Ebro Delta Birding - Multi-day guided birding holidays in Spain.

Tour Overview:

The Ebro Delta Experience bird watching tour is our mid-length multi-day option and is currently our most popular birding holiday.  During your 4 day visit we will be taking a comprehensive look at the  birds of the Ebro Delta natural park and also embarking on a day trip to the dry lands south of Lleida in search of typical Iberian plains species.

This tour features private airport transfers to and from Barcelona,  Valencia or Reus International Airports and 5 nights accommodation in  our private villa, situated right on the doorstep of the Ebro Delta in a  tranquil countryside location. The villa will be your 'home from home'  for the duration of your bird watching holiday and will comfortably  accommodate parties of up to 6 people. There are also great  opportunities for birding at the villa, the big raptors patrol the area  regularly and species such as Hoopoe, Bee-eater & Golden Oriole are  frequent too around the garden.

The Ebro Delta Experience bird watching tour offers a completely different birding day trip for each of the 4 days of your visit, starting out with a visit to the  southern section of the Ebro Delta. The second day we will be heading  out onto the Ebro river by private boat to see the most unspoiled areas  of the delta and get close up to many varieties of birds of the river  bank. On day 3 we will head to the plains south of Lleida to check out specialities of this arid zone such as Roller, Montagu's Harrier, Lesser Kestrel and Little Bustard. The tour culminates with a day trip of the varied habitats of  the northern section of the delta, completing a comprehensive overview  of the bird-life and environments contained within with remarkable  birding paradise!

Ebro Delta Experience bird watching tour - 5 highlights:

• Vast flocks of Greater Flamingos viewed close up on the saline lagoons of the Ebro Delta
• Wonderful waders, a diverse selection of Europe's wading birds throughout the 4 seasons
• Discovering the Ebro delta by boat with close up views of birds like Little Bittern & Purple Heron
• Experience the steppe lands around Lleida and get great views of Roller close to their breeding sites.
• Unforgettable scenery of the unique Ebro Delta, along with fantastic seafood paellas at rustic local restaurants

Itinerary:

• Day 1 - We will collect you from the airport and transfer you to your accommodation, our private villa close to L'Ampolla. Remainder of the day at leisure.
• Day 2 - Ebro Delta southern section guided bird watching tours, full day with break for lunch
• Day 3 - Ebro river boat tour, full day guided bird watching itinerary with break for lunch
• Day 4 - Lleida steppes day trip, lunchtime to late evening itinerary.
• Day 5 - Ebro Delta northern section full day guided birding itinerary with break for lunch.
• Day 6 - We will return you to the airport in time for your journey home.

Ebro Delta Experience birding holidays, species list: Notable birds we will be aiming to see.

