Andalucia Amazing Migrants Tour 
 2nd – 9th SEPTEMBER 2024

Participants:- Geoff Clay, Peter & Vivien Chapman, Patrick Hogston, Sharon Brooks-Clark,

Adrian Bradley

Tour Guide for Norfolk Birding – Chris Mills

Day One – Monday 2nd September

I collected the group from the airport & we headed to Huerta Grande. As we headed West we saw several occupied White Storks nests before we reached our accommodation at Huerta Grande. Before we could unload another group of migrating raptors appeared above us Honey Buzzard and Black Kite, but also some Booted Eagles and Griffon Vultures! 

We then spent a while getting everybody into rooms, we had lunch and then headed off to try Cazalla watchpoint, where there was a steady passage and a mix of raptors passing, with views of Black Kite, Short-toed & Booted Eagle, also some higher Honey Buzzard also passed over.  A Marsh Harriers also moved through, later 2 nice flocks of White Storks, totalling c500 birds circled and went along the coastline. A few flocks of Bee-eaters passed high, vocal, heard and not seen until a little later when a lower flock came past, they were on a mission South and were gone as quickly as they had appeared!

We then headed on to Algarrobo watchpoint slightly further East and inland. There was a nice if relatively high, continuation of raptor passage with still more Honey Buzzards, Black Kites, Booted Eagles and small numbers of Short-toed Eagles and a Peregrine. Also groups of Swifts were passing by, including some Pallid Swift, Swallows, House Martins plus a nice party of Bee-eaters all passed South overhead. A surprise was a Reed Warbler, clearly a migrant feeding in bushes just below the watchpoint, also Common Stonechat, Sardinian warbler and Spotless Starlings.

We returned to Huerta Grande late afternoon and some of the group continued watching with more Short-toed Eagles, Booted Eagles, several Griffon Vultures and more Swifts with a flock of 20 Alpine Swift late afternoon.
A wander around the Huerta Grande grounds and bushes also gave us nice views of Crested Tit, an Iberian Chiff-chaff confirmed its identity when it called and also  Sardinian Warbler, Spotted Flycatcher & Firecrest.
Late on a small group of Bee-eaters also passed over, rounding off a great afternoon’s birding.

Day Two – Tuesday 3rd September
For those up early and birding for a few minutes pre-breakfast 2 Hawfinches showed around the Huerta Grande reception area.

After breakfast we headed to Algarrobo watchpoint and followed it by going to  Cazalla watchpoint. There was a steady arrival of Honey Buzzards and Black Kites, from the East! At least c2000 Honey Buzzards heading out on a SW line across the sea quite high, with a few lower birds, also c500 Black Kite joined the procession, some birds a little lower. We also had an Egyptian Vulture, a few Booted and Short-toed Eagles, 2 Booted eagle, 2 Marsh and 4 Montagu’s Harrier as well as a few Bee-eater flocks. The raptor passage was very neatly rounded off when a juvenile Spanish Imperial Eagle appeared, giving good scope views as it moved alomng with the mountain ridge with the other raptors.

Also good number of Swifts, Swallows and martins passed South with groups of Pallid Swift but also 10 Alpine Swifts and 2 Red-rumped Swallows

We then headed to Los Lances beach as it was light winds and relatively undisturbed! The walk out was interrupted to watch several Corn Bunting flyover, there was quite a flock feeding on the ground, but tricky to see!

Then heading towards the shore, Crested Larks appeared flitting around in the grassland, plus the expected Cattle Egrets plus numerous Zitting Cisticola and Common Stonechats. Our first lower flock of migrant Bee-eaters flew past close by just overhead and lots of Spotless Starlings were feeding around the cattle.

The pools held a good number of around 100 shorebirds, the bulk being Sanderling and Ringed Plover but in amongst these were Red Knot and 10+ Kentish Plover, a Common Sandpiper, there were also a few Iberian Yellow Wagtails flying over.

We next headed up into one of the quieter valleys for a late lunch, where Crested Larks fed close by. After lunch we headed to the pools at Barbate, we scanned through the first pools where the was a good mix of waders, gulls and Flamingo’s.

The first area there was Sanderling, Dunlin, Ringed Plover, Kentish Plover, Redshank, Avocet, 50 Black-tailed Godwit, 50 Black-winged Stilt, Greenshank, also 2 Little Stints and 5 Common Sandpiper.

There was a whole flock of Audouin’s Gulls plus a backdrop to the pink Greater Flamingo’s! There were several Iberian Yellow Wagtails though they were all flighty, and didn’t land in view.

We then drove further to view the other pools, here we located, good numbers of Grey Plover, 2 Stone Curlew, hundreds of Ringed Plover, with 25 Kentish Plover in amongst them. The bigger pools further out had Spoonbills, plus a distant perched Osprey and the nearby scrub held at least 2 juvenile Woodchat Shrike.

