Birding holidays
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The holiday cottages at Los Piedaos, near Orgiva, lie at the heart of a birding paradise, the valley of Las Alpujarras, on the southern slopes of the Sierra Nevada, the highest range in Iberia, which climbs more than 12,000 feet above sea level.
From Los Piedaos, twitchers can explore the south and north slopes as there are different species in each. Species include: Golden and Bonelli's Eagles, Peregrine, Eagle Owl, Chough, Short-toed Lark, Alpine Swift, Crag Martin, Alpine Accentor, Black Wheatear, Woodchat Shrike, Hoopoe, Rock Thrush, Sardinian Warbler, Serin, Rock and Ortolan Buntings. |
See the list below of fifty species spotted from Los Piedaos by a visitor one October.
Birdwatchers can also visit from here the Eastern part of Andalucia that has some of the best badlands and dry plains in Iberia, unbeatable areas for discovering Larks and other arid area specialities. The Hoya de Baza, Guadix or Tabernas and Cabo de Gata are the best spots. You need to know birdcalls to easily locate them.
Some of the most attractive types of the area are Great Spotted Cuckoo, Red-necked Nightjar, Pallid Swift, Alpine Swift, European Roller, Dupont's Lark, Lesser Short-toed Lark, Thekla Lark, Spanish Sparrow, Trumpeter Finch and recently, for the first time in Europe, a small breeding population of Cream-coloured Courser.
For interesting information about birds in Andalucia see the fatbirder guide to birds in Andalucia. This is part of the Fatbirder (UK) Website. Their WebRing is a collection of quality birding web sites that are based in the United Kingdom. You might also like to consult All-birds.com for identification tips, photographs, songs and calls and more.
Should you wish to join a birdwatching tour in the Alpujarras or Sierra Nevada, check out Birdwatch Alpujarra. They also offer bird photography courses.
| You would also find these books helpful: - Where to Watch Birds in Southern SpainErnest Garcia & Andrew Paterson Helm (1994) ISBN: 0713638591Buy this book from Amazon.co.uk Las Aves De Donana. C Llandres, C. Urdiales, Francesco Jutglar (Illustrator) Paperback.(November 1993) Lynx Edicions. ISBN: 8487334040Buy this book from Amazon.co.uk If you need any photographic equipment, try Warehouse Express who have a great reputation. http://www.warehouseexpress.com |
SOME OF THE BIRDS THAT MAY BE SEEN AROUND LOS PIEDAOS DEPENDING ON THE SEASON
All but three on this list were spotted by Chris Lawrence of Caerwent, Wales in Oct 1998:
Barn Owl, Bee-eater, Blackbird, Blackcap, Black Headed Gull,Black Wheatear, Blue Tit, Bonellis Eagle, Booted Eagle,Buzzard.
Carrion Crow, Cattle Egret, Chaffinch, Chiffchaff, Cirl Bunting, Common Tern, Corn Bunting.Crag Martin, Crested Lark.
Dartford Warbler.
Golden Eagle, Golden Oriole, Goldfinch, Greenfinch, Great Tit, Grey Wagtail (in fact bright yellow !) Griffon Vulture.
Hoopoe, House Sparrow, House Martin,
Jackdaw.
Kestrel.
Lesser Kestrel, Linnet, Little Egret.
Magpie, Mediterranean Gull, Melodious Warbler,
Nightingale, Northern Wheatear.
Olivaceous Warbler, Orphean Warbler.
Pied Flycatcher, Purple Heron.
Raven, Redstart, Roller, Robin, Red-rumped Swallow, Rock Dove, Rock Sparrow.
Sardinian Warbler, Scops Owl, Serin, Short-toed Eagle, Short-toe Treecreeper, Shrike, Spanish Sparrow (very different) Spotless Starling, Spotted Flycatcher, Starling, Stonechat, Stock Dove, Swallow.
Tawny Pipit, Thekla Lark, Tree Sparrow.
Woodchat, Woodlark.
Yellow-legged Gull.
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