Red Crested Pochard, Little Bittern, Night Heron, Squacco Heron, Cattle Egret, Little Egret, Great Egret, Grey Heron, Purple Heron, Black Kite, Marsh Harrier, Booted Eagle, Osprey, Kestrel, Black-winged Stilt, Common Sandpiper, Caspian Tern, Whiskered Tern, Black Tern, Audouin’s Gull, Turtle Dove, Kingfisher, Bee-eater, Hoopoe, Golden Oriole, Penduline Tit, Sand Martin, Cetti’s Warbler, Reed Warbler, Great Reed Warbler, Zitting Cisticola, Nightingale, Spotted Flycatcher, Pied Flycatcher, Yellow Wagtail, White Wagtail, Serin, Reed Bunting, Shelduck, Gadwall, Garganey, Shoveler, Little Grebe, Great-crested grebe, Black-necked Grebe, Bittern, Greater Flamingo, White Stork, Spoonbill, Short-toed Eagle, Sparrowhawk, Buzzard, Bonelli’s Eagle, Lesser Kestrel, Kestrel, Merlin, Hobby, Peregrine, Water Rail, Avocet, Oystercatcher, Golden Plover, Grey Plover, Lapwing, Little Ringed Plover, Ringed Plover, Kentish Plover, Curlew, Bar-tailed Godwit, Turnstone, Sanderling, Temminck’s Stint, Dunlin, Little Stint, Green Sandpiper, Wood Sandpiper, Redshank, Spotted Redshank, Greenshank, Snipe, Jack Snipe, Collared Pratincole, Little Tern, Gull-billed Tern, Sandwich tern, Common Tern, Roseate Tern, Mediterranean Gull, Slender-billed Gull, Cuckoo, Little Owl, Scops Owl, Nightjar, Roller, Woodchat Shrike, Crested Lark, Lesser Short-toed Lark, Short-toed Lark, Wood Warbler, Willow Warbler, Blackcap, Whitethroat, Dartford Warbler, Sardinian Warbler, Savi’s Warbler, Melodious Warbler, Moustached Warbler, Mistle Thrush, Bluethroat, Black Redstart, Redstart, Whinchat, Stonechat, Wheatear, Black-eared Wheatear, Grey Wagtail, Red-throated Pipit, Water Pipit, Linnet, Purple Swamp-hen, Glossy Ibis, Red-legged Partridge, Griffon Vulture, Black Vulture, Egyptian Vulture, Goshawk, Golden Eagle, Alpine Swift, Iberian Green Woodpecker, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Raven, Chough, Jay, Crested Tit, Coal Tit, Long-tailed Tit, Thekla’s Lark, Woodlark, Skylark, Crag Martin, Western Bonelli’s Warbler, Western Subalpine Warbler, Goldcrest, Firecrest, Short-toed Treecreeper, Wren, Rock Thrush, Blue Rock Thrush, Black Wheatear, Alpine Accentor, Rock Sparrow, Cirl Bunting, Rock Bunting, Ortolan Bunting, Corn Bunting

Tour Overview:

Our 7-day Winter Birding in Aragon & Catalonia Tour of Northern Spain is  a full week birding itinerary during winter which we run anytime from the  beginning of November through to the end of February. We will be going  in search of some of Spain's most sought after species, and taking in  some magnificent birding spectacles along the way. This winter birding tour is a 3 centre experience which showcases a trio of magnificent but diverse birding regions:

Ebro Delta: The first location we will be birding is (of course!) the Ebro Delta, where we will spend two days enjoying the best of the wetland's resident  bird-life and checking out some of the winter visitors. We can expect to  see vast flocks of Greater Flamingos feeding in the saline lagoons of  the Delta, and congregations of Glossy Ibis, herons & egrets in the  now boggy fields. The delta is a winter refuge for many varieties of  wildfowl and wading birds, and raptors abound with multiple Marsh  Harriers, Booted Eagles and a good chance of Merlin. Rare passerines  such as Moustached Warbler and Bluethroat can usually be found.
 

Laguna de Gallocanta: The second leg of this winter birding trip sees us depart to Gallocanta in the dry-land plains to the south of Zaragoza, where we will spend 2  days birding around the famous Laguna, which is Spain's largest natural  lake. Alongside a huge wintering population of Common Cranes (which can number up to 60,000 birds during peak passage times of early November and late February!), we can also target Great & Little Bustard and enjoy sightings of raptors like Hen Harrier & Golden Eagle. Rarities like Dupont's Lark, Pallid Harrier and Black-winged Kite can be found within this zone.
 

Sierra de Guara: For the final leg of the tour we depart for Alquezar in the pre-Pyrenean region of the Sierra de Guara. Dubbed 'the land of the Lammergeier', we will be searching for this rarest of vultures, along with another popular birding target, the beautiful but elusive Wallcreeper, which comes down from the high Pyrenees to over winter at lower  altitudes on the south facing cliffs and canyons of the Guara. There are plenty of  other species to be found in this mountainous zone, including the likes  of Blue Rock Thrush, Dartford Warbler & Citril Finch.
 

