well-located not far from the Northern end of Brazo del Este. Despite little time to enjoy the facilities, the pool looked great and breakfast was good. It is opposite a supermarket and close to a large range of restaurants and bars.
Far exceeded expectations. Fantastic breakfast and two pools (one of them an infinity pool on the top floor). We arranged the itinerary so as to be able to spend two nights here to save time moving around. Highly recommended and walking distance from Los Lances Beach which makes for a convenient pre-breakfast outing! Also opposite a supermarket which is great for getting lunch supplies.
Information:This trip was almost exclusively planned using John Cantelo’s fantastic book Birding Cadiz. His generosity to offer this guide for free is incredible and I donated to his chosen charity to thank him for this. His detailed accounts of the different sites made planning this trip so much easier and many of the species I saw are indebted to his help.
The nature of this flying tour meant that we could afford to waste little to no time trying to find the entrance to sites or find our way around. It is due to this guide that this was never the case.
For identification, I used Collin’s Bird Guide – both the book and the app – this book is great and covers all the species in the area.
Language:I had an elementary knowledge of Spanish when embarking on this tour. My comprehension was far better than my speaking, but I found the language barrier was rarely a problem. Particularly in the South where many tourists and visiting birders spoke in English anyway. I have a peanut allergy and found that communication of this was easy (either verbal or using a printed card) but that peanuts were apparently never used anyway. All menus that I personally saw had colour-coded allergen keys too.
Itinerary:
10th: midday arrival in Malaga – drive to Ronda – then to Llanos de Libar via Cuelva del Gato – Dos Hermanas.
11th: Dos Hermanas - Brazo del Este – Trebujena – Algaida – Bonanza Area – Tarifa
12th: Los Lances Beach – Cazalla Watchpoint – Sierra de la Plata – La Janda – Cantarranas - Montenmedio Golf Club - Tarifa
13th: Los Lances Beach – Malaga for morning flight
Day 1: Ronda & Llanos de Libar
Soon after leaving the airport, I had our first Griffon Vultures from the car window – what better way to welcome us to Spain? Little else was seen until we arrived in Ronda, intended mainly as a cultural lunch stop to see the famous bridge. It was as jaw-dropping as expected – highly recommended if you’re nearby and the picturesque streets make for a scenic stop even without the bridge itself. Birds seen here were our first Crag Martin, Red-rumped Swallows, Great Spotted Woodpecker and Spotless Starlings.
Cuevo de Gato was disappointing on the way into the Sierra de Grazalema and so, eager not to waste time on what was a fast-paced tour, we headed on for the Sierra de Grazalema, namely the Llanos de Libar (recommended by John Cantelo in his guide).
This area didn’t disappoint. The birds were surprisingly forthcoming for a mountainous area and in a couple of hours our list grew fast.
Griffon Vultures were abundant along the entire course of the road, as were Black Wheatears – this was one of the big targets of the trip and many birds showed well. Blue Rock Thrush were less obliging but eventually several males were seen well. A possible flyby Rock Thrush seen by my dad, was left frustratingly as a possible, but encouraged us further up the road. We drove the entire length of the road down to the large flat field (described in John’s guide) and didn’t find it too difficult in our 4WD car –it would probably not be passable past the (c) marker without it.
We saw many birds here, particularly in the tree-lined section at the start of the large flat cattle field, including Lesser Kestrel, Southern Grey Shrike, Chough, Thekla’s Lark, a superb male Subalpine Warbler, Black-eared Wheatear, Rock Sparrow, Spotted & Pied Flycatchers, Redstart and Cirl Bunting. A surprising miss was Rock Bunting and perhaps less surprisingly there was no sign of the hoped for Bonelli’s Eagle. Perhaps these had already left for migration. A large flock of White Stork migrating south as we left was an enticing taste of Tarifa later on in the trip.
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| The 'field' at Llanos de Libar - quite a surreal change of scenery. Chough fed with the cattle here |
We then made the rather long drive to Dos Hermanas, arriving at around 8 in the evening and seeing Monk Parakeet and Turtle Dove on the way.
Day 2: Wetlands of Brazo del Este & Bonanza:
With such a long day ahead of us, we were keen to make a prompt start this morning and head for Brazo del Este. These plans took a frustrating hit when the shop opposite the hotel had not opened by the time we planned to leave. This meant an unplanned diversion to get water and supplies for the rest of the day. Even so, we arrived at Brazo del Este at around 8:30 eager to start adding to our list. New birds came fast and we had soon added a huge range of farmland birds including Iberian Green Woodpecker, Wheatear, and Crested Lark on our approach from the north. Best of all, were 4 Black Storks which were stood in a recently ploughed field. These were a major target and one that I thought I’d have to luck into on migration in Tarifa.