Further scanning pulled out 2 Caspian Terns sat amongst the masses of Yellow-legged Gulls, plus several Little Terns were fishing nearby.

Wednesday 4^th September

We had a prompt breakfast at 8am, to enable us to make the journey up into the mountains before the heat of the day arrived. We eventually arrived in the first birding area, the temperature was rising rapidly so we had a quick hour in the main parking area, exploring the trees, bushes and an nearby spring fed water trough. There was several Redstarts, a Pied Flycatcher and Spotted Flycatcher. After a bit of searching an Iberian Grey Shrike appeared on top of the bushes, it sat in view allowing scope views.
As we walked through the shrubs, there were 1-2 more Redstarts, several Sardinian Warbler, a Spotted Flycatcher & very poor views of a Subalpine Warbler that called several times but refused to give itself up for good views.

It was already getting hot, so we drove through the forest heading for another open area. A Hoopoe appeared twice flying up from the track and gave us it’s ‘pied’ flight views before disappearing into the forest.

We reached my chosen rocky valley and the more open area, parked up and started to explore. There were several Crag Martin hunting insects along the ridge. The shrubs above held Greenfinch and Goldfinch, a Rock Bunting was calling, but never appeared in views despite some searching! A short walk on and we had nice views of a couple of Black Redstart, and eventually the first of 2 Black Wheatears appeared, the second one giving good scope views. Before we could move on our attention was taken up by a stunning Short-toed Eagle that came along the ridge, hunting very close by, completely ignoring us and providing superb views!

Another Sylvia warbler was calling nearby, it was a Dartford Warbler, though it refused to show well! As we continued birding several Spotted Flycatcher, Common Redstarts plus a Northern Wheatear on the fence line and then two more Sylvia warblers, the first a female or 1cy Subalpine, but eventually followed by a ♂ Subalpine Warbler.

Then a nice group of c20 Serin appeared briefly before flying down out of view to feed, we continued to see them on and off before our attention was taken up with another Dartford Warbler! Eventually this time, in the low scrub several Dartford Warbler were vying for our attention and one performed very well, song flighting and perching on the bushes.

It was now 1pm and hot! So, we headed further up the valley area and we enjoyed lunch in the woodland shade, after and during lunch birds continued to appear Chiff-chaffs, Willow Warbler, Chaffinch’s, Blue, Coal and Great Tit, Nuthatch, Jay and Short-toed Treecreeper. We then spent a little further time back in the open area, a Common Whitethroat appeared, before heading down to watch a drinking trough area. Sitting quietly from the minibus we watched the birds appear Iberian Chiff-chaffs, Willow Warbler, Chaffinch’s, Blue Tits and Great Tits. It was mid-afternoon, it had been a successful day and it was now very hot, so we stopped off for cold beers and drinks before heading back to Huerta Grande and just enough time to cool down in the pool!

Day Four – Thursday 5^th September

After two busy days, today was a more relaxed start! We dropped in at Cazalla watchpoint for a half hour before heading on to Tarifa for a boat trip out into the Straits. There was a nice flock of c40 Griffon Vultures, plus several Booted, Short—toed Eagles and great to see 5 Egyptian Vultures and 2 Black Storks the first our trip.
We headed off to Tarifa and boarded the boat and headed out into The Straits, on the way out we crossed paths with several Cory’s Shearwaters, 1-2 at reasonable range giving nice views, and a good number of c50 Black terns in several small flocks. We eventually reached a nice pod of Short-finned Pilot Whales, they came right into the boat side giving lovely views. The boat then headed out further and we were soon watching a very nice mixed pod of Striped & Bottle-nosed Dolphins, with around 100+ animals present and again they came in close providing excellent views! The Striped Dolphins putting on a real show, leaping out of the water!

Bird-wise we didn’t add much more, but further views of Cory’s Shearwater as we motored back. Once off the boat and back in Tarifa we dropped into a restaurant for a Tapas lunch and took it easy in the middle of the heat of the day.

After Tapas we headed for Bolonia and spent a couple of hours at the Vulture colony, there was good numbers of Griffon Vultures with numerous breeding pairs and juveniles up on the ridge, it was great to watch these huge birds soaring in the skies then dropping down to perch at their nest ledgers up on the cliffs, along with. The sound of youngsters begging for food. Despite lots of scanning we couldn’t find the sought after Ruppell’s Vulture, but there was A migrant Marsh Harrier, Crag Martins and over 250 Bee-eaters passed South during our stay

It had been a really hot day, so we took our time to head over to La Janda where I had planned an evening session to look at the rice fields and canal areas until dusk.

