Greetings from Keith at Scenic Bird Tours, Alora, Malaga province, Andalucia. This, our first newsletter, brings you up to date with events after Scenic Bird Tours' first year of operation.We offer varied, always interesting birding amidst wonderful scenery, and we couldn't be easier to reach from any country in Europe.
Scenic Bird Tours - our first year
Scenic Bird Tours was launched in Autumn 2006 as an offshoot from Keith's holiday accommodation, Finca Limoneros, set on the slopes of the Rio Guadalhorce valley just minutes from the white village of Alora.
Since the finca began offering high quality self catering apartments to holidaymakers in December 2002, we have more and more concentrated on birders and from time to time Keith has taken out guests for a day here and there to find the local birdlife. As demand for more tours grew, there was clearly a need for a more specialised website www.scenicbirdtours.com to focus on the bird tour business.
Since the finca began offering high quality self catering apartments to holidaymakers in December 2002, we have more and more concentrated on birders and from time to time Keith has taken out guests for a day here and there to find the local birdlife. As demand for more tours grew, there was clearly a need for a more specialised website www.scenicbirdtours.com to focus on the bird tour business.
We chose the name Scenic Bird Tours to encapsulate the fact that, as well as providing an excellent birding experience, our tours take birders to some of the most scenically beautiful and dramatic spots in Andalucia - something which has great appeal for many clients as they almost always comment after one of our tours.
Growth has been moderate - it's not easy to spread the word about an area which in many ways is the best kept secret in Spanish birding - but this Spring and Autumn have both been busy and the signs are good that more and more birders are becoming aware of what we and the region have to offer.
News from Scenic Bird Tours
Spring was much busier than ever before with clients from Finland, Sweden, Eire and the USA as well as the UK.
The highlight for our clients and guests during this early part of the year was without doubt the pair of Bonelli's Eagles, that rare raptor which number only a few hundred pairs worlwide, nesting on our local mountain and successfully raising two eaglets.
September has been our busiest month ever with Keith guiding tours with clients from the UK, both guests at Finca Limoneros and others touring and staying at other establishments. As with all significant birding events a full account appeared on our websites on Keith's Journal.
Migrants have featured heavily this Autumn so far, with a number of unusual (for our area) birds cropping up including Wryneck, Pied Flycatcher, Common Redstart, Whinchat and the humble Coot. A number of these have been first recordings for the area, swelling our Complete Bird List to 169 so far. Raptors have featured well, with Booted, Bonelli's and particularly Short-toed Eagles being seen on most tours, with Peregrines and Black Kites on passage also appearing. At the Guadalhorce estuary wintering Booted Eagle, Osprey and Great Egrets have been easy to find.
Excellent sunny and warm weather during September has been briefly interrupted by two spectacular electric storms which brought short but heavy downpours. This has resulted in a huge and much needed increase in water levels in our local river, the Rio Guadalhorce, and this bodes well for all types of water birds and waders returning for the Winter period. At the time of writing in early October the sun has returned with a vengeance and temperatures are touching 30 degrees again.
The highlight for our clients and guests during this early part of the year was without doubt the pair of Bonelli's Eagles, that rare raptor which number only a few hundred pairs worlwide, nesting on our local mountain and successfully raising two eaglets.
September has been our busiest month ever with Keith guiding tours with clients from the UK, both guests at Finca Limoneros and others touring and staying at other establishments. As with all significant birding events a full account appeared on our websites on Keith's Journal.
Migrants have featured heavily this Autumn so far, with a number of unusual (for our area) birds cropping up including Wryneck, Pied Flycatcher, Common Redstart, Whinchat and the humble Coot. A number of these have been first recordings for the area, swelling our Complete Bird List to 169 so far. Raptors have featured well, with Booted, Bonelli's and particularly Short-toed Eagles being seen on most tours, with Peregrines and Black Kites on passage also appearing. At the Guadalhorce estuary wintering Booted Eagle, Osprey and Great Egrets have been easy to find.
Excellent sunny and warm weather during September has been briefly interrupted by two spectacular electric storms which brought short but heavy downpours. This has resulted in a huge and much needed increase in water levels in our local river, the Rio Guadalhorce, and this bodes well for all types of water birds and waders returning for the Winter period. At the time of writing in early October the sun has returned with a vengeance and temperatures are touching 30 degrees again.
Why Scenic Bird Tours?
Whilst being located conveniently only 30 minutes drive from Malaga Airport yet surrounded by some of the most magnificent scenery which Andalucia has to offer, our region of the Rio Guadalhorce Valley is relatively unknown amongst birders from the UK and other countries of Europe.
We do, however, have some great advantages over the more widely recognised birding areas of Spain such as Donana, Extremadura and the Ebro Valley.
Easy access, not only from Malaga but also from Granada, Jerez and Sevilla airports, makes a short break of a few days birding, perhaps a long weekend, an effortless, comfortable and rewarding exercise.
The wide range of habitats on our doorstep make birding a real pleasure. In a single typical day's tour from our base in Alora we can easily cover riverside and valley terrain, rolling prairie and foothills, and high mountain passes with cliffs, crags and gorges. Lakes, estuaries and thickly forested mountainous regions are also within easy reach. To cover all the best birding sites within an hour's drive or less from our base really needs around four days, but our approach is flexible and one, two or three days will all provide a memorable birding experience.
