Where are we based?

Andalucian Guides are based between Vejer de la Frontera and the coastal fishing port of Barbate in the province of Cadiz, Andalucia. These towns are mid-way between the oldest city in Europe, Cadiz, and the rock of Gibraltar. Cadiz province is bordered in the east by the famous Rio Guadalquivir which flows from the north east through Cordoba and Seville to the Atlantic and is the natural western barrier between the two provinces of Huelva and Cadiz.

Both provinces have little heavy industry and they escape the impact of mass tourism that’s to be found elsewhere on the Mediterranean coastline. There are long uninterrupted stretches of empty sandy beaches and dunes along the southern Atlantic coast. If you travel inland in this accessible region with a warm Mediterranean climate, you can find quiet, vast open spaces with agricultural land, olive groves and pasture. beside towering sierras and natural forest and heath.

It goes without saying that this whole area holds a diverse rich bird, animal, insect and plant life.

Andalucian Guides offers fantastic opportunities to clients who wish to be guided in the area without wasting their holiday time getting lost, or their car stuck. Some birding sites in this rural area are difficult to find or access. We arrange and obtain permissions and access to controlled Parque Naturals or large private estates.

We also provide local maps, bird lists, field guides and the use of binoculars & scopes.

Birds in Winter

Some of the northern birds that migrate south in late summer and autumn, choose to spend
winter in southern Spain without having to cross the Strait of Gibraltar and the dangerous long
journey on to West, Central or southern Africa. When fresh rainfalls replenish dry rivers, lakes,
marshes and water margins then more birds over-winter here when conditions are right for them.

The risk of such a long journey to west and southern Africa has of course its dangers from predators, adverse weather, disorientation to lack of food, hunting, pollution and losses of natural habitat.

Bird Migration in Springtime

This is a great time of the year for birding in Andalucia. It can be hailstones in Holland, blizzards in Britain and freezing-fog in Finland but warm with 20°C here in the sun in February. This is really attractive for migrating birds and of course our clients!

Many birds start to return to Europe after their “winter” in Africa in the beginning of February, flying north to the moderate, Mediterranean climate of Andalucia. As the weeks pass the majority of passing migrants stop off and feed here, then continue their journey north to their breeding grounds.

Spring plumage

Early spring can give bird watchers the added bonus of seeing lots of adult species “at their best”, with full breeding plumage which generally speaking is more vivid on male species. Here’s a good example of a colourful passage migrant, a male Bluethroat --->

Is there constant migration in Andalucia?

Migration can be followed throughout the year, with peak numbers present in spring and autumn. It can be argued that the migration process does continue in a much lower volume throughout every single month of the year with birds constantly on the move crossing the short distance from mainland Europe to Morocco and vice versa.

Bird migration in autumn

The Tarifa area is a prime autumn location for watching migratory birds, particularly raptors and storks. The sheer numbers of birds during the months of August and September make this area one of the busiest migration crossing points and certainly the most spectacular. Some recent number studies suggest millions rather than thousands of birds cross the short 12 kilometer Strait of Gibraltar to Morocco in autumn.

For the visiting ornithologist or naturalist time spent with Andalucian Guides never disappoints, so enjoy your trip and future success and happiness with nature.