The rice fields and canals soon offered up nice views of Green Sandpiper, a group of Glossy Ibis, a Purple Heron flew past us, 100+ Iberian Yellow Wagtails, with several bright adults showing on the ground, several Turtle Dove appeared plus 3 Montagu’s Harriers, including a superb all dark morph.

Even so the best was to come in a fifteen-minute spell, when we found 3 Black-winged Kites perched on the wires, soon followed on the opposite side of the track by a perched Roller!

As we headed further along the track there was more to be seen with a large flock of Linnets, Goldfinches and a good flock of Sparrows, searching through these eventually yielded the expected Spanish Sparrow, with a few slightly moulted males being picked out. Just a little further on, we stopped again this time for a nice flock of c70 Bee-eaters, this flock alighting on the wires and giving nice views.

The final birds of the day proved to be an exciting experience as the sun dropped from view. In the half-light a Little Owl was calling, as were Stone Curlews, followed by a much deeper and distant “oooohh”, it repeated several times and my initial suspicion was confirmed….an Eagle Owl, I realised we weren’t going to see it, but a great bird to hear. Finally, the distinctive shape of a Nightjar appeared, flying close past us a Red-necked Nightjar, a great end to a very good day!

Day Five – Friday 5^th September

We started the day birding along the El Traffico road on the Tarifa coastline just East of the town. On arrival we had nice views of 2 Hoopoes that came off the road and landed in the nearby shrubs. Once out into the more open areas there was a nice procession of Black kites, Booted and Short-toed Eagles, coming along the ridge.

We then walked along the track, and it wasn’t too long before we could hear the distinctive song of a Cirl Bunting, it eventually showed in the nearby bushes, with another Cirl Bunting singing from further down the ridge. Several nice flocks of Bee-eaters passed by and one perched conveniently on wires. There were several Thekla Lark, plus after a bit of searching we eventually got good scope views of 2 Tawny Pipits. Lower down there was also 2 Red-rumped Swallows hawking insects and a Northern Wheatear also appeared.

There were still more raptors passing overhead so we now headed for Cazalla, which gave us some shade for lunch and a chance to check for more aerial migration.

Lunch was interrupted several times, with a nice swirling c150 White Stork flock, then 8 Black Storks, plus a few higher Honey Buzzard and Booted Eagles and around c30 Griffon Vultures. But it was sandwiches down and eyes to the skies as a super juvenile Bonelli’s Eagle appeared overhead!

After lunch we headed to Palmones Harbour, the tide was a bit too high and there were few shorebirds, although there was a nice perched Osprey and numerous Grey Herons. As we headed back through the parkland we had a few migrants with Blackcap, Common Redstart, Spotted and Pied Flycatcher flitting in and out of view and several Sardinian Warblers. It was a really hot afternoon and we headed back a bit earlier today in preparation for an early start and a big day out tomorrow. Back at Huerta Grande there was Crested Tit, Firecrest and Hawfinch all seen around the grounds, as well as Iberian Chiff-chaff, Spotted Flycatcher and Pied Flycatcher.

Day Six – Saturday 6th September 2022

Today was a bright and early start departing North at 6.15am bound for Bonanza Salinas. We stopped off in Trebujena town for a light Spanish breakfast and coffee at 8am and were heading towards the Guadalquivir river and wetland by 8.30am

We soon reached some nicely flooded areas with shallow pools and there was a score of wading birds Curlew, Whimbrel, c60 Black-winged Stilts, c30 Black-tailed Godwits, 20 Kentish Plover, Little Ringed Plover, Great Ringed Plover, Grey Plover, Greenshank, Redshank, Avocet, Dunlin, Sanderling, Common and Green Sandpiper. Also wildfowl with Red-crested Pochard, Pochard, Mallard and Shoveler. Plus an Osprey in the distance, Booted Eagle and Marsh harrier.

As we headed along the minor tracks several Crested larks appeared and all too brief flock of c15 Calandra Larks rose up but dropped back quickly out of view.

We next headed through the woodland with Spotted Flycatchers and a perched Booted Eagle.  We then headed to a freshwater pool, as we approached, we had a 1-2 Common Waxbills. The pool side vegetation also harboured a Cetti’s Warbler. Out on the pool, there was a mix of wildfowl, including commoner species such as Little Grebe, Mallard and Shoveler,several Black-crowned Night-heron but also small numbers of the more sought after species; c10 White-headed Duck and 8 Marbled Duck, plus 2 Black-necked Grebe.

We then headed out to the salt-pan areas, eventually we found several lagoons with a nice variety of waders and gulls, Dunlin, Great Ringed Plover and Kentish Plover these small flocks also included several Little Stint and Curlew Sandpiper. Plus Avocet, Greenshank and Common Redshank. 

There were also good numbers of gulls, with great views of many Slender-billed Gulls, accompanying Yellow-legged and Black-head Gulls.

The morning had flown by with such absorbing birding, time was pressing on! We stopped off in a park in Bonanza, then headed to two very organic and unlikely pools! In amongst the intensive fruit growing areas nearby, each time we visit these pools I’m amazed by the birds they hold. There were more Little Ringed Plovers in one flock than I have ever seen with around c30 Little Ringed Plovers, also closer views of White-headed Duck, a Temminck’s Stint, Green and Common Sandpiper also Purple Swamphen, Common Coot and Moorhen.

We just had time now to head over to Chipiona and look for Little Swifts, so we where fortunate on arrival before even leaving the minibus we were treated to real close views of 2 Little Swift as it flew into the colony, we waited another 20 minutes and we had several more, one lingering allowing great views. We had a good clear journey back to Huerta Grande managing to arrive back by 430pm after a very full day out!

Day Seven – Sunday 8th September

We started the day by heading up to the Algarobbo watchpoint, raptors were steady moving along the coastal ridges, 50 Honey Buzzards, 40 Black Kites and 110 Booted Eagles, 25 Short-toed Eagles, 2 Montagu’s Harrier, Marsh harrier an Egyptian Vulture plus a Peregrine.

There was again 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 returned to Palmones Harbour, today the tide was just rising from its lowest point, so ideal and there was a nice selection of shorebirds, including a few additions. 

On the near shoreline 2 Whimbrel were posing very nicely and calling in flight as they got disturbed from the shore edge. On the far side there as a good selection, with Black-winged Stilt, Oystercatcher, Grey Plover, 2 Turnstone. There was a good number of c30 Ringed Plover, quite a few Dunlin, Sanderling, many Redshank plus 5 Greenshank and 4 Common Sandpiper. At least 2 Kingfisher called and flashed along the shoreline and a group of a dozen Grey Herons were out feeding in the channels. An Osprey was sat on the shoreline and a group of White storks were also feeding in the area nearby. The definite highlight here today was a very obliging Gull-billed Tern, that gave several nice fly-bys.

As we headed through the parkland, we noted a few migrants again with Common Chiff-chaff, Common Redstart, Spotted and Pied Flycatcher.

We had lunch at Cazalla watchpoint, as much for convenience with shade and facilities. It was quieter today overhead, though a flock of c150 White Storks headed out over the sea, so after lunch we returned to Playa de Los Lances and walked the shoreline and the dunes. There was the usual Zitting Cisticola, Crested Lark and several Corn Buntings as we walked out, and again a reasonable selection of shorebirds with numerous Sanderling, several Ringed and Kentish Plover, a single Red Knot and Curlew Sandpiper and also today 2 Audouin’s Gulls, with several Yellow-legged gulls.

We then rounded the day off with a walk around Huerta Grande grounds, giving us views of Spotted and Pied Flycatcher, several Firecrest, Short-toed Treecreeper, Nuthatch, Hawfinch and Crested Tit. A final late afternoon raptor watch also gave us a nice passage of Booted and Short-toed Eagle, some high and distant Honey Buzzard, Marsh harrier another Montagu’s Harrier and an Egyptian Vulture.

Day 8 – September 8th
After breakfast we loaded up the minibus and dropped everyone to Gibraltar airport at 900am ready for their late morning flight back to the UK.

Accommodation

This tour was again hosted at the wonderful accommodation at Huerta Grande! Its geographical location is very close to the raptor watch-points. The migration overhead set in the beautiful woodland, with passerine migration outside the chalets are all great reasons for using this as our accommodation.

The accommodation consists of a lovely set of houses, rooms and timber lodges set in 7 hectares of Laurel forest and Cork Oak trees.

All rooms were en-suite or with separate private bathrooms plus each came with a small lounge area a kitchenette complete with a fridge, plus tea and coffee facilities. The rooms are clean and simple with modern comfort. There is a 20 metre pool where you can cool down and then look upwards and watch the migration above you!

Food

Each morning we were treated to cereal, muesli, juices, bread, toasts, jams, cheese, hams, tea & coffee! A real, filling & healthy breakfast.

Packed lunches were generally, a selection of filled rolls with cheese, Iberian meats, in French sticks, crisps and fruit.

Evening meals were taken at Huerta Grande on six evenings. They provided us with an excellent range of three course meal with a glass (or more!) of wine.

Thanks

I would like to say a special thanks to Katrin and her staff at Huerta Grande and thanks to the group of clients who joined me.

Final Overview & Systematic Bird List

This was another great trip to Andalucia and we recorded a total of 147 species.

Though species numbers are a minor part of the experience, the truly fantastic migration that passes through this region is nothing less than a truly spiritual experience for keen birdwatchers!

Systematic list of birds:-