A variety of habitats means a variety of species, and a single day may be expected to produce 50-60 from water birds, passerines and exotics such as Hoopoe, Bee-eater and Kingfisher to raptors - Booted, Short-toed and Bonelli's Eagle, Griffon and Egyptian Vulture, Peregrine, Merlin, Buzzard, Common and Lesser Kestrel, and Osprey - and rock birds such as Blue Rock Thrush, Black Wheatear, Dartford Warbler and Rock Bunting. Our Complete Bird List totals almost 170 species including Summer and Winter visitors and migrants.
We do, however, have some great advantages over the more widely recognised birding areas of Spain such as Donana, Extremadura and the Ebro Valley.
Easy access, not only from Malaga but also from Granada, Jerez and Sevilla airports, makes a short break of a few days birding, perhaps a long weekend, an effortless, comfortable and rewarding exercise.
The wide range of habitats on our doorstep make birding a real pleasure. In a single typical day's tour from our base in Alora we can easily cover riverside and valley terrain, rolling prairie and foothills, and high mountain passes with cliffs, crags and gorges. Lakes, estuaries and thickly forested mountainous regions are also within easy reach. To cover all the best birding sites within an hour's drive or less from our base really needs around four days, but our approach is flexible and one, two or three days will all provide a memorable birding experience.
A variety of habitats means a variety of species, and a single day may be expected to produce 50-60 from water birds, passerines and exotics such as Hoopoe, Bee-eater and Kingfisher to raptors - Booted, Short-toed and Bonelli's Eagle, Griffon and Egyptian Vulture, Peregrine, Merlin, Buzzard, Common and Lesser Kestrel, and Osprey - and rock birds such as Blue Rock Thrush, Black Wheatear, Dartford Warbler and Rock Bunting. Our Complete Bird List totals almost 170 species including Summer and Winter visitors and migrants.
Some of the local sites are well known and documented in books such as Birdwatching on Spain's Southern Coast, written by Keith's great friend, the sadly late John Butler of Donana Bird Tours. These include the salt lagoon at Fuente de Piedra, the Teba Gorge, and some sites at El Chorro and Alora. Our tours, however, do not concentrate on such areas which visiting birders may find for themselves (though we may well visit some in passing). Rather, we seek out sites which are less known, most having been found over the past few years by Keith, and which are often reached only via difficult and obscure tracks well off the main roads. These are often sites which are more productive, less disturbed by human presence and more scenically beautiful than birders will find in any book.
At the present time tours are flexible, personal and may be tailored to clients' needs. Your tour guide, Keith, takes out only two or three at a time in a small, manoueverable, air-conditioned 4x4 vehicle which can reach many off road sites which are difficult or impossible to get to in a hire car. A typical couple of birders therefore have a guide to themselves for the day - and at a very reasonable cost.
At the present time tours are flexible, personal and may be tailored to clients' needs. Your tour guide, Keith, takes out only two or three at a time in a small, manoueverable, air-conditioned 4x4 vehicle which can reach many off road sites which are difficult or impossible to get to in a hire car. A typical couple of birders therefore have a guide to themselves for the day - and at a very reasonable cost.
About the Tours
Visiting birders may book our tours in two ways :
Day Tours are available to anyone staying in the area, including much of the Costa del Sol as well as inland around Alora, El Chorro and surroundings. For our sensible prices see the website.
Activity Breaks are for birders who wish to stay in our self catering accommodation at Finca Limoneros. Our website gives sample prices but (subject to availability) breaks are entirely flexible - stay for how long you wish, book as many days' bird tours as you wish - and are priced using a simple accommodation plus bird tours pricing policy with the addition of a small amount to cover our super welcome pack of supplies to cover basic catering needs.
Full details of the above are to be found on www.scenicbirdtours.com
For details of the accommodation at Finca Limoneros see www.fincalimoneros.com
Day Tours are available to anyone staying in the area, including much of the Costa del Sol as well as inland around Alora, El Chorro and surroundings. For our sensible prices see the website.
Activity Breaks are for birders who wish to stay in our self catering accommodation at Finca Limoneros. Our website gives sample prices but (subject to availability) breaks are entirely flexible - stay for how long you wish, book as many days' bird tours as you wish - and are priced using a simple accommodation plus bird tours pricing policy with the addition of a small amount to cover our super welcome pack of supplies to cover basic catering needs.
Full details of the above are to be found on www.scenicbirdtours.com
For details of the accommodation at Finca Limoneros see www.fincalimoneros.com
When to come birding in Andalucia
Any time of year is good for birding here in Alora, though July and August can be uncomfortably hot.
The Spring (March-May) and Autumn (September-October) months offer good chances of birds on migration as well as the transition from Summer to Winter visitors.
Highest chances of rain occur around November and February, but rain rarely lasts long before the sun returns.
The Winter months of December - January are usually fine and sunny with crisp cool days and offer excellent birding.
The Spring (March-May) and Autumn (September-October) months offer good chances of birds on migration as well as the transition from Summer to Winter visitors.
Highest chances of rain occur around November and February, but rain rarely lasts long before the sun returns.
The Winter months of December - January are usually fine and sunny with crisp cool days and offer excellent birding.
Please note : you have received this newsletter as a result of previous correspondence with Scenic Bird Tours or our companion site, Finca Limoneros. If you do not wish to receive further emails from us, please send en email to us at info@scenicbirdtours.com with the word 'remove' in the subject line and your details will be removed from our database.