Birdwatching in Catalonia

Guided birdwatching and wildlife tour operators in Catalunia

Catalanbirdtours. Professional bird guide Stephen Christopher offers Birding Holidays & Bird Tours: One-off or week-long tours (inc. accommodation) in Catalunya. Ebro / Ebra Delta, Aigüamolls de L’Empordá, Pyrenees, Cap de Creus, Llobregat Delta, Garraf Massif, Steppes of Lleida / Lerida

http://www.iberianwildlife.com/ Natural history guided tours around Catalonia. John Muddeman, Mike Lockwood and Teresa Farino run guided wildlife holidays and natural history excursions in Spain and Portugal. Authors of excellent Traveller’s Nature Guide to Spain.

Audouin Birding Tours Audouin Birding Tours is a bird guiding company based in NE Spain, between the Ebro delta and the mountain chains of Els Ports and Montsià. Day-trips and weekend tours can be arranged on request, primarily in Catalonia. Tours are guided by Cristian Jensen and Iben Hove Sørensen.

Books

A Birdwatching Guide to Eastern Spain

This is a good book and basically covers everything needed to take a birdwatching trip to southern spain (were to stay, were to go, were to find what, hazards, roads to take, emergency numbers and lots more). though it doesn’t contain any picture references so aslong as you are a bird watcher who knows his stuff be sure to take a European pocket guide

But your best bet for a general nature guide is the bloody excellent Spain: Travellers’ Nature Guide (Nature Guides)

Co-author Teresa Farino is a friend of mine and probably the biggest English expert on the natural history of Spain, so buy it.

The Iberian peninsula harbours snow-capped mountains, ancient deciduous forests that are home to bear and capercaillie, the unique wood-pasture of dehesa and montado, arid ‘pseudosteppes’ populated by stately great bustards and whirring sandgrouse, mighty rivers terminating in coastal estuaries and deltas teeming with waterbirds, not forgetting the Balearic archipelago, adrift in the azure Mediterranean, harbouring a unique flora and prolific seabird colonies. The wealth of its flora and fauna is unrivalled in western Europe today. Essentially practical, the book first introduces the ecology, geology, and wildlife of Spain and the Balearic Islands, then goes on to describe where to see its natural history at its best. There are descriptions of a selection of some 300 sites to visit, each carefully chosen to show a range of habitats and fascinating wildlife. The entries are the personal choice of the authors and are based on intensive travel and research in the region. Described sites range in size from a few to thousands of hectares, be they National Parks, nature reserves, or simply common land. All are open to the public and accessible to the ordinary visitor. Full colour throughout, this book has stunning landscape photographs, line drawings and photographs of individual animals of plants and animals, colour region and site maps, and a splendid composite painting encapsulating typical habitats and their inhabitants.

Also by Teresa: have a look at Costa Brava: And Barcelona (Landscapes) This walking guide book offers the reader a nice little primer of the natural history along a series of hikes.