5 September 2024: Day -1, En route to Seville, WINGS Birding Spain in Autumn
For the past two years I’ve watched videos of fall migration at the Strait of Gibraltar and have longed to witness it for myself. Today I’m following my dream and flying to Spain to join the WINGS Birding Tour: Spain in Autumn, 7-17 September 2024.
For the migratory birds of western Europe the Iberian peninsula (Spain + Portugal) is the last stop before Africa on fall migration. The peninsula naturally funnels birds to its southernmost point, Tarifa, only 8.1 miles (13 km) from Morocco.
In poor weather birds wait in Spain for favorable winds to cross the gap between the continents. Last year nearly 150,000 daytime migrants flew over the Strait of Gibraltar in the second week of August, though almost all of them were just two species: black kites and white storks. Here’s what the black kites (Milvus migrans) look like while they wait to cross the Strait.
Now that it’s early September the weekly numbers are lower but the diversity is higher with the addition of many other species including black storks, booted eagles, short-toed eagles, marsh harriers, osprey and lesser kestrels. Meanwhile there are plenty of migratory songbirds feeding and resting during the day before they cross the Strait at night.
Our trip will take us in a big circle from Seville to Tarifa and back. Along the way we’ll visit marshes, mountains and coastal hotspots. We’ll make two pelagic trips and spend five days and nights in Tarifa.
The trip checklist includes 192 species, 73 of which are potential Life Birds(*). The only reason my “potential” list is not higher is that I saw many migratory European birds in Southern Africa in January.
Here are 12 of the many species I hope to see. Yes, white storks are on this list because I missed them in Africa.
Red-crested pochard
(photos from Wikimedia Commons)
Because of the 6-hour time zone difference and our all-day birding schedule I’ve written 14 days of articles in advance. I’ll post to Facebook and X (Twitter) when I get a chance but I can’t guarantee it. If you don’t see me on social media, look for my latest posts here on the blog’s home page. For now, I’m mostly off the grid until I return to Pittsburgh on Wednesday night, 18 September.
p.s. Throughout these articles I will usually use the English spelling of Spanish place names. For instance “Seville” is the English spelling of “Sevilla.”
Have a fabulous trip and thank you for sharing the excitement!
Looking forward to your great articles. Have fun!
Have a lovely trip Kate, looking forward to learning about what you experience.
Congratulations on realising one of your dreams. I enjoyed your post so much. I live in Spain, not far from the lush and gorgeous Ebro Delta. I was born in western Pennsylvania where I learned to love birds. I can’t wait to fully retire to enjoy my lifelong passion.