This is a weeklong tour combing the very best of Andalucia's rich and varied wildlife with the amazing spectacle of autumn migration through the straits of Gibraltar. We'll spend four nights close to the southern tip of the Iberian peninsular, where we'll be perfectly placed to witness some of the thousands of raptors & storks that cross the Mediterranean here each year. We'll also be close to many of the regions best wetlands, home to some of Europe's rarest birds, some of which have there entire European breeding distribution here in this southern corner of Spain. And all this after spending three nights close to the world famous Coto Doñana, birding in and around this legendary reserve.

DAY 1
Meet at the East Midlands airport for our flight to Faro, from where we drive close to the legendary Coto Doñana National Park, our base for the first three nights. Our journey should produce our first sightings of some of the many raptors we'll encounter during the tour, and should include Red & Black Kites, Short-toed Eagle and Booted Eagle. Time permitting we'll break up the journey with a stop at a small wetland on-route for a taste of whats to come. We should arrive at our hotel in plenty of time for some local biding before our evening Meal.

DAY 2
A full day birding the many sites around Doñana, although the majority of the park is strictly no access, there are several centres on the edges, which are excellent for all the species found within. Here we should witness some of the birds that make this site Spain's most famous reserve. These include Little & Cattle Egret, Purple & Night Heron, Little Bittern, Spoonbill and Glossy Ibis. Around the margins Purple Gallinule should be encountered along with the possibility of Spotted and Little Crake and even Bluethroat. However it is perhaps the rare Red-knobbed Coot that is most sought after here, and with a recent increase in umbers helped in part by a re-introduction scheme are chances are good.

Passerines will be a feature to, with many migrants such as Melodious, Bonelli's, Sardinian and Sub-alpine Warblers, along with various Flycatcher, Pipits, Wheatears and Wagtails. While Hoopoe, Wryneck, Firecrest, Crested Tit, Woodchat & Southern Grey Shrike, Spotless Starling, Spanish Sparrow, Serin and Hawfinch all occur along with the striking Azure-winged Magpie. Raptors should be present in good numbers, and amongst the many commoner species, we'll look for Spanish Imperial Eagle and Black-winged Kite. In drier areas Pin-tailed Sandgrouse is possible along with Stone Curlew and Crested, Short-toed and Lesser Short-toed Larks. While overhead hirundines, including Red-rumped Swallow and Crag Martin move south, along with Pallid Swift and flocks of European Bee-eater.

DAY 3
The morning will be spent further exploring the Coto Doñana National Park, before heading west to the Odiel Estuary where we'll spend the remainder of the day. Here many of the species found at Donana can also be found, though access is much easier, allowing close observation of many species. Waders should be present in good numbers on both the salt-pans and the salt marshes and include Black-winged Stilt, Avocet, Collared Pratincole and Kentish Plover, with a long list of others possible on migration. Osprey also breed here, and is one of only a hand full that do so on the Spanish mainland, while up to 12 birds regularly winter in the area. Marsh and Montague's Harrier should also be present.

Day 4
After checking out of the hotel we'll make a start on the journey south, where we'll be staying near the town of Barbate. Here we are close to Tarifa and ready to enjoy the spectacle of mass migration. With the right weather conditions raptors are present in large numbers and can give excellent views, these include Booted and Short-toed Eagles, Griffon and Egyptian Vultures, Montague's and Marsh Harrier and Honey Buzzard, these can be joined by many other European raptors such as Hobby, Sparrowhawk, Goshawk and Lesser Kestrel. Close scrutiny may even produce something rarer, with Long-legged Buzzard, Rüppell's Vulture, Lesser Spotted Eagle and Lanner Falcon all recorded in recent years. Along with the raptors there will also be large numbers of White Storks moving south, with smaller numbers of Black Stork amongst them.

Day 5 - 7
These three days will be spent visiting the key sites east of the Rio Guadalquivir, as well as visiting various viewpoints to witness migration we'll also visit more wetland sites where we'll look for the rare White-headed Duck and even rarer Marbled Duck. Although many of the wetlands can be completely dry after the long hot Spanish summer, any remaining water can hold huge numbers of wildfowl and its on these we stand our best chance of finding these two rare ducks. Amongst the other common species we should also find Red-crested Pochard and Black-necked Grebe, with Ferruginous Duck also possible. We'll visit an area of saltpans where Greater Flamingo is numerous, and various gulls and terns will be present. These should include Slender-billed, Mediterranean and Audouins Gull and, Whiskered, Gull-billed and Caspian Tern.

We'll also spend some time inland in more mountains areas, where we may add Bonelli's Eagle and Peregrine to the list of raptors already encountered. Other species here may include Alpine Swift, Rock Bunting, Rock Sparrow, Blue Rock Thrush, Black Redstart, Dartford Warbler, Thekla Lark, Red-billed Chough and Black Wheatear.

Day 8
After breakfast we set of for Faro and our return flight to the UK.

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