This 7-day Birding the Straits Migration Tour is a must for any bird lover. This tour visits the migration hotspots of the Straits of Gibraltar, and the reserves of La Janda, Laguna de Medina, Brazo del Este, as well as Doñana National Park.
The tour starts with an early morning visit to El Paraje Natural, the¨Playa de Los Lances¨, which is where the Jara and Vega rivers meet the sea. This is a very interesting place for bird watching because of the large number of waders and gulls, including the emblematic Audouin's Gull.
"A fantastic day, filled with wonderful sights of birds and a sighting of the elusive lynx right at the end... We were treated to a highly knowledgeable tour and would never have seen as much as we saw without going on it. Sergio provided us with an unforgettable experience and it made our holiday. I cannot recommend it highly enough." - Ellie Roberts
Next stop on the birding the Strait trip will be the Natural Park of Los Alconocales, which the largest expanse of cork oak in Europe and is a very good area for observing large raptors as well as typical birds of fluvial forests and low scrub.
The following day there's a visit to La Janda National Park, which is a most important wetland area. Highlights there include groups of cranes, Collared Pratincole, Montagu's Harrier, Squacco Herons and Glossy Ibis. It is also a good place to go birding the Strait for the spring and autumn migration, due to its close proximity to Gibraltar.
Later, at Laguna de Medina, you can look for White-headed Duck, Ferruginous Duck, Red-crested Coot, Purple Swamphen, Red crested Pochard and Black-necked Grebe among many other interesting waders. And the next day it will be the turn of the Dehesa de Abajo reserve to surprise and delight with its wildfowl and waders.
The culmination of this seven-day tour will be taking off-road vehicles to follow the northern route of the Doñana National Park so see the area's many important ecosystems and species such as the Iberian Imperial Eagle, Booted Eagle and Eurasian Spoonbill. The afternoon will be spend walking around the Arroyo de La Rocina, one of the marsh's main water sources. There are several hides facing the stream and a forest landscape rich in passerines.
Birding the Straits Migration Tour highlights include:
- Migration of tens of thousands of birds from Africa to Europe
- Exciting wetland species such as Ferruginous Duck and White-headed Duck
- A trip to the globally important wetlands of Doñana
How about a specialist tour to see the Iberian Lynx? Have a look at the Iberian Lynx Quest Tour, Doñana, Spain.
Alternative tour name: Tour Around the Straits of Gibraltar at Migration Time
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