Crossbill Guides
If you wish to learn more about the varied wildlife of this fabulous area, particularly if you prefer ‘self-guided’ tours, I strongly recommend ‘The Nature Guide to the Western Andalucia’ in the Crossbill Guide series. The Crossbill foundation is a non-profit organisation dedicated to increasing public involvement and interest in nature conservation. I should declare an interest here as I am he joint author of this guide (with Dirk Hilbers, the founder of the ‘Crossbill Guides Foundation’) and work as the foundation’s English editor. Even if I wasn't involved, though, I’d still recommend these guides as they give an unique and unrivalled English language source for this area. The book gives you a detailed account of the flora and flora of the area. It also has a number of excellent itineraries to help you get to grips with the wildlife of the region.
There is also a sister volume on Eastern Andalucia to which I also contributed and other volumes are available on other areas of Iberia (the Algarve, Pyrenees, Extremadura the Canary islands, Madeira) and sites across Europe (France, Poland, Hungary, Greece, etc.)
To go to the 'Crossbill Guides' website just click on the button below:
Other Useful Links
Birding the Costa
Andy Paterson (of the WWB guides fame) knows more about birds and birding in Spain than any other Brit - and most, if not all, Spanish birders. His blog about birding trips often touches upon sites in Cadiz province. It's always an informative and interesting read too. It's one I often browse when back in the UK to get the flavour of birding in SW Spain.
Click on the button below for a good read!
Click on the button below for a good read!
eBird
eBird (ebird.org/ebird/explore) is a very useful website where bird sighting can be reported online. It covers sites across the globe and there are increasingly regular reports from hotspots in Cadiz province often but not exclusively, from the Birding the Strait team (see - birdingthestrait.com/). The quickest and most efficient way to locate sightings from any particular site is to click on the map of hotspots (ebird.org/ebird/hotspots) and zoom into the area you're interested in. The most frequently covered sites include Cazalla, Bonanza, Laguna de Medina and La Janda. Even older reports are useful as they give you a good idea of the species present at various seasons. Readers are strongly encouraged to use this resource (unfortunately I was unaware of its existence until recently so I'm only slowing adding my records).
eBird (ebird.org/ebird/explore) is a very useful website where bird sighting can be reported online. It covers sites across the globe and there are increasingly regular reports from hotspots in Cadiz province often but not exclusively, from the Birding the Strait team (see - birdingthestrait.com/). The quickest and most efficient way to locate sightings from any particular site is to click on the map of hotspots (ebird.org/ebird/hotspots) and zoom into the area you're interested in. The most frequently covered sites include Cazalla, Bonanza, Laguna de Medina and La Janda. Even older reports are useful as they give you a good idea of the species present at various seasons. Readers are strongly encouraged to use this resource (unfortunately I was unaware of its existence until recently so I'm only slowing adding my records).
Andalucia Bird Society
The Andalucia Bird Society was recently established to promote birds and birdwatching in Andalucia particularly, although not exclusively, amongst the ex-pat community. It has a quarterly magazine, a useful forum (http://andaluciabirdsociety.org/forum/index.php) and a very active facebook page. It also organises field trips throughout the area.
Click on the button below to go to the society's webpage:
The Andalucia Bird Society was recently established to promote birds and birdwatching in Andalucia particularly, although not exclusively, amongst the ex-pat community. It has a quarterly magazine, a useful forum (http://andaluciabirdsociety.org/forum/index.php) and a very active facebook page. It also organises field trips throughout the area.
Click on the button below to go to the society's webpage:
Additional Useful Sites
There are far too many relevant websites to list them all here, but amongst the most useful are the following:-
BIRDS & WILDLIFE
www.iberianature.com/ - a fund of infromation about all things concerning wildlife with a very useful forum at www.iberianatureforum.com
www.gonhs.org - Gibraltar is not in Cádiz, but it is one of the best places in the region for seabirds and raptors (not to mention the only mainland site for Barbary Partridge!). The website of the GONHS (Gibraltar Ornithological and Natural History Society) has a bird news section which gives news of the birding year in the area.
PHOTOGRAPHY
http://aviantours.net/ - this is a new (2013) site by a Gibraltar based birder/photographer which promises to teach the art of bird photography. This is obviously something I badly need and I can't think of anywhere more pleasant than SW Spain to learn how to use a digital camera - SLR or digiscoping - to full effect. (See also under 'Bird Guides')
USEFUL BLOGS Iberia Natur - Birgit Kremer has keeps a regular blog on the area, complete with some beautiful photos, at http://www.iberia-natur.com/en/index-en.html
Bird Nerds - a new blog by a Gib based father and son team can be found at http://bird-nerds.blogspot.com/
Natural Andalus - as to be expected from expert birder, and the author of what is arguably the best general history of Andalucia (Al-Andalus: How nature
shaped history), Clive Finlayson has a fascinating blog - http://naturalandalus.blogspot.com/ - which is always an interesting read. It is also sprinkled
with some great photos.
La Vida Alcalaina - Not a 'birdy' blog, but about Alcala de los Gazules. Written by my neighbour, Claire Lloyd, it is a wonderfully diverse and
interesting blog - http://gazules.blogspot.com/
OTHER INFORMATION http://www.theolivepress.es/ - an extremely informative English language online newspaper for Andalusia which has a strong track record in supporting environmental issues
http://www.doyouspain.com/ - my preferred option for car hire
BIRDS & WILDLIFE
www.iberianature.com/ - a fund of infromation about all things concerning wildlife with a very useful forum at www.iberianatureforum.com
www.gonhs.org - Gibraltar is not in Cádiz, but it is one of the best places in the region for seabirds and raptors (not to mention the only mainland site for Barbary Partridge!). The website of the GONHS (Gibraltar Ornithological and Natural History Society) has a bird news section which gives news of the birding year in the area.
PHOTOGRAPHY
http://aviantours.net/ - this is a new (2013) site by a Gibraltar based birder/photographer which promises to teach the art of bird photography. This is obviously something I badly need and I can't think of anywhere more pleasant than SW Spain to learn how to use a digital camera - SLR or digiscoping - to full effect. (See also under 'Bird Guides')
USEFUL BLOGS Iberia Natur - Birgit Kremer has keeps a regular blog on the area, complete with some beautiful photos, at http://www.iberia-natur.com/en/index-en.html
Bird Nerds - a new blog by a Gib based father and son team can be found at http://bird-nerds.blogspot.com/
Natural Andalus - as to be expected from expert birder, and the author of what is arguably the best general history of Andalucia (Al-Andalus: How nature
shaped history), Clive Finlayson has a fascinating blog - http://naturalandalus.blogspot.com/ - which is always an interesting read. It is also sprinkled
with some great photos.
La Vida Alcalaina - Not a 'birdy' blog, but about Alcala de los Gazules. Written by my neighbour, Claire Lloyd, it is a wonderfully diverse and
interesting blog - http://gazules.blogspot.com/
OTHER INFORMATION http://www.theolivepress.es/ - an extremely informative English language online newspaper for Andalusia which has a strong track record in supporting environmental issues
http://www.doyouspain.com/ - my preferred option for car hire