This week long birding tour includes private airport transfers from  Barcelona International Airport, and accommodation throughout the  duration of the tour at carefully selected Guest Houses situated in the  different birding regions.

Winter Birding in Aragon & Catalonia Tour, 5 highlights:
 

• Beautiful Bluethroats on the Ebro Delta leg of the tour
• Vast groups of Cranes feeding in the fields around Laguna de Gallocanta
• The rare and magnificent Lammergeier (Bearded Vulture) in the Sierra de Guara
• Scouring the rock faces for the wonderful Wallcreeper in the Guara, such a rewarding bird to find!
• Winter sunshine, enjoy the wonderful clear days and feel the sun on your back in these fantastic locations

Itinerary:

• Day 1 - You will be collected from the airport and transferred to your accommodation, our private villa on the edge of the Ebro Delta. Spend the remainder of the day at leisure.
• Day 2 - Guided bird watching day tour of the Ebro Delta (Northern section) full day with a break for lunch.
• Day 3 - Guided bird watching day tour of the Ebro Delta (Southern section) full day with a break for lunch.
• Day 4 - We make an early morning departure to Gallocanta where we will check into the Guest House. The afternoon & evening will be spent on  birding tours around the Laguna.
• Day 5 - Guided morning bird watching tour around the plains of Gallocanta with a break for lunch. After lunch we depart this area and head north towards the mountains, checking the plains area around Belchite for Bustards on route. Evening check in to our accommodation in Alquezar in the Sierra de Guara.
• Day 6 - Guided birding day tour of Riglos & Vadiello Dam, searching primarily for Wallcreeper
• Day 7 - Guided bird watching tour of the Sierra de Guara with break for lunch
• Day 8 - We will return you to the airport in time for your return journey home.

Winter wonders of Northern Spain birding holidays, species List: Notable birds we will be targeting on this tour.

Shelduck, Wigeon, Gadwall, Teal, Shoveler, Pochard, Red-legged Partridge, Little Grebe, Great-crested Grebe, Black-necked Grebe, Bittern, Night Heron, Cattle Egret, Little Egret, Great Egret, Greater Flamingo, White Stork, Black Stork, Spoonbill, Red Kite, Griffon Vulture, Lammergeier, Black-shouldered Kite, Marsh Harrier, Hen Harrier, Pallid Harrier, Goshawk, Sparrowhawk, Buzzard, Golden Eagle, Bonelli's Eagle, Booted Eagle, Osprey, Kestrel, Merlin, Peregrine, Water Rail, Purple Swamp-hen, Common Crane, Little Bustard, Great Bustard, Stone-curlew, Avocet, Golden Plover, Grey Plover, Lapwing, Curlew, Black-tailed Godwit, Bar-tailed Godwit, Turnstone, Ruff, Sanderling, Temminck's Stint, Green Sandpiper, Spotted Redshank, Snipe, Caspian Tern, Sandwich Tern, Audouin's Gull, Slender-billed Gull, Kingfisher, Hoopoe, Green Woodpecker, Black Woodpecker, Iberian Grey Shrike, Chough, Alpine Chough, Crested Tit, Calandra Lark, Thekla Lark, Woodlark, Dupont's Lark, Crag Martin, Cetti's warbler, Dartford Warbler, Sardinian Warbler, Moustached Warbler, Zitting Cisticola, Goldcrest, Firecrest, Wallcreeper, Nuthatch, Treecreeper, Short-toed Treecreeper, Wren, Spotless Starling, Fieldfare, Redwing, Bluethroat, Black Redstart, Blue Rock Thrush, Stonechat, Black Wheatear, Alpine Accentor, Grey Wagtail, White Wagtail, Water Pipit, Meadow Pipit, Brambling, Serin, Citril Finch, Carl Bunting, Rock Bunting, Reed Bunting, Corn Bunting, Glossy Ibis