Strait of Gibraltar Tour

bird migration & cetaceans

DURATION
7 days, 6 nights.

NEXT TOURS
31 August-06 September 2023
11-17 March 2024
(Query us for other dates)

LOCATION
Cádiz.

RATES
1650 €/pax
Single supplement: 275 €

In the southern corner of Europe is located the natural bridge between Spain and Morocco, the Strait of Gibraltar, where the distance between the 2 continents are only 14 kilometers!  That makes the Strait of Gibraltar one of the best worldwide points to observe migrating raptors.

Around 300.000 raptors of near 30 species can be observed migrating over the Strait of Gibraltar every autumn and spring. In addition, 150.000 storks of 2 species join them!

Using the wide net of observatories we can observe every day on their way to the south hundreds or thousands of Booted Eagles, Short-toed Eagles, Egyptian Vultures, Honey Buzzards, White and Black Storks

The main objective of this tour is to enjoy the migration of raptors, but we also will visit so many different areas around the Strait (including Doñana!) to see as many different species of birds as possible. We can highlight the Northern Bald Ibis, White-headed Duck, Spanish Imperial Eagle… We will have also time to discover the high diversity of cetaceans from a boat trip.

Day 1: Seville-Tarifa
Transfer towards Tarifa (2 hours), with some birding on route. We will stop at Laguna de Medina, a good place where look for the iconic White-headed Duck.

Day 2: Migration & Sierra de la Plata
We will visit during the morning Sierra de la Plata, a mountain range with good chances for birds of Mediterranean scrubland and rocky areas, like Blue Rock Thrush and Rock Bunting. There is also the possibility to see Bonelli’s Eagle and Ruppell’s Vulture among the Griffons.

After that, we will move to the bird observatories to enjoy the raptor migration, where we will expend the rest of the day. We will visit the best observatories according the meteorological conditions.

Day 3: Migration & Whale watching
During the morning we will take a boat trip from the Tarifa harbour to explore the border between the two continents and two seas! The boat trip takes 2 hours and we use a big touristic boat. We will focus on finding sea mammals. Possible species here are Pilot Whale, Common Dolphin, Striped Dolphin, Bottlenose Dolphin and more occasionally Sperm Whale and even Orca! Talking about birds we might see Cory’s Shearwater, Balearic Shearwater, European Storm-petrel, Common and Sandwich TernsGreat and Pomarine Skua and with luck raptors crossing the strait right over our boat.

After the boat trip we will spend most of the day looking for the migration at the different bird observatories.

We can finish the day with some urban birding in Tarifa, looking for a recent colonizer of Europe, the Common Bulbul.

Day 4: Los Lances Beach, migration & Barbate marshes
During the morning we will enjoy a pleasant walk along Los Lances beach, where is always the possibility to find interesting birds on migration. The main target here are terns and gulls, including Audouin’s Gull and seabirds on passage.

After that we will spend some hours looking for the migration at the different bird observatories.

During the afternoon we will visit Barbate marshes where the main target is the threatened Northern Bald Ibis. It is also a prime site for waders, including Collared Pratincole and Stone Curlew.

Day 5: La Janda
We will visit La Janda area, close to the Strait of Gibraltar. Formerly La Janda was the biggest Spanish lake, but even though it was drained and turned into fields and rice paddies is one of the best areas were enjoy bird watching around the Strait.

The main target are raptors, including Spanish Imperial Eagle, Bonelli’s Eagle, Black-winged Kite and Montagu’s HarrierSquacco and Imperial Herons are also possible, among the myriad of other more common herons. With luck we will find the Red-necked Nightjar in his daytime roost.

Day 5: Migration & Los Alcornocales Natural Park
During the morning we will visit again the bird observatories to enjoy the raptor migration.

In the afternoon it will be time to discover one of the biggest and with a better conservation state Cork Oak forest all over the world, Los Alcornocales Natural Park. Here is great place for forest birds, where might we will see the Iberian Chiffchaff. Other interesting birds here are White-rumped Swift and Osprey (with a small nesting population due a reintroduction program).

Day 6: Doñana Natural Park
In our way back to Seville, we will visit the southern corner of Doñana, near the mouth of the Guadalquivir river. There the diversity of birds is incredible high, including the threatened Marbled and White-headed Duck and Red-knobbed Coot. Great place for waders and gulls, including Slender-billed Gull and Kentish Plover.

We will arrive to Seville around 6pm.

Visit one of the best raptor migration spots at a worldwide level.
Possibility to see very rare and localised bird species in Europe.
Good seawatching opportunities.
Discover the best birding hotspots around the Strait.

northern doñana - copy

Most wanted birds

Long-legged Buzzard
Long-legged Buzzard
Rüppell's Griffon Vulture
Rüppell’s Griffon Vulture
Egyptian Vulture
Egyptian Vulture
Bonelli's Eagle
Bonelli's Eagle
spanish imperial eagle andalusian birds
Spanish Imperial Eagle
Montagu's Harrier
Montagu's Harrier
Osprey
Osprey
Short-toed Eagle
Short-toed Eagle
Booted Eagle
Booted Eagle
European Honey Buzzard
European Honey Buzzard
Lesser Kestrel
Lesser Kestrel
Black-shouldered Kite
Black-shouldered Kite
Black Stork
Black Stork
White-headed Duck
White-headed Duck
Northern Bald Ibis
Northern Bald Ibis
Audouin's Gull
Audouin's Gull
slender-billed gull andalusian birds
Slender-billed Gull
Balearic Shearwater
Balearic Shearwater
Red-necked Nightjar
Red-necked Nightjar
White-rumped Swift
White-rumped Swift
Bonelli's Warbler
Bonelli's Warbler
Iberian Chiffchaff
Iberian Chiffchaff
Blue Rock-Thrush
Blue Rock-Thrush
Common Bulbul
Common Bulbul
 

   MAIN HABITATS

Sea Wetlands Scrubland Mountains

 

   TOP BIRDS

Migratory raptors, Spanish Imperial Eagle, Northern Bald Ibis…

 

   TOUR LEADER

 

   TOUR PARTY

Minimum: 4 pax – Maximum: 7 pax

 

   DEPARTING POINT

Seville.

 

   ACCOMMODATION

During the whole tour we will be based in a single nice hotel in the area of Tarifa.

 

   FOOD

Abundant traditional Andalusian food, with some picnic lunches in the field. Let us know if you have any allergy.

 

   PACE

Most of the birding from the vehicle or near it, with some short and easy walks.

  Ground transport from Seville airport or Seville city in modern air conditioned vehicles.

   Boat trip (aprox. 2 hours).

  6 Nights accommodation with en suite bathroom at nice quality hotel near Tarifa.

  All meals (breakfast, lunch & dinner) except lunch on the first day and dinner on the last.

  Local guide fluent in English.

  Paper checklists of the birds to observe.

  Free access to identification guides and quality optical materials.

  All taxes.

  Extra drinks and other items of a personal nature.

   Flights (Ryanair & other companies operate daily flight from several UK airports).

This tour is marketed by Barcelona Birding Point, a trademark singed and listed as a Travel Agency by the Catalan government (GC-004696). Contact us for more information.

Locations map

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