As the habitat became more wetland, we quickly added Wood Sandpiper, Black-winged Stilt and Greenshank among 12 other wader species and Black-headed Weavers were the first to show themselves out of the introduced species which are thriving here. Our first stop was at the outflow area where Whiskered Terns of varying ages fed right by the road. Here, a short walk gave a close flyby Squacco Heron, Fan-tailed Warblers singing from the reeds, Water Rail, Spanish Sparrow and a flock of Common Waxbills which initially posed an identification problem.
As we progressed down the road, we quickly ticked off other heron species and had soon seen Spoonbill, Grey, Purple & Squacco Herons, Black & White Stork, Glossy Ibis (hundreds) and Great White & Cattle Egrets. The next big excitement came when a Purple Swamphen flew lazily into the reeds and proceeded to run across an island in the open. We were soon seeing upwards of 10 of these fantastic birds.
An area of deeper water held a huge range of wildfowl and among the many Mallard and Coot hid several Garganey, along with perhaps the bird of the morning - 10 Marbled Teal! I thought this target would be much harder to find. Yellow-crowned Bishop completed the list of exotic targets.
Since time was getting on and having seen 70 species already, we unfortunately had to leave this fantastic area to get lunch in nearby Las Cabezas.
After contending with the traffic through Las Cabezas, we finally made it to Trebujena in the early afternoon. I would recommend bringing a packed lunch because the quickest route between Brazo del Este and Bonanza is on pretty rural roads with no shops/cafés.
The dusty Trebujena marshes offered difficult birding conditions in the midday heat and we spent possibly too much time here for relatively little reward. Raptors taking advantage of the thermals overhead included the only Red Kite of the trip, Marsh Harrier and Booted Eagle, but no luck with Spanish Imperial Eagle. We did find Woodchat Shrike, Whinchat, Pallid Swift, Iberian Chiffchaff, hundreds of Greater Flamingo and Short-toed Lark. Time was definitely getting ahead of us now and so we headed for the Algaida Pines & Laguna Tarelo.
This somehow turned out to be simultaneously the highlight and lowlight of the tour! Parking in the Southwest corner of Algaida Pines, there is a short c.100m track to the Laguna del Tarelo screen. The pines here held the densest concentration of passerine migrants I think I have ever seen in my life. The phrase “dripping from the trees” rang very true as 10+ Spotted Flycatchers, 10+ Pied Flycatchers, Garden Warbler, Willow Warblers, Serin, tens of Sardinian Warblers and best of all 3 Olivaceous Warblers hung and sallied from the trees all around us. On the Laguna itself we found Marbled Teal, White-headed Duck, Avocet, Black-necked Grebe, Ferruginous Duck and Pochard. What a place!
I could have stayed here for hours, hunting for Penduline Tit, Night Heron and more migrants had it not been for the insects; in around 20 minutes, my dad and I were covered in mosquito bites. Both a blessing and a curse because presumably that’s what had attracted all the migrants!
After lasting for as long as we could bear, we left quickly for the Bonanza saltpans. Simply opening the door, let in at least 10 mosquitoes into the car. We were swatting them for the remainder of the day.
The saltpans were covered in waders; Curlew Sandpiper, Bar-tailed Godwit, Kentish Plover, Turnstone, Dunlin and Knot among the many species we found. An Osprey quartered the saltpans and we were very pleased to find 4 Caspian Terns resting on a bank. I have seen these birds in the US and their size always shocks me.
Perhaps my one regret is not spending more time here – we missed Slender-billed Gull and somehow also Little Stint (there should have been hundreds) so perhaps we did not fully cover the area. However, time was getting on and we headed for Bonanza Pools. These pools are in one of the strangest settings of any birding sites and yet these unsuspecting pools offer so much potential. We found more White-headed Duck and Purple Swamphen here.
The journey to Tarifa was relatively uneventful bird-wise and we arrived in Tarifa early evening. We enjoyed the hotel’s infinity pool and views across to Morocco. For dinner, we walked into old town and had a delicious paella. This bustling town has a fantastic atmosphere and we enjoyed watching hundreds of Cattle Egrets roosting in the trees above the restaurant. A fantastic end to a very busy day.
Day 3: Tarifa & La Janda:
A pre-breakfast walk from the hotel to Los Lances Beach was interrupted when we found that the bridge to the hide was broken and closed. Instead we had to divert onto the beach but couldn’t reach the hide due to the river.
Even so, we found the main target of the morning; Audouin’s Gull. A flock of 7 were loafing on the beach. We also found Sanderling, Whimbrel, Curlew Sandpiper and somehow our first Hoopoe of the trip which was very welcome indeed.
After breakfast, headed to the Cazalla Watchpoint. As John explains in his guide, this can only be reached from the southbound carriageway of the N-340. We found that the first place to turn around, if staying in Tarifa, is the Mirador del Estrecho a few miles further up.
