Ebro Delta Birding. Expertly guided birding tours in Spain

Spent a lovely few days in the Ebro Delta. Al was extremely knowledgeable, both about the birds to be seen and just as importantly  where to find them. The delta was teeming with bird-life and is a must if  you like large water birds like herons, egrets, flamingos, etc. of  which we saw hundreds. In all, we saw an amazing 83 species. The  afternoon spent on Al’s boat on the Ebro river was the icing on the  cake; ospreys, bee eaters, herons and egrets - and how on earth Al  spotted that beautiful Little Bittern hiding in the reeds beside the  boat…..just awesome! Looking to return next spring.

Al impressed yet again (we did the delta tour the day before) with a  private boat tour up the Ebro River. He kept our eyes on birds as we  skimmed among the black crowned night herons, kingfishers and herons. A  Caspian tern showed up as well as an Osprey, a Black kite and a booted  eagle. We had over 30 species along the river bank in August - a tough month for birding. Al  was on time, well prepared, well spoken and very professional. Highly  recommended.

Recently my husband and I spent 3 days in the Ebro Delta with Al Henderson as our guide – 5 days in his villa. We were on the north side  of the delta, in a boat on the river and on the plains. Al is very  competent, enthusiastic, patient and relaxed as a guide. The first two days we saw over 100 different birds. Al knows their voices and knows  where to find them. We can strongly recommend using Al as your guide and  also stay in his villa for rent in this period. It was a fantastic  experience.  Leif Hoven and Inger Vinstorp, Denmark

Great day out with Al from Ebro Delta Birding, visiting the Griffon Vulture feeding - a great spectacle with the ghostly silhouettes  emerging from morning mists then close ups of these surprisingly  handsome giant birds getting stuck in to their breakfast. Many photos.  Then we set off in Al's vehicle to quiet location in the hills where we  hoped to find  Western black-eared Wheatear & Black Wheatear. Thanks  to expert guiding we found both plus some other interesting species.  All in all an excellent experience & many thanks to Al.

We spent a week in the Ebro Delta in late November 2021 and booked two days of birding with Al Henderson. We stayed in his accommodation. This  was our first visit to this area. We are keen walkers and reasonably  keen cyclists and wanted to explore the delta and the surrounding area  both on foot and by bike. I am a novice birder but keen photographer and  wanted some practice at obtaining images of birds, particularly in  flight. Al was an excellent communicator in the long run-up to our trip. Because  of COVID-related travel problems we ended up having a number of  conversations by email over many months.  Al was a most attentive guide and host. He suggested some good walks and  lent us the relevant Cicerone guidebook. He assisted us with our cycle  hire. There are several possibilities in the area. We used a cycle shop  just a few km away in Camarles (DTS Cycle Hire, on Carrer Trenta-tres).  The owner was very helpful. On our first birding trip Al showed us the delta. His 20 year +  experience of this area was very evident. He has an in-depth knowledge  of where particular species would be found and even where particular  individual birds might be seen. He is adept at approaching the birds in a  way that optimizes the photographic opportunities. Even a quick look at  his website confirms that he is himself a highly skilled bird  photographer (both still and video). On our second day he took us first to a couple of hides inland on the  Ebro river where we watched a number of species including Water Rails  and Kingfishers. Later the same day he drove further inland to a large  landfill sight which was attracting significant numbers of White Storks,  Red Kites and Griffon Vultures. This gave me an extended chance to  practice photographing these large and impressive species in flight.  It was a good trip and I will certainly come back.

My son and I booked the 4 day tour with Ebro Delta Birding. Al was an easy going and expert guide, always going the extra mile to show us as  many species as possible.   We very much appreciated Al’s deep knowledge of the birds and the area,  and it was so useful to gain tips on identification and habits of  various species.   We saw 107 different species, much more than we expected at the end of the summer season.

This place is special. This guide, Al Henderson, is special. We booked our birding tours, in autumn, on the tail-end of the migration south for many bird species and we were very privileged to witness spectacle after spectacle. Numerous Marsh Harriers cruising in to roost amongst the reedbeds all on a backdrop of hundreds of glossy Ibis criss-crossing the dusk sky and a murmuration of starlings thrown in. 1000 or more White stork shuffling for position before swirling up in turn on the midday thermals amongst red kites, griffon vultures and even a much rarer black stork. And the exchange of roosts between the night heron colonies, with their large bright red eyes, switching places with many hundreds of egrets, cormorant and an osprey, all viewed in reflection too, with the sunset behind, from Al's boat out on the river Ebro. The delta itself has vast numbers of birds, some resident, some migrant. All year round you can also witness the balletic displays of the flamingos, of course and we also took the opportunity to witness a private feeding of over 200 Griffon Vultures at a fantastic mountainside retreat permitting panoramic views from above and below. As a family (not all of whom are 'birders') there was something for everyone... new species, new behaviour, new songs, fantastic photo opportunities and a chance to see a wide variety of landscapes. Well over 100 different bird species were seen on this trip. However, it is the sheer number of birds that was unexpected and that easily rivalled costal reserves in the UK and trips to The Gambia, for example, with the promise of more to be seen at different times of the year too.

