Birding Morocco and Spain: Two Continents Tour, Andalucía - 8 Days

You begin with a flight to Gibraltar, from where we transfer to our delightful eco-resort in tranquil woodland near Tarifa, the centre of birding in the Straits. Our base at Huerta Grande is ideal for watching the migration as it is located between two natural parks in the hills above the Straits of Gibraltar, amongst lush Cork Oak forest. We should witness many hundreds of migratory birds making the crossing to their wintering / breeding grounds in Africa / Europe, including Griffon and Egyptian Vultures, Short-toed and Booted Eagles, Honey Buzzards, Black Kites and both Black and White Storks.

We will take a boat excursion, weather permitting, into the Straits to witness the seabird passage and cetaceans. We will be on the lookout for Cory’s and Balearic Shearwaters and European Storm-petrel among other species, plus the three species of resident dolphin (Common, Bottlenose and Striped) and the resident pods of Long-finned Pilot Whale. Following our boat trip we will engage in some urban birding around the old town of Tarifa where we can encounter Common Bulbul and Lesser Kestrels. Simply by looking up we will encounter migrating raptors and storks crossing over this historic town.

We next make our own crossing – to northern Morocco by ferry – before beginning our exploration of the African side of the Straits, visiting a variety of coastal and inland sites. We will visit the estuary of Merdja Zerga, a sweeping wetland on Morocco’s Atlantic coast south of Tangiers. Merdja Zerga is famous amongst birders as the last known winter haunt of the legendary Slender-billed Curlew, a bird now sadly presumed extinct. None have been seen here since 1995, but the beautiful drawings of those who journeyed here in the early 1990s can still be seen in the cherished bird log on display in a quiet estuary-side café. Despite the demise of its Slender-billed Curlews, Merdja Zerga is still a magnificent wildlife site. Here a variety of terns stop to feed and breed, while waders probe the mud in their thousands, amongst them Greenshanks, Spotted Redshanks, Whimbrels and Avocets. We’ll stay until dusk, for then we have a chance of seeing the extremely rare Moroccan Marsh Owl. Our first night will be in the historic city of Larache, where breeding Little Swift and Pallid Swift will whizz overhead and Common Bulbul and House Bunting should be encountered.

We will visit some nearby wetlands where we’ll look for Moustached Warbler, Brown-throated Martin, Red-knobbed Coot, and Marbled Duck and White-headed Duck, before heading to our next base in the delightful blue city of Chefchaouen, where we’ll stay for two nights. This ancient city at the edge of Talassamtane National Park gives spectacular views of the Rif Mountains and offers some of the best urban birding on the planet! En route we will spend time in the Forest of Bouhachem in the Rif Mountains where there is a small population of Barbary Macacques. The Barbary Macaque lives mainly in mountain ranges in north-west Africa and is the only species of macaque found outside Asia.

The Talassamtane mountain range offers brilliant and easily accessible mountain birding with several species of raptor likely to be encountered such as Atlas Long-legged Buzzards, Peregrine Falcons and Bonelli’s Eagles amongst raptors migrating through the mountain ranges. Smaller jewels to be found come in the form of the stunning Moussier’s Redstart and Black Wheatear whilst Blue Rock Thrushes are frequently encountered. Amongst these specialists are generalists that take on new meaning such as the gorgeous African Blue Tit and African Chaffinch, giving quite a twist on familiar species.

We then journey north to make our crossing back to the Spanish mainland. There, during the last part of our holiday, we will spend our time around Tarifa and Bolonia and exploring the wetlands of La Janda, where we should see a good variety and number of passage waders, storks and birds of prey including Black-winged Kite, before visiting the successfully reintroduced population of Northern Bald Ibis.

This holiday offers the chance to see breath-taking migration and make comparisons between avifauna across the short stretch of water dividing Europe and Africa in addition to spectacular urban birding. After a week’s exciting birding it will be time to leave this avian highway bottleneck and make your own flight home, with great memories of the spectacular flow of birdlife over the Straits and some special species from both Spain and Morocco.

Contact us for further information and to book your place on this tour.