We didn’t luck into a “migration day” and I had worried about this, given that we were only here for one day. But I found this didn’t matter. For a first-time visitor, the numbers and views on a mediocre day are simply incredible anyway. We watched for a couple of hours and saw triple-figures of both Short-toed Eagles and Booted Eagles. It’s such an incredible experience to see these birds fly so low overhead when all views are normally so high up and distant. I saw more of these two species in 2 hours than I could probably expect to in 10 years of holidaying elsewhere in Spain. The best bird for me though was Egyptian Vulture – after an initial distant sighting early on, 10 more flew over and some were incredibly low. We also saw Black Stork, Honey Buzzard, Lesser Kestrel and Sparrowhawk. Overall, an unforgettable morning even in what would generally be considered an average migration day.
After speaking to some other UK birders at Cazalla, we decided to visit the Laja de la Zarga (in John Cantelo’s guide) in the Sierra de la Plata. The day before, a tour group had found Spanish Imperial Eagle and a family group of Bonelli’s Eagles from the hide here. Despite initial concerns, we found the hide easy to find with John’s directions. There was no sign of either raptor unfortunately, but the Griffon Vultures made the trip here worthwhile. I haven’t been to Spain enough for the novelty of this species to wear off and every sighting is still exciting. Here, we watched a kettle of several hundred over the entrance track and then watched individuals coming and going from their nests on the cliff face in front of the hide.
The next destination was La Janda. Of all the sites we visited, this was probably the most disappointing. It was very dry, and we had to work very hard for new birds. Our efforts were rewarded with Alpine Swift, huge numbers of White Stork, Hoopoe, Montagu’s Harrier, Woodchat Shrike and our only Pheasant.
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| White Stork over La Janda |
In general though, perhaps local knowledge would have been helpful on our day like this, when the heat meant that birds were not forthcoming and the wetter areas were not easy to find.
Still missing Black-winged Kite, we tried driving the area around Cantarranas without luck and then decided to cut our losses.
We headed for Montenmedio Golf Course, which turned out to be a great decision. A Hoopoe on the drive in was a promising sign and then the star bird – a flock of Bald Ibis feeding with Cattle Egrets on the driving range as promised.
A walk around the network of paths gave us a nice range of woodland species that we’d been missing, including Coal Tit, Short-toed Treecreeper, another Hoopoe and Pied Flycatcher and a brief Golden Oriole. It’s hard to believe that these Bald Ibis can be so incredibly rare and yet so reliable at this site.
Enjoying the pool back at the hotel, the day list wasn’t quite over. A big flock of Bee-eater flew overhead as I sunbathed. I was quite sad about not having seen or heard these birds during the trip and so this was a perfect end to the day.
Day 3: Los Lances – Malaga:
We drove to the Los Lances car park just north of Tarifa so that we could approach the hide from the other side this morning and avoid the broken bridge. With little time before the flight, we managed to add Corn Bunting and a distant Cory’s Shearwater over the sea to the list. This is a great site and definitely deserves more time than we were able to give it. A Jay over the car on the way to Malaga was the final addition of the trip.
Key Species:
Gadwall
Marbled Teal – seen at Brazo del Este & Laguna del Tarelo. September is a good time to find this species and there were good numbers in both locations
Mallard
Pintail
Garganey
Shoveler
Pochard
Ferruginous Duck – Laguna del Tarelo
White-headed Duck – seen at Laguna del Tarelo & Bonanza Pools, only one male seen.
