Southern Spain hosts huge numbers of wintering Cranes and Storks, flocks of both Great and Little Bustards and the possibility of seeing Black-bellied and even Pin-tailed Sandgrouse. The wetlands at La Janda attract many raptors and cranes and storks and a number of rare buntings and rare waders in recent winters. The mountains hold wintering Ring Ouzels, Crested Tit, Alpine Accentors, Black Wheatears, Iberian Grey Shrikes and Rock Sparrows as well as resident Vultures and Eagles. February is a perfect time to visit as already Great Spotted Cuckoos, Black Kites and White Storks are migrating North! Join us on this exclusive SBBO Holiday for 8 days / 7 nights for only £1,195 plus return flight to Seville (£249). Price based on sharing a room. Single supplement £245. Note this tour is priced at a substantial discount to similar tours with other Bird Tour companies.

Summary Itinerary And Notes

This is a relaxed tour designed to see many different species, but without long walks and at a slow to medium pace. The scenery is stunning and the food excellent, with comfortable accommodations throughout. We will usually stop for a hot or cold drink and tapas or similar at lunchtime each day. The weather is usually mild and sometimes warm at this time of year.

We expect this holiday to be very popular and so early booking is strongly recommended. Please carefully read the Terms and Conditions on the booking form and kindly make payment for the deposit of £120 and the flight cost of £249 ie £369 as soon as possible if you wish to join us. We need to book our flights by the 30th June. The balance of the holiday cost including any supplement will be due 3 months before we depart ie 11th November 2025. Any remaining places after that date will be offered to non SBBO members.

Wednesday 11th February we have an early start to catch our flight from London Gatwick to Seville arriving at lunchtime where we will board a comfortable minibus - our transport for the week. We will head straight to a local park to start off our checklists with targets like Iberian Magpies, Serins and Iberian Green Woodpecker. We then head East for the picturesque town of Osuna. Before we arrive we will have time to visit the Steppe area and Plains and Farmland nearby where we will search for Great and Little Bustards, Sandgrouse, Stone Curlew, Black-winged Kite and Iberian Grey Shrikes. Night in Osuna with dinner at a local restaurant.

Thursday 12th February - after a fine breakfast, we will head directly to the plains to catch up on birds we may have missed the previous afternoon. We then drive south east to Fuente de Piedre, a huge lagoon and reserve which is home to wintering Common Cranes and Greater Flamingos. This reserve has a number of pools which attract wintering duck and waders. Species may include White-headed Duck, Marbled Duck,Ferruginous Duck and Black- necked Grebes. We may also find Hoopoes and Stone Curlews. We will visit a nearby Tapas Bar for a drink and something to eat, before heading back to Osuna via a lake where we will look for waders like Little Stint, Black-winged Stilt and Little Ringed Plover. Dinner at a local restaurant.

Friday 13th February- today we look forward to an exciting day in the mountains! Leaving after breakfast, we drive around two hours to the Parque de Grazelma stopping on our way at bar for Coffee/ drinks and to admire our first views of Griffon Vultures. We head through an amazing landscape to Puerto de Palomas, a high mountain pass, where we stop and look for Alpine Accentors, Blue Rock Thrush, Black Redstart, Ring Ouzel, Crested Tit and Water Pipit. We keep an eye on the skies as we may be lucky and see a Golden Eagle or Black Vulture. We descend for lunch in Grazelma village, then drive slowly to our next accommodation in a rural valley, stopping to search for Black Wheatear, Woodlark, Cirl Bunting and Red-billed Chough. We should arrive early and so we will have time to rest or explore before enjoying home made food for dinner. Night near Montecorto.

Saturday 14th February- we check out early after breakfast and drive c 30 mins to an amazing wild valley where we spend most of the morning. Here we will look for wintering Iberian Grey Shrikes, Bonelli’s Eagles, Thekla Larks, Rock Sparrows, Rock Buntings, and Iberian Green Woodpeckers. We may also look for species of butterfly. We depart and drive through the mountains, gradually descending to a small restaurant alongside a stream which can host Grey Wagtail and sometimes Dipper. After lunch we drive west to the coast and visit a colony of Little Swifts in Chipiona. This is a brief stop and we then head directly to our very comfortable hotel at Costa Ballena. We will check in and the have a pre-dinner walk around the lagoons and seafront looking for rare ducks and early migrants. Red-knobbed Coot is often found here. Buffet Dinner and one night here.

Sunday 15th February- after a superb buffet breakfast we head direct to a wonderful new reserve at Trebujena near the Guadalquivir River. We will slowly explore this vast area which includes farmland, lagoons, marshes, salt pans and coastal pines. We will expect to come across Osprey, Marbled Duck, Quail, Greater Flamingos and Spoonbill, Slender-billed Gull, Caspian Tern and White-headed Duck. Black and Red Kites are usually present and early Iberian Wagtails may be arriving. We will stop for a well earned lunch where a small roadside restaurant offers a “menu del dia”! In the afternoon we make a visit to a large inland lagoon which can hold large numbers of wintering duck and grebes. We have a final stop to admire the odd looking Northern Bald Ibis at their nesting colony near Veja, before checking into our smart golf course hotel - our accommodation for the last three nights. Dinner at the hotel.

Monday 16th February - this morning we head out to some coastal marshes at Barbate after breakfast. This gives us the opportunity to catch up with some waders and terns we may have missed and to look for Audouin’s Gull and nesting Stone Curlew. Afterwards we head to the famous wetland of La Janda. We will slowly drive the Canal Principal and stop frequently to scan the wetlands and fields and farmland. This can be an amazing place in winter with large flocks of White Storks, Cranes, Glossy Ibis, Hen Harrier, Marsh Harrier and sometimes Pallid Harrier. Black-winged Kite and Black Kites are often found and Eagles may include Spanish Imperial, Bonelli’s, Short-toed, Booted and in recent years,  a rare Greater Spotted or Lesser Spotted Eagle. We hope to see Bluethroat, Hoopoes, Spanish Sparrows and a few early spring migrants! Lunch is a short drive to an excellent local tapas bar. We then plan to return to our hotel for an afternoon siesta before heading out in the evening for a meal at a nearby restaurant. We will also look for a resident Eagle Owl.

Tuesday 17th February- today we explore a different part of La Janda where there is excellent birding. In recent years this area has attracted wintering Little and Rustic Buntings and is also good for Western Swamphen and Squacco Heron. Spanish Imperial Eagles are often seen in this area. We will leave late morning and then plan to drive south to Tarifa. Here we have an opportunity to admire the resident Lesser Kestrels and seawatch for Balearic Shearwaters, Gannets and passing Auks. Dinner in Tarifa before returning to our hotel.

Wednesday 18th February- we check out at a reasonable time after breakfast and begin our drive north. We have a few hotspots we may visit if we are missing any target species but in any event we will visit a marsh south of Seville which has a small number of Laughing Dove, Common Waxbills and occasionally Black-headed Weavers. We shall then have an early lunch before we drive to Seville Airpot to return our vehicles at 4.30pm. Our return flight departs at 19.50pm and should arrive at Gatwick at 21.25pm.

Please be aware that this is our planned itinerary but it maybe subject to change depending on the weather conditions and locality of target birds.

Note: Final travel arrangements and timings will be sent out when our flights have been confirmed along with a packing list and other information for our trip.