It is highly recommended to arrive a few days early in the charming city of Seville to be able to visit it at leisure and acclimatize to the country before the start of the tour itself. At six o’clock in the evening the guide will welcome the visitors at the hotel before having dinner together.

We leave the famous city of Seville and make our first birding stop near the city of Córdoba in the Soto de Albolafia to see birds such as the Kingfisher and the Black-crowned Night Heron.

We will be able to contemplate in the distance the Roman bridge and the historic city of Córdoba, where some monuments also house interesting breeding colonies of Lesser Kestrel, which has in Spain its largest breeding colony in Europe.

After a coffee we continue towards the Sierra de Andújar where we will probably take a break at the hotel to prepare for our first afternoon of Iberian Lynx watching.

Hopefully we will have seen the magnificent Iberian Lynx that first evening before having dinner and staying in the historic village of Baños de La Encina at the Palacete María Rosa, where we can also visit the historic Muslim castle at another time.

Day of immersion in the Natural Park of the Sierra de Andújar, one of the most representative places for the observation of the endemic and attractive Iberian Lynx.

The Iberian Lynx currently has a population of about 2,500 specimens and is fortunately freeing itself from the extinction to which it was condemned just twenty years ago, thanks to a good conservation successful effort.

We will not only try to observe the enigmatic feline, but we will also look for other mammals such as the wild boar or even the otter in the nearby environments of La Lancha and Encinarejo.

Andújar is also an excellent place for bird watching with the endemic Iberian Magpie, Golden Eagle, Little Owl, Spanish Imperial Eagle, Dartford Warbler or the endemic Iberian Southern Grey Woodchat Shrike and of course the Iberian Green Woodpecker.

We will also visit the river habitat of La Ropera to look for aquatic birds such as the Purple Heron or the elegant Penduline Tit. We will return to sleep in the historic Palacete María Rosa hotel.

Very early in the morning we will leave the Mediterranean mountain range to enter the surroundings of Campo de Calatrava in Castilla La Mancha to look for the heaviest bird of Europe, the Great Bustard, which also at that time is in full courtship display known as the wheel.

In the afternoon we will approach some of the nearby lagoons such as Navaseca where we will see interesting aquatic birds such as Great Crested Grebe, Great Reed Warbler, White-headed Duck, Purple Gallinule, Red-crested Pochard and with a beat of luck the elusive Savi’s Warbler.

After lunch we will continue looking for steppe birds in the surroundings of Campo de Calatrava in Ciudad Real where we will check in at the Hotel and that same afternoon, we will approach the steppe zone in a nice scenario with a mixture of ancient volcanic fields and medieval castles.

April is the best time to observe the Great Bustard wheel courtship and the beginning of the Little Bustard leap courtship. We will also try to observe mainly the Black-bellied Sandgrouse and hopefully the scarce Pin-tailed Sandgrouse.

That night we will sleep at the Hotel Hospedería de los Calatravos, in Campo de Calatrava.

We will make another observation of steppe birds at dawn to return south where after a grateful coffee break, we will visit the place where the famous olive oil is produced called Almazara, surrounded by the famed sea of olive trees of Andalusia.

We will stop for lunch and visit the fascinating town of Úbeda. Here we will be accompanied by our local guide Inma.

After lunch we will go into Cazorla Natural Park, where we continue to visit the Castle of La Iruela to look for the Iberian Ibex and some birds like the Rock Bunting. We continue to the nearby Mirador de Las Palomas to enjoy its impressive views and look for the endemic plant Viola Cazorlensis that although it still has no flower yet, it is possible to locate it, and then to sleep at the Parador Nacional de Cazorla.

It will be a pure day of adventure in the depths of the Sierra de Cazorla, from Nava de San Pedro perhaps one of the most inaccessible and wild places in southern Spain and of course southern Europe with lots of Mediterranean birds, where the great vulture that feeds on bones, the Bearded Vulture, which is successfully recovering too.

Other interesting birds to observe are the Western Orphean Warbler, Tawny Pipit or the Blue Rock Thrush as well as Peregrine Falcon and Golden Eagle. In addition, we could see several mammals such as Red Deer, Fallow Deer or Mouflon.

In the afternoon we will make a short walk through the Cerrada del Utrero, with interesting birds such as the White-throated Dipper and Nightingale on the banks of the river and with the opportunity to see the Egyptian Vulture and of course the Griffon Vultures on the cliffs of the canyon where the Guadalquivir River rises.

We will enjoy the observation of interesting birds such as the Western Subalpine Warbler, the Spectacled Warbler and the Sardinian Warbler in the vicinity of the Hotel where we will sleep and have dinner at the Parador de Cazorla.

