06 May 2025 - 20 May 2025 (15 days)
EUR5,195 - No Spaces Available
Tour Leader: Yeray Seminario
Tour price (Per person): EUR5,195 * USD5,418 * GBP4,312 * AUD8,668
Single Supplement: EUR640 * USD668 * GBP531 * AUD1,068
Can be linked with: Spain - Strait of Gibraltar Extension (Small Group) 2025
05 May 2026 - 19 May 2026 (15 days)
EUR5,495 - 3 Spaces Available
Tour Leader: Yeray Seminario
Tour price (Per person): EUR5,495 * USD5,731 * GBP4,561 * AUD9,169
Single Supplement: EUR660 * USD688 * GBP548 * AUD1,101
Can be linked with: Spain - Strait of Gibraltar Extension (Small Group) 2026
Spain has long been a very popular birdwatching destination, offering a wide range of Mediterranean habitats along with safe, easy and excellent birding. Many sites are in beautifully scenic settings, featuring Romanesque architecture and ancient, fortified hilltop villages; whilst much of interior Spain that we visit is very rural and way off the tourist trail. Our comprehensive itinerary is specially designed for a great diversity of birds and concentrates on three major and distinct habitats: the semi-arid steppes and cork-oak dehesas (a type of wooded pastureland) of the central and northern interior, the scenic Sierras and high, alpine Pyrenees to the north in Catalonia, and the wetlands and marshes of Doñana National Park on the Atlantic coast. During spring, the area’s many resident and breeding birds are joined by migrants en route from Africa to their northern nesting areas, and some of the fabulous species we hope to see include Spanish Imperial Eagle (up to 23 raptor species are possible!), Great and Little Bustards, Pin-tailed and Black-bellied Sandgrouse, Spectacled Warbler, Alpine Accentor, both species of noisy Chough, White-throated Dipper and the fabulous Wallcreeper. Our journey begins in the southern city of Seville, travels through the steppes and heartland of Spain with stops in the Sierra de Gredos before reaching the mighty Pyrenees, and then continues east to the historic city of Barcelona. We travel in spacious and comfortable vehicles, the food is delicious and plentiful; while our accommodations are mostly family-run establishments in pleasant and beautifully renovated ancient stone farmhouses, nestled in quiet and charming villages.
Great & Little Bustards, Wallcreeper, Red-necked & Common Nightjars, Iberian Magpie, Western Swamphen, Ferruginous Duck (rare), Rufous-tailed Scrub Robin, Red & Black Kites, Short-toed Snake, Booted, Golden, Bonelli's & Spanish Imperial Eagles, Cinereous, Egyptian, Bearded & Griffon Vultures, European Honey Buzzard, Eurasian Crag Martin, Dupont’s, Calandra, Thekla’s, Crested & Greater Short-toed Larks, Pin-tailed & Black-bellied Sandgrouse, Great Spotted Cuckoo, Iberian Grey Shrike, Eurasian Stone-curlew, Spanish Sparrow, Eurasian Eagle-Owl, Eurasian Golden Oriole, Red-rumped Swallow, Yellow-legged Gull, Ortolan Bunting, Iberian Green, Black, Middle Spotted & White-backed (rare) Woodpeckers, Citril Finch, White-throated Dipper, European Crested Tit, European Pied Flycatcher, Bluethroat, Water Pipit, Red-legged Partridge, Woodchat Shrike, Red-billed & Alpine Chough, Iberian Chiffchaff, Alpine Accentor, White-winged Snowfinch, Western Capercaillie (rare), Rock Ptarmigan (rare), Boreal (Tengmalm’s) Owl (rare), Black Wheatear, Eurasian Bittern, Bearded Reedling, Eurasian Penduline Tit, Little Bittern, Water Rail, Melodious, Dartford, Sardinian, Western Bonelli’s, Spectacled, Subalpine & Western Orphean Warblers, Scopoli’s & Balearic Shearwaters
Red Fox, Red Deer, Fallow Deer, Iberian Hare, European Rabbit, Wild Boar, Iberian Lynx (very rare), Spanish Ibex,
coastal wetlands, cork-oak dehesas, deciduous woodlands, olive groves, mountain crags, grasslands
temperate, mainly mild
12 with 1 Rockjumper leader & local leader
moderate
comfortable guest houses & hotels
moderate
230 - 250
Grand Canyon of Castilla y Leon, ancient historical buildings & sites, great scenery, excellent food & wine
good to very good
Everything was very good. We certainly tried for everything. Great that we had the time to look at reptiles, frogs, etc. I certainly got almost all my major targets.
Wonderful tour. The guides – Dusan and Yeray – were both fantastic; their bird expertise, patience and senses of humour very much appreciated. The local guides were top notch as well. The accommodation and food were excellent. The scenery, spring wildflowers, stone villages, etc. all made the trip extraordinary.
Overall, it was an excellent tour. The itinerary was very well thought out giving a really good coverage of the main sites with great accommodation. I can see a lot of detailed planning went into it, including making use of very good local guides. Both Dusan and Yeray were both very good at identifying the birds, making sure people got on them and great company. The minibus chatter was both lively and entertaining at times! They were conscious of who needed to see certain species or when better views where needed. It was a rewarding and fun tour! Dusan was great at doing the checklist: he spelt out the names of the sites we had been to and went through the list at a sensible pace.
This was a great short tour, well-designed to get us into a wide range of habitats for a fine selection of European birds. Yeray Seminario did a fantastic job of finding Spains specialties while making adjustments to dodge persistent rainstorms during the week and a local festival in Andalusia. He was knowledgeable, helpful, patient, and fun to bird with, and I would not hesitate to recommend his tours or travel with him again. There were lots of great birds; I particularly enjoyed the vultures, raptors, and the very accessible Northern Bald Ibis colony. Accommodations were great, particularly our last day at a lodge that specifically targeted birders, with its own hides. It was also a very fun group of birders. These days, shorter tours with smaller groups fill the bill for me, and I would love to see more of them!
Both leaders were very good, especially Rob who combines great birding knowledge with a friendly and helpful attitude. He is one of the best leaders of any company that I have travelled with. The tour seemed to successfully balance the expectations of the keener birders like me with those who had a more relaxed style of birding. I thought the hotels were good, and well located for those of us who like to go out birding during down time. The food was very good, and occasionally excellent. Overall it was a very enjoyable tour and gave me a very positive first impression of Rockjumper.
Spain - Best of Birding 2024 - May 2024
Europe: Budget Highlights of Spain 2023 - May 2023
Spain - Best of Birding 2023 - May 2023
Spain - Best of Birding: Strait of Gibraltar Extension 2023 - May 2023
Spain - Birds, Wine & Iberian Lynx 2022 - November 2022
Spain - Best of Birding 2022 - May 2022
Spain - Best of Birding: Strait of Gibraltar Extension 2022 - April 2022
Spain - Best of Birding 2019 - April 2019
Spain - Best of Birding 2018 - May 2018
Spain - Best of Birding I 2017 - April 2017
Spain - Best of Birding I 2016 - April 2016
Spain - Best of Birding 2015 - April 2015
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