DAY ONE

Fly London to Gibraltar/Malaga and transfer to Huerta Grande. As we head West will no doubt see our first overhead migrants such as Honey Buzzard and Black Kite, but also some Booted Eagles and Griffon Vultures!

After lunch we head off to Cazalla watchpoint, where we have our first raptor session to see how the movement is and get a feel for proceedings ready for the week ahead. Various watchpoints are located at different points and each one should be carefully selected based on the wind direction. Algarrobo watchpoint is slightly further East and inland. Here we’ll hope for more Honey Buzzards, Black Kites, Booted Eagles and small numbers of Short-toed Eagles but also groups of Pallid Swift, Swallows, House Martins and Bee-eaters. Common Stonechat, Sardinian warbler and Spotless Starling are among the other common birds present.

Huerta Grande itself is also in prime position to observe raptors right over our accommodation, but the trees and bushes can be a migrant trap for passerines and we will look for Crested Tit, Iberian Chiff-chaff, Sardinian Warbler, Spotted Flycatcher & Firecrest.

Overnight Huerta Grande.

DAY TWO

For those up early a short pre-breakfast walk is likely to offer more opportunities to find Iberian Chiffchaff plus a surprise like a Hawfinch or other migrant or two.

After breakfast we hit the watchpoints again and hope that passage will be good. On the better days streams of raptors passing low can run into the many thousands, though in clearer days the birds are likely to be higher! Montagu’s Harrier and Spanish Imperial Eagle are among the scarcer prizes on offer and the European Griffon Vultures should always be checked carefully for the rare Ruppell’s Griffon Vulture, an African species which now shows up in the straits with great regularity.

Red-rumped Swallow and Alpine Swift are likely among the high-flying day-migrants.

Down at Los Lances beach there are often small flocks of Corn Buntings in and around the rough ground plus Crested Lark and Zitting Cisticola. This is also a good place to see parties of Bee-eaters passing low and we expect to find Cattle Egrets and Spotless Starlings around the livestock. The saline pools can hold a lot of shorebirds, the bulk being Sanderling and Ringed Plover but in amongst these could be Red Knot, Kentish Plover and Common Sandpiper and we should keep an eye out for Iberian Yellow Wagtail. Gulls on the shore, if undisturbed, will be mainly Yellow-legged Gull but Audouin’s Gull and Sandwich Tern can also be found.

After lunch we head to the pools at Barbate, where an excellent mix of shorebirds, gulls and Greater Flamingo should be present. Avocet, Black-tailed Godwit, Black-winged Stilt, Greenshank, Little Stint and Common Sandpiper can all be expected here. There’s a further chance for Audouin’s Gull plus Spoonbill, Caspian Tern, Osprey and Stone Curlew, while open scrubby areas often hold a migrant or two such as Woodchat Shrike.

Overnight Huerta Grande.

DAY THREE

After breakfast we make the journey up into the mountains before the heat of the day arrives. Exploring the trees, bushes and a nearby spring-fed water trough, we might find Redstarts, Pied Flycatcher and Spotted Flycatcher. Iberian Grey Shrike, Sardinian Warbler, Western Subalpine Warbler and Hoopoe are other typical birds of this scrubby hillside habitat.

Heading further on into the rocky hills we look for Crag Martin and Rock Bunting, the latter always an unobtrusive species best located by call. Black Redstart are ever-present in this terrain but the rarer Black Wheatear is our main target – a declining species that shows a strong preference for south-facing and rather barren slopes. Once we find them, they normally give excellent views! Dartford Warbler, Northern Wheatear and Serin should all help keep our passerine list rolling.

Enjoying lunch in the woodland shade, we can watch for common birds coming and going such as Chiffchaff, Willow Warbler, Nuthatch, Jay and Short-toed Treecreeper. We then spend a little further time back in the open area, before heading down to watch a drinking trough area. Sitting quietly from the minibus we watch for the birds to appear – maybe something nice like a Hawfinch will drop in or more migrants such as Redstart and Iberian Chiffchaff. Some days the temperature rises starkly in the early afternoon so this is a good way to spend some time in the shade, followed by cold beers back at Huerta Grande and just enough time to cool down in the pool!

Overnight Huerta Grande.

DAY FOUR

This morning we get back on the raptor trail, dropping in at Cazalla watchpoint for a while before heading on to Tarifa for a boat trip out into the Straits. Black Stork, Egyptian Vulture, Booted and Short-toed Eagles may well be on the move.

Heading out into The Straits, we start looking for seabirds such as Cory’s Shearwater and Black Tern, plus hopefully our first pods of Short-finned Pilot Whales – they often come really close to the boat giving excellent views. Striped & Bottle-nosed Dolphins are also regular, often putting on a real show, leaping out of the water!

Once off the boat and back in Tarifa we drop into a restaurant for a Tapas lunch and take it easy in the middle of the heat of the day, before heading for Bolonia for a couple of hours at the Vulture colony. Here there are good numbers of Eurasian Griffon Vultures with numerous breeding pairs and juveniles up on the ridge, and we’ll enjoy watching these huge birds soaring in the skies then dropping down to perch at their nest ledges up on the cliffs. This is a great chance to spot the rare Ruppell’s Griffon Vulture, which often hangs around with its European cousins – once a mega rarity, it is now regular in the straits and thought to be breeding somewhere in the vast wilderness of central Spain.

La Janda area is a fantastic network of rice fields and canals which can provide some excellent birding, especially in the early evening when the heat of the day has subsided.  Green Sandpiper Glossy Ibis, Purple Heron, Iberian Yellow Wagtails, Turtle Dove and Montagu’s Harrier are all expected species here. Exploring tracks further, we have a great chance to find Black-winged Kite and sometimes Spanish Imperial Eagle, while the vast sparrow flocks normally contain a few dapper Spanish Sparrows.

Little Owl, Stone Curlew, Red-necked Nightjar and even Eagle Owl are some crepuscular birds that should be becoming active as we leave this bird-rich area.

Overnight Huerta Grande.

DAY FIVE

We start the day birding along the El Traffico road on the Tarifa coastline just East of the town. A low ridge here often produces low-moving raptors such as Black kite, Booted and Short-toed Eagles. Walking the track, we should hear the distinctive song of the Cirl Bunting – like a Yellowhammer, but without the ‘cheese’! This is a great area for close flocks of Bee-eaters and we should check the larks carefully for the subtle Thekla Lark, which prefers rocky slopes rather than agricultural habitats. Tawny Pipit and Red-rumped Swallow are other species to look out for here.

If there are still raptors passing overhead we should head for one of the watchpoints which give us some shade for lunch and a chance to check for more aerial migration. Lunch is likely to be interrupted several times, either by swirling flocks of White Storks, the smart Black Stork, or photogenic Honey Buzzards. The real star of the show though would be a Bonelli’s Eagle drifting overhead!

The afternoon activity will depend largely on raptor movement, heat and other factors so we will remain flexible. We are likely to end up back at Huerta Grande to do some more birdwatching around the grounds to round off the day.

Overnight Huerta Grande.

DAY SIX

Today we have an early start bound for Bonanza Salinas. We stop off in Trebujena town for a light Spanish breakfast and coffee at 8am and then continue towards the Guadalquivir river and wetland by 8.30am.

We soon reach some nicely flooded areas with shallow pools and there will be a lot of wading birds to scan through such as Curlew, Whimbrel, Black-winged Stilt, Black-tailed Godwit, Kentish Plover, Little Ringed Plover, Common Ringed Plover, Grey Plover, Greenshank, Redshank, Avocet, Dunlin, Sanderling, Common and Green Sandpiper. Wildfowl include Red-crested Pochard, Common Pochard and Shoveler and there are often Marsh Harrier and Osprey about too.

Driving various minor tracks we should look for open ground birds such as Calandra Lark and Tawny Pipit, while Common Waxbill and Cetti’s Warbler frequent the vegetated ditches. The real highlight here though are two Southern Spain specialities – the globally threatened White-headed Duck and Marbled Teal. We have a great chance to find both here, and there are normally a few Black-necked Grebes present too.

Out in the salt-pans, we will have to search around for those with the best water levels but when we locate the best spot, we should find a nice variety of waders and gulls, with wader flocks including migrant Little Stint and Curlew Sandpiper. There should also be good numbers of gulls, with great views of many Slender-billed Gulls, accompanying Yellow-legged and Black-headed Gulls.

The morning will fly by with such absorbing birding, and time will be pressing on! We stop off in a park in Bonanza, then head to two very organic and unlikely pools! In amongst the intensive fruit growing areas nearby, each time we visit these pools we’re amazed by the birds they hold. There will be more Little Ringed Plovers and potentially closer views of White-headed Duck, Temminck’s Stint, Green and Common Sandpiper and also Western Purple Swamphen.

We just have time now to head over to Chipiona and look for Little Swifts at a colony, which should provide a great finale to a super days birding. We hope for a good clear journey back to Huerta Grande aiming to arrive back by 5.30pm after a full day out!

Overnight Huerta Grande.

DAY SEVEN

We start the day by heading up to the Algarobbo watchpoint, and hopefully raptors will already be moving along the coastal ridges – Honey Buzzards, Black Kites, Booted Eagles, Short-toed Eagles, Montagu’s Harrier, Marsh harrier and Egyptian Vulture all being likely.

There should once again be some nice flocks of Bee-eaters with some birds perching and also some lovely mixed flocks of Swifts, with some nice views of a few Alpine and Pallid Swift.

We then return to Palmones Harbour, hoping for a rising tide, a nice selection of shorebirds, including a few additions. Whimbrel, Black-winged Stilt, Oystercatcher, Grey Plover, Turnstone, Ringed Plover, Dunlin, Sanderling, Redshank, Greenshank and Common Sandpiper should all be about. Kingfisher, Osprey and Gull-billed Tern are other possibilities.

Back at Cazalla watchpoint for lunch, we take some shade and see what is happening overhead. If it’s busy we will stay longer, or if it’s quiet we will likely return to Playa de Los Lances and walk the shoreline and the dunes. We then round the day off with a walk around Huerta Grande grounds, likely giving us views of Spotted and Pied Flycatcher, several Firecrest, Short-toed Treecreeper, Nuthatch, Hawfinch and Crested Tit.

Overnight Huerta Grande

DAY EIGHT

After breakfast we load up the minibus and head to Gibraltar airport ready for the late morning flight back to the UK.

Andalucia 2025