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Serranía de Ronda & Grazalema – Bustards, Eagles & Flamingoes

Serranía de Ronda & Grazalema – Bustards, Eagles & Flamingoes

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Highlights

During our mountain stay we will look for Black Wheatear, Ring Ouzel, Blue Rock Thrush, Rock Bunting, Alpine Accentor, Thekla Lark, Rock Petronia, Red-billed Chough, Fieldfare, Redwing, Dartford Warbler, Bonelli´s and Golden Eagle as well as woodland birds like Woodlