Although the Spanish economy is on its knees, it's good to see that they are still trying to promote birdwatching by producing excellent little booklets like 'Birds from the Coast of Trafalgar'.  There is also a helpful leaflet which gives a truncated description of the routes only. Both are available, for free, from the information office of the Parque Natural la Breňa y Marisma del Barbate.  This office is somewhat obscurely located within Barbate docks about 100m to the left as you pass through the last gates en route towards Canos de Mecca.  This small centre also has a good display (in Spanish) about the park and its wild life and helpful English speaking staff.

The booklet's introductory section explains how to identify birds, describes the various habitats in the area and gives a short description of the phenomenum of migration.  The English is distinctly better than many such documents although still rather stiff and formal at times with the inevitable handful of typos.

The next section of the booklet is rather misleadingly entitled "The most frequently seen species of birds".  It gives brief details of the habits and status of 63 birds that can be seen in the area.  However, only a third or a quarter of the birds selected might reasonably be called 'frequently seen'.   Many are striking or iconic species such as Common Crane and Little Bustard (see right) which many visitors might struggle to find.  Understandably, given the area's importance for migrating birds of prey it covers no less than 13 raptors.  The description are both useful and informative.

The 'meat' of the book are a dozen birdwatching routes although, contra the book's title, not all of them are actually on the coast. Most are in the Conil-Vejer-Barbate area with two outliers to the southwest on either side of Tarifa (Playa de Los Lances and El Cuarton.   The routes are well chosen and will introduce you to a wide range of species.  Some are clearly meant to be driven and others walked or cycled. Some are a mixture of both although where you walk and where you drive isn't always very clear!  This section also has a dozen more or less blank pages for 'notes'.  Personally, I've never been able to write on a book and almost have a nervous collapse when I discover someone else has done so!  Hence, I think these pages would have been much better used to give still more information about the sites and birds.

This is a great little booklet which I'd have happily paid 10€ (or more) for in a shop. Nip out quick and get a copy before they run out! Those involved deserve thanks and congratulations for producing such a useful guide.   

Tarifa is, understandably, best known for the extraordinary raptor migration across the strait of Gibraltar. However, anywhere else it would be celebrated for the regular occurrence of Lesser Crested Tern, the recently discovered presence of Wilson’s Petrel offshore and the regular migration of small passerines in numbers now rarely witnessed in the UK. This short note deals solely with areas within walking distance of Tarifa.

The narrow tarmac road off the N340 (accessed only from the direction of Tarifa) towards the Trafico watchpoint (a)
still has notices warning that it’s a military road and access is prohibited. However, for some years a raptor watching viewpoint  has operated from behind a large and obvious white villa. This site gets much the same birds as nearby Cazalla, but birds tend, perhaps, to be lower and offer closer views.  Hence it can be a good spot for photographing raptors. Formerly a restricted military area, until recently the road ended abruptly at a barrier and guardhouse, but now you can drive through the abandoned military base and park above Punta Camorro.  The views across towards Africa from here are stunning.  Obviously, it’s also good for passing raptors, but keep a sharp eye on migrants here – both
Seebohm’s Wheatear and Moussier’s Redstart have turned up in recent years.  

Formerly a restricted military area, until recently the road ended abruptly at a barrier and guardhouse, but now you can drive through the abandoned military base and park above Punta Camorro.  The views across towards Africafrom here are stunning.  Having parked near the raptor watching lookout a particularly good option is to walk back down the road past the old guardhouse, but then immediately turn along a gravel track  back towards Tarifa (b).  This track passes through some woodland then beside a couple of small houses. On a good day expect dozens of Pied and Spotted Flycatchers, plus Wrynecks, Bee-eaters, warblers, etc.   The track then joins a steep path which takes you down to a small wooden bridge from which you can either climb back up to where you left your car or along the coastal footpath (c - Colada de la Costa).  The latter takes you either back towards Tarifa (c1 km) or east towards Guadalmesi (c8km).  Although not ideally sited for seawatching with suitable onshore winds you can see Gannets, shearwaters (mainly  Cory's & Balearic), skuas (mainly Great) and gulls (inc. Audouin’s).  In recent years, a small number of Common Bulbul have been found in the Tarifa area which underscores what a great area it is for unusual birds! 

Playa de los Lances which is on the western side of Tarifa is much better known than Punta Camorro.  To reach the area take the board walk northwest from Tarifa (d) or, when approaching from the north, pull off near some rubbish bins on the right just before the CEPSA garage (e) and walk down to the hide. Being open ground with relatively little cover it’s not as good for holding small passerine migrants other then pipits, larks and wheatears.  

However, where it scores is the fact that there’s huge sandy beach with a large tidal pool which attracts a wide variety of waders (inc. Kentish & Grey Plover, Dunlin, Curlew Sandpiper, Knot, etc.), gulls (esp. Audouin’s) and terns (inc. Lesser Crested).  Raptors also frequently drift over adding spice to the birding.

The downside is that, despite its status as a Nature Reserve where such activities are banned, the area is frequently disturbed by dog walkers, horse riders and particularly surfers with the latter brazenly setting up within metres of the
small hide here.  A code of conduct and publicity having been tried without success in spring 2013, in an attempt to
discourage surfers and protect the reserve, 700 posts were rammed into the sand.  However, in an act of organised eco-vandalism within weeks over 600 were removed (see www.tarifaaldia.com/index.php?opcion=39&id_new=8942). So if you want to avoid confrontations, go early or when the winds are unsuitable for surfing.  It can also be worth to
head further along the beach to check out the belt of pines for migrants.   

Tarifa itself is a pleasant place with interesting ‘old town’.  Amongst the many Pallid Swifts look out for the odd Little and White-rumped – both have been seen over the town.  Raptors often fly low over the town which also has a small population of Lesser Kestrel.  The big attraction here, though, is the opportunity to take a boat trip to see cetaceans – Common, Striped and Bottlenosed Dolphins, Long-finned Pilot Whale are all fairly common, but you need to be lucky to see Sperm or Finn Whales.  Orcas have declined hugely in recent years and now tend to appear in small numbers and only for a short period in late July/early August (I’ve yet to see one in half a dozen trips). However, this is
precisely the time when small numbers of Wilson’s Petrel have been seen on specially chartered boat trips. Given how recently this phenomenon has been discovered other seabirds may yet also turn out to be more frequent than records suggest. Even on whale watching trips you have a fair chance of getting good views of Cory’s and Balearic Shearwaters, Great Skua and Audouin’s Gull.  (Note - Tarifa island is still in the hands of the military and inaccessible to those without a permit).  

Another site I was pleased to have a closer look at this spring was Lagunas del Puerto de Santa Maria - and note that I've got the title of the place correct this time!  It's such a mouthful that I usually call it 'Lagunas de Santa Maria', but this isn't strictly correct!  Another slice of information that I discovered wasn't 'strictly correct' was that it was OK to drive along the track running along the eastern edge of Laguna Juncosa (a). We tried it, but were very pleasantly, but firmly, told that it was private.  However, I suspect that birders walking along the track might be tolerated.  The road along the side of the canal is still marked as 'No Entry', but as before this seems to be generally ignored by locals.  I also found that the track from Exit 464 to Laguna del Hato Carne is signposted as a 'camino particular' (i.e. private road) although the sign is very small and easily missed. The other track seemed to have no such restriction although it got pretty  after a small finca at the top of the hill. 

When wet the Laguna del Hato Carne is, by area, the largest of these lagunas, but it is very shallow and more often than not dry. The lack of vegetation around the laguna indicates this although it may also reflect a high level of salinity.  Since March 2013 was one of the wettest on record, this photo probably indicates the laguna at its greatest extent. As the track down from a small finca (see map) was rather rough and time was pressing, I scanned the laguna from afar by 'scope.  The few birds I could see included a handful of Flamingos, thin scattering of Black-winged Stilt around the margin and a few Collared Pratincoles flying over. It's probably not worth getting much closer given the wealth of more accessible similar habitats, but it was good to satisfy my curiosity about this laguna.

If Laguna del Hato Carne was rather disappointing, Laguna Juncosa couldn't have been better.  Usually clogged with a dense growth of juncus reeds, this spring it was a superb open water packed with birds. Waterfowl including Pochard, Red-crested Pochard, Gadwall, Shoveller and a handful of White-headed Duck, Dabchick and a couple of dozen gorgeous Black-necked Grebe cruised amongst the reeds, everywhere you looked Purple Gallinule strutted amongst the reeds and, best of all a Crested Coot - my first at this complex - drifted out of the reeds.   In fact, this miniscule laguna had far more of interest than Laguna de Medina!

Laguna Salada is the larger of the three main lagunas of the nature reserve, but being tucked away into the rolling countryside it's difficult to view. The path is distant and the bushy surroundings make it impossible to view the near shore whilst the further one is too far away to get decent views. Some have walked around the fields on the perimeter of the lake to get a better view, but the 'guardian' here takes a dim view of this strategy!  An alternative is to walk several hundred metres along the road following the canal (walk as it's narrow without anywhere to safely pull off.  However, views are still distant and unsatisfactory.  Another recurrent problem is that the track that runs down to the laguna (and on to Laguna Chica) can be impassably boggy. It was almost so when we visited in April when I got two wet and muddy feet for my pains. After a week or so of sunshine, though, it had dried out by early May.  You can reach the shoreline of the laguna where the track forks off to Laguna Chica , but the views are actually worse as a thick growth of tamarisks give a blinkered vista over the water. I've had a variety of ducks here but spotting a Crested Coot, given the range and poor views, would require a lot of luck.

This was the first time that I've been able to reach Laguna Chica since on every previous visit the thick girdle of gloopy mud around the footpath made further progress, sans wellies, impossible.  When I eventually got there I found it to be a smaller version of Laguna Salada as it too is tucked away and difficult to view. Although it's smaller size make it marginally easier to get decent views of whatever ducks, grebes and coots might be swanning around on its surface.