We will start the day visiting the viewpoint of El Chorro and the surroundings near the Cascada de La Malena enjoying the different raptors and forest birds present, to continue to the Balsa de Cadimo where there are interesting birds such as the Ferruginous Duck. Thus, we will take advantage of the proximity of the historic city of Jaén to visit its Cathedral just before lunch. After the break we continue towards Granada, but we will make a brief strategic stop to observe one of the most endangered birds in Europe, the Bonelli’s Eagle.

Majestically we will arrive to the city of Granada, where we will find perhaps the most famous of all the architectural jewels of Spain, the Alhambra of Granada, a UNESCO heritage site with more than 700 years of history. In order to enjoy your sightseeing at leisure, we will start the three-hour visit at 4:00 p.m., and then go to dinner including flamenco dance show in Granada.

From Granada we drive to the Laguna de Fuente de Piedra where the largest colony of Greater Flamingo in Spain resides and offers excellent opportunities for the observation of the elegant Black-winged Stilts, Avocets and depending on the migration period of the attractive Ruff, the Wood Sandpiper or even the Marsh Sandpiper.

After lunch at Casa Chaquetas Restaurant, we will visit the historic and charming city of Ronda to continue the trip to Tarifa where we will sleep at the Hotel Mesón Casa Sancho.

Without a doubt this tour encompasses the natural, historical and cultural jewels of Andalusia.

The historic fortified town of Tarifa is not only an excellent place to see birds, but it is also the end or the beginning of the European continent and is the best place to observe the phenomenon of migration, where with luck we could observe hundreds of birds of prey during their prenuptial migration from the African continent to their breeding grounds in the north of the European continent.

Also depending on the wind and tide conditions we will visit other interesting places such as the beach of Los Lances, the marshes of Barbate to observe very interesting birds such as the Audouin’s Gull, the Collared Pratincole or the enigmatic Thick-knee, which is perfectly camouflaged with the sparse vegetation of the marshes.

After lunch we will of course visit the Barca de Vejer with the largest European population of Northern Bald Ibis, which breeds in the village itself, being this another example of bird recovery.

We can also visit the historic town of Tarifa itself and of course enjoy the incredible views of the balcony of the Strait of Gibraltar with the mountains of Africa in the background.

Depending on the tidal schedule we will go before or after to the beach of Sanlúcar de Barrameda to see waders such as the Little Tern, the Sanderling or the Caspian Tern. Afterwards we will visit the breeding colony of White-rumped Swifts in Chipiona where we will eat fish in the interesting and unique fishermen’s Market.

After lunch we will continue directly to the incomparable and charismatic village of El Rocío in the heart of the Doñana National Park, where we will enjoy its impressive white buildings and its jovial atmosphere in its sandy streets. But of course, also of the large lagoon present and its attractive birds such as the Great Reed Warbler, Eurasian Spoonbills and the Glossy Ibis.

We will sleep in the village of El Rocío itself and after dinner at the Hotel Palacete Real, maybe we can look for owls in the vicinity with the impressive view of the illuminated Hermitage.

Depending on the conditions we will start the morning in the vicinity of the Caño del Guadiamar to continue through Huerta Tejada to the Visitor Center of Valverde, ending in the Escupidera to start returning by the Caño del Guadiamar to El Rocío after an intense day in the National Park where you can see lots of birds, highlighting mainly large colonies of herons and of course jewels such as the Western Olivaceous Warbler, the Lesser Short-toed Lark, the Squacco Heron or the Marbled Duck among others before returning to El Rocío for our last night at the National Park.

Nevertheless we will spend enough time enjoying the historical town of El Rocío and its white painted buildings with its sandy streets near the Madre lagoon with plenty of birds to watch.

Before leaving Doñana we can visit the nearby lagoons of El Acebrón and La Rocina where there is good infrastructure for the observation of aquatic and forest birds such as the Lesser Spotted Woodpecker or even the Wryneck and the Tree Sparrow.

After lunch in El Rocío, if we have time, we will head to visit the Odiel Marshes in Huelva, also very famous for its traditional use for the extraction of sea salt and with a large number of waders and osprey, which stands out for its successful project for the recovery of the species.

To conclude this successful day, we will head back to the city of Seville for dinner at the same hotel where we started this intense tour during the spring.

This night we will close our great tour with a delicious Spanish dinner.

The tour ends and it is time to fly home after this interesting tour of Andalusia, where five visitors will enjoy a tour where successfully combine bird watching and nature with the culture and gastronomy of Spain accompanied by Pablo Pérez.