Pheasant
Cory's Shearwater –Los Lances Beach; distant but idenitifiable over the sea
Squacco Heron – one at Brazo del Este pump house
Cattle Egret
Little Egret
Great White Egret
Grey Heron
Purple Heron – several in the Southern half of Brazo del Este
Black Stork – 4 at Brazo del Este, 1 at Trebujena and a large flock from Cazalla
White Stork
Glossy Ibis
Northern Bald Ibis – flock at Montenmedio, a small flock of ibis over the road near Vejer was possibly this species
Spoonbill
Little Grebe
Great Crested Grebe
Black-necked Grebe –Laguna del Tarelo
Greater Flamingo
Honey-buzzard – 3 early on from Cazalla
Eurasian Griffon
Black Kite
Red Kite
Egyptian Vulture – double figures from Cazalla
Short-toed Eagle - triple figures from Cazalla
Marsh Harrier
Montagu's Harrier– 2 on La Janda
Sparrowhawk
Buzzard
Booted Eagle
Osprey– Bonanza Saltpans
Lesser Kestrel – surprisingly widespread
Kestrel
Water Rail
Moorhen
Western Swamphen– abundant at Brazo del Este & several at Bonanza Pools
Coot
Black-winged Stilt
Avocet
Little Ringed Plover
Ringed Plover
Kentish Plover– Bonanza Saltpans & Los Lances
Lapwing
Knot
Ruff – Brazo del Este
Sanderling– Los Lances
Curlew Sandpiper - Bonanza Saltpans
Dunlin
Snipe
Black-tailed Godwit
Bar-tailed Godwit
Whimbrel
Curlew
Common Sandpiper
Green Sandpiper
Greenshank
Wood Sandpiper – Brazo del Este
Redshank
Turnstone
Black-headed Gull
Audouin's Gull – 7 at Los Lances
Lesser Black-backed Gull
Yellow-legged Gull
Caspian Tern – Bonanza Salt Pans
Whiskered Tern– Brazo del Este, many at the pump house
Rock Dove / Feral Pigeon
Woodpigeon
Collared Dove
Turtle Dove – seen from the car near Dos Hermanas
Monk Parakeet – Dos Hermanas
Swift
Pallid Swift
Alpine Swift - only 4 over La Janda
Kingfisher
Bee-eater – Tarifa Los Lances Hotel
Hoopoe – Los Lances, La Janda & Montenmedio
Iberian Green Woodpecker – at the Mediterráno Algodon, Brazo del Este
Great Spotted Woodpecker
Golden Oriole – Montenmedio Golf Course
Lesser Grey Shrike – Llanos de Libar
Woodchat Shrike – Trebujena & La Janda
Chough – Llanos de Libar
Jay
Jackdaw
Raven
Blue Tit
Great Tit
Coal Tit
Short-toed Lark – Trebujena & Los Lances
Thekla's Lark– Llanos de Libar
Crested Lark
Sand Martin
Crag Martin– widespread in mountainous areas: Sierra de la Plata & Sierra de Grazalema
Swallow
House Martin
Red-rumped Swallow- widespread
Cetti's Warbler
Iberian Chiffchaff- Trebujena
Willow Warbler
Garden Warbler– Algaida Pines
Subalpine Warbler– Llanos de Libar
Sardinian Warbler
Western Olivaceous Warbler– 3 in Algaida Pines
Reed Warbler
Fan-tailed Warbler
Short-toed Treecreeper– Montenmedio Golf Course
Wren
Spotless Starling
Blackbird
Spotted Flycatcher
Pied Flycatcher
Black Redstart
Redstart
Blue Rock Thrush– Llanos de Libar
Whinchat- Trebujena
Stonechat
Wheatear
Black-eared Wheatear– Llanos de Libar
Black Wheatear– Llanos de Libar
House Sparrow
Spanish Sparrow - colonies seen well at Brazo del Este and La Janda
Rock Sparrow – Llanos de Libar
Black-headed Weaver– Brazo del Este
Yellow-crowned Bishop – Brazo del Este
Common Waxbill – Brazo del Este
Yellow Wagtail
Pied Wagtail
Chaffinch
Greenfinch
Serin
Goldfinch
Linnet
Cirl Bunting
Corn Bunting
Major Misses & Advice
Spanish Imperial Eagle– despite many opportunities to see this bird: Laja de la Zarga, Bonanza , La Janda and Cazalla, there was no sign. I think luck is needed with this species in this area, and more time means more chance to stumble across one.
Bonelli’s Eagle– I think the birds had left the breeding areas and so we missed these at Llanos de Libar. Finding one on migration at Cazalla or La Janda requires luck (as SIE) and more time in the area.
Black-winged Kite – a very surprising miss. No sign at La Janda or Cantarranas. Possibly due to the heat haze or maybe we missed them.
Slender-billed Gull – I don’t think we covered all of the Bonanza Salt Pans – we must have missed the pans where this species was hiding. I’m sure they were present somewhere.
Little Bittern– perhaps we were too late in the year? More time at Bonanza Pools might have offered this species
Next Time:
· I think we probably spent too long in the Trebujena area with little reward. A couple of high reward species such as Spanish Imperial Eagle, Pin-tailed Sandgrouse and Lesser Short-toed Lark can be found here but, on a time-pressed trip, perhaps it is unrealistic to hope to find these species
· We should have spent more time in the Bonanza Salt Pans – Slender-billed Gull, Little Stint and a few more species should have easily been found here.
· Maybe a guide is necessary to find some of the harder birds in the Tarifa area, especially with only a day in the area? A lot of knowledge is required to find Black-winged Kite, Bonelli’s Eagle and Red-necked Nightjar and the areas you need to cover are so vast. There are so many variables and choices e.g. which watchpoint to use that local knowledge could go a long way
· Get lunch ready the night before or in the morning – it is not as easy to find a shop in Spain as it is in the UK, especially due to the siesta and the fact that a lot of the birding sites are in very rural areas
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