We had a fantastic 4 days birdwatching tours with Ebro Delta Birding. We went to the Northern and Southern Delta, on the river boat trip and to the nearby mountains. Al, our host was extremely knowledgeable about the area, the birdlife and specific places that different species could be found. We would have been completely lost without such an experienced guide. Al is also an excellent photographer and sent us a range of beautiful photographs of the birds we saw. We had four very different days including one on the river, one in the nearby mountain range, featuring over 500 Griffon vultures feeding, and two in different parts of the delta area. We experienced a range of habitats and bird types and were able to get extremely close to the birds, including the smaller ones which are sometimes difficult to see let alone get close to. Al also provided background information on the habits of the various birds. Highlights included Osprey, numerous kingfishers, a Egret Roost, Waders, Vultures, and the small birds incuding a Firecrest and Crested Tit. We very much look forward to returning to the area and booking more birding tours with Ebro Delta Birding.

What a fantastic day on the water! Having such a knowledgeable and competent tour guide meant we saw a wide range of birds we never would have seen on our own and felt in safe hands all the time. Al worked hard to make sure it was a special experience for us. We would defenitely go on another of his bird watching tours and would happily recommend him to others.

Had a wonderful day with Al! He tailors the birdwatching tours to your personal goals, and in addition takes you to many different spots to try to find as many species as possible. It's an incredible value to get such personal experience for an entire day His knowledge about the area cannot be matched. He also takes photos throughout the day, and shares them with you, so you can relax and keep your eyes on the birds. I think my favorite thing about Al is his enthusiasm. He clearly loves birding as much as his clients do, and this makes for a very fun and enjoyable day.

I have just returned from a 4 day break in the Ebro Delta region. I was lucky enough to book my bird watching tours with ebrodeltabirding.com and had the most fantastic day along the margins of the mighty River Ebro. Al, the guide and skipper of the boat was a friendly, hugely knowledgable guy and expert photographer and was able to offer advice , information and knew every inch of the river like it was his own. We saw purple herons, Squacco Herons, Little Bitterns, Bee Eaters to name but a few but the highlight came when Al left juicy titbits on the surface of the river near a Black Kite roost which tempted the 2 kites to circle then swoop for the offerings right in front of the boat barely 10 feet away. For a photographer this was a once in a lifetime opportunity and from a bird watching point of view, the kind of personal one on one experience with this magnificent bird of prey that you would struggle to find anywhere else in the wild. The boat is spacious, comfortable and easily cuts through the river to get to different locations but then a silent electric motor allows you to get within just a few feet of the numerous wading and roosting birds among the reeds. I’m still sifting through my hundreds of photographs over a week after returning home. A fabulous day out in the company of a fabulous guide. The guest house is beautifully run by Al and his wife Wendy, is very comfortable and in such a lovely remote location that you can't help but just sit and reflect in the peace and quiet over your early morning coffee. Fabulous value for money, great company and overall a wonderful experience. Already booked again for next year. Do it. You won't be disappointed. 5 STARS*****

This was our first birding tours abroad and we thoroughly enjoyed it. My wife enjoyed it too even though she is not an active birder herself. This is because the tour has been structured so well by Al with a different experience every day. I would like to mention that if your other half is a non birder or passive birder it doesn't matter. Just take them along as they will love the peace and quiet of the countryside villa, the beautiful scenery of delta and mountains, and the variety of experiences on each day of the tour. Even though there is a village 5 minutes away from the villa, we decided to stock up on supplies and cook our evening meals at the villa. There is a large Eroski supermarket that Al took us to on the first day where everything is available. We even bought a nice pair of slippers as we'd forgotten to bring ours. Al was really flexible with the tour and even agreed to an extra half day of birding for an extra charge in the drylands on the way back to Barcelona on the final day. We had booked a 5 night stay in Barcelona after the birding and Al was kind enough to drop us off at the accomodation we had booked. Ok now on to the birding. On the way to the villa we were fortunate enough to get a red necked nightjar! We managed to get a really clear view in the car headlights. A dream start. Al is an expert on the area and new exactly where to go to get different species. The first day we visited the South Delta and got 55 species, 20 of which were completely new to me such as bee eater, collared pratincole, penduline tit and audouin's gull. We also got a great paella for lunch! The second day we visited the griffon vulture observatory which was simply an amazing experience. Hundreds of vultures were fighting for food and being fed by one brave man! We also crossed the river on a car ferry which runs completely on the river current. This was a totally unique experience which we both loved. The third day was the river boat tour which started mid day till sunset. The highlights were little bittern, caspian tern and an osprey towards the end! We managed to get quite close to the osprey on the boat and Al took some great photographs including some aerial shots. My wife loved the boat tour especially the stunning sunset views at the end. The fourth day was the north delta, highlights included slender billed gull, little tern, golden oriole and temmink's stint. Now this was supposed to be the end of the birding but we had decided to do a half day birding on the last day on the way to Barcelona. This was great because it was a different kind of habitat and gave us different species including short toed eagle, roller, pin tailed sandgrouse, woodchat and southern grey shrikes and best of all LITTLE BUSTARD. This was the best bird of the tour as they aren't seen much. All in all we got 101 species, 41 of which were new. This is more than we were expecting during this time of year. Also, Al provided us with some great photos he had taken which he shared via dropbox. I can't recommend Al and this tour enough and we will be back probably in Spring to get a different variety of birds.