Long WEEKEND IN SPRING

MADRID

Dates

Available spring

Tour Cost

-

Single room supplement

-

Group size

4/5 friends

Tour leader

Josele J. Saiz or Igancio Yúfera

Airport

Madrid - Madrid

What´s included

All ground transport, all meals, services of guides and reserve entrance fees.

What´s not included

Transport to / from UK and any overnight stay that may be involved, travel insurance, drinks and any items of a purely personal nature.

Tour code

Based at a lovely guest house not far from Madrid, there are birding areas where you will find an exciting selection of birds in central Spain - from sandgrouse to Spanish Imperial Eagle and Citril Finch to Whitethroat.

Selected species list

Spanish Imperial Eagle, Black Vulture, Azure-winged Magpie, Rock Thrush, Ortolan and Rock Bunting, Citril Finch, Great Bustard, Little Bustard, Pin-tailed Sandgrouse, Black-bellied Sandgrouse, Black Wheatear, Dupont´s Lark, Bluethroat.

INTRODUCTION

 

ABOUT MADRID

The natural areas around Madrid are often overlooked by foreign birders but with great potential and accessibility. Habitats range from alpine pastures in the high mountains of Sierra de Guadarrama to cereal steppe and dry plains in the Tagus basin, where many of the Spanish specialties can be found. A weekend near Madrid, especially in Spring, can produce many bird species usually searched for in the south Spain, together with beautiful landscapes, within surprisingly short distances from downtown Madrid and its international airport.
We offer you a long weekend of 5 days during which you will be able to see many Spanish specialities. Some birds mentioned in our itinerary are seasonal only.

Itinerary

MADRID

Day 1 : Arrive Madrid. Birding near Madrid airport with chances for Great Bustard, Little Bustard, Black-bellied Sandgrouse, Lesser Kestrel, Montagu´s Harrier, Calandra Lark, Golden Eagle, Penduline Tit and several warblers. Overnight In Torremocha de Jarama.

Day 2 : Navacerrada range. Early morning we will drive from Torremocha through Puerto de la Morcuera and Navacerrada, where among other specialities we will find several raptors including Black Vulture, Azure-winged Magpie, Rock and Blue Rock Thrush, Ortolan and Rock Bunting, Citril Finch, Water Pipit, Crested Tit, Bonelli´s and Melodious Warbler. Good walkers will have the chanceof Alpine Accentor and Bluethroat. Overnight in Torremocha del Jarama.

Day 3 : Sepulveda area, one of the best places in Spain for the difficult Dupont,´s Lark. After breakfast drive to the spectacular limestone rock faces carved by the river Duraton. Where we can find an important colony of raptors and semi arid birds such as Griffon Vulture, Egyptian Vulture, Red-billed Chough, Thekla and Crested Lark, Calandra, Short Toed Lark, Crag Martin, Wood Lark, Greta-spotted Cuckoo, Black-eared Wheatearalso Dartford and Spectacled Warbler. Before dusk we will try for Dupont´s lark. Overnight in Sepulveda.

Day 4 : Early morning, before dawn, Dupont´s Lark will be our target. Drive to San Martin de Valdeiglesias. We will stop besides the Jarama river with chances for Wryneck, Penduline Tit, Golden Oriole and Lesser-spotted Woodpecker. The San Juan reservoir holds a good breeding population of Spanish Imperial Eagle, other birds there include Azure-winged Magpie, Short-toed, Booted and Golden Eagle, Woodlark, Short-toed Treecreeper, Rock Bunting, Goshawk and several warblers. Overnight in the area.

Day 5 : Birding en route back to Madrid airport.

Galery

Testimonials

Dear Josele,
Many thanks for your superb leadership and hard work over the last few days. I really appreciated it and also enjoyed making jokes with a "poor simple Spaniard!!
I will certainly send you a CD with a selection of photos.Next time I come it will be to stay at Boletas and to see more of the hidden Aragon.
Once again, thanks for your humour and hospitality Wilf Banfield & friends - Long Weekend tour February 2005

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Josele and Esther,

Thank you both for your help with my last minute birding trip! It worked out well and I had a very good time.

David was a good guide, the birds cooperated, I got a sense of the area, and it was a very enjoyable break.

You have a wonderful spot there and I very much enjoyed your hospitality at Boletas; it was very comfortable, the food was great, and the surrounding area is great to bird. One day I will come back for a longer trip with my wife, and I hope to visit you again then!

Thanks again for all your help!
John Lobel , June 2006

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Dear Josele & Esther

Just a short email to say a big thank you for such a wonderful weekend's Birding. I thoroughly enjoyed myself during my brief stay at Boletas. You have a wonderful home and you make the stay very warming, welcoming and friendly. Of course the food is wonderful and I am now on a diet!! I hope to be able to visit you again sometime, maybe a little later in early spring so I can enjoy the migrants and other special birds of your area. For now I am still remembering the Wallcreepers and Lammergeiers !!

Very best regards
Tony Davison , February 2007

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Bill and I wanted to thank you for the fantastic week's birdwatching we had with you last week. We do hope to see you again one day but in the meantime hope all goes well for you in the future.
Bill and Chris Ashby - March 2007

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Dear Josele

I would like to thank you for our trip all four of us had a wonderful time. Please pass our thanks to Alberto for all the hard work he did to ensure we saw all the birds and more than we expected. Please also thank Esther for looking after us so well the food was good and she was the perfect host.
I am sure all of us would have liked to stay longer the Boletas centre is excellent.

Until we meet again many thanks

Chris Watkinson & friends.

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Dear Josele
I am writing to thank you, jaome and your wife for a thoroughly enjoyable trip. Every day brought new interest and excitement which is a difficult thing to keep up. Food and hospitality at Boletas was superb.
Looking foreward to thew next trip with you. In the meantime I am off to Estonia in three weeks to see things like Steller's Eider.
Thanks again
Bruce McLaren - 2010

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