Southern Spain - April 2004 by Greg Anderson
The holiday duration was 12 days, 8 days in Fuengirola with the mother-in- law in her apartment. Then with my wife Linda and two children Katherine 14 and Daniel 12 we departed to our country home for the next four days The El Horcajo hotel near Ronda ( see Alastair Sawday's special places to stay in Spain entry 257)
I would now personally recommend this hotel, not only because its a great base for touring the area, but because of its location at the bottom of a valley surrounded by farmland and cork oaks. Also the staff are friendly, the food traditional and rooms also traditional but comfortable.
All the sights I mention in my report can be found in ( Where to watch birds in Southern and western Spain by Ernest Garcia and Andrew Paterson published by Helm)
Trip 1 Saturday 10th April 2004
Taken from Fuengirola two days before our trip to El Horcajo, a round trip taking in the following places
Sierra De Camarolo (Page 177)
Approx two hours here:
Serin
Goldfinch
Great Tit
Blue Tit
Chaffinch
Sardinian Warbler
Chaffinch
Cuckoo ( heard)
Kestrel
Golden Eagle ( Adult)
Not a very productive visit apart from the eagle of course but this place has potential and is worth another visit.
Laguna Dulce (Page 168)
Ten minute stop
Marsh Harrier (Male)
Montagu's Harrier (seen over farmland from car)
Corn Bunting ( common in this part of Spain)
Gull-billed Terns (10 roughly)
Greater Flamingo (100's) This site is close to the place where they breed, Fuente De Piedra.
Goldfinch
Teba Gorge (Page 169)
An hour here
Crag Martin
Griffon Vulture ( approx 10 )
Red-billed Choughs 4
Blue Rock Thrush 1
Came here hoping for Bonelli's Eagle. There were rock climbers here today so this might be why we had no luck.
El Chorro (Page 171)
Drive through, ten minute stop at El Pilar bar
Griffon Vulture ( Had great views of perched vultures driving in from Teba about 400 yds before El Pilar bar)
Home to Fuengirola
Tuesday 13th April - Day 1 at El Horcajo
Today we visited the following sites:
Montejaque (Page 197)
Two hours
Bonelli's Eagle ( pair)
Lesser Kestrel
Griffon Vulture (Lots of close views)
Black-eared Wheatear 3
Rock Sparrow
Thekla Lark
Red-billed Chough ( lots )
Barn Swallow
Linnet
Serin
Goldfinch
House Sparrow
Corn Bunting
Woodchat Shrike
Spotless Starling
What can I say, a great place especially after seeing the Bonelli's Eagles. My advice when looking for these is find a reliable site and wait patiently . Eventually you should be rewarded.
Benaojan (Page197)
Two hours
Grey Wagtail
Bonelli's Warbler
Booted Eagle ( Seen from Molino hotel whilst having a drink, very civilised birding)
Spotless Starling
Barn Swallow
Swift
Pallid Swift
Sand Martin
Goldfinch
Nightingale ( common here)
Cetti's Warbler
Good riverside walk here. Andy Chapel at the Hotel Molino is a good source of info. He put us on to the Bonelli's Eagles.
Wednesday 14th April 2004
Today we visited:
Ronda
Four hours
Today was mostly sight-seeing and shopping but we did see some birds in the gorge.
Red-billed Choughs ( Resident at the new Bridge)
Crag Martin
When visiting Ronda, a walk down into the valley below can be good for birds. I've seen Blue Rock Thrush, Alpine Swift, Lesser Kestrel and Nightingale on previous visits.
El Horcajo Hotel
Afternoon
Short toed Eagle ( from swimming pool)
Nightingale
Cetti's Warbler
Stonechat ( very Common)
Green Woodpecker ( Heard)
Serin
Goldfinch
House Sparrow
Barn Swallow
Late afternoon walk:
Woodlark 1
Red-legged Partridge 2
Bee-eaters
Crested Lark
Thursday 15th April 2004
This was our last day . We decided to head back to Fuengirola via Grazalema.
El Horcajo to Grazalema
Jay
Hoopoe
Bee-eaters
Griffon Vultures
Sardinian Warbler
Corn Bunting
Woodchat Shrike
Crested Lark
Serin
Barn Swallows
Stonechats
Kestrel
Grazalema (Page 117)
An hour
Black Wheatear (lots)
Blue Rock Thrushes
Griffon Vultures
Red-billed Choughs
This is a good place for raptors and mountain birds. Now back to Fuengirola and the end of my report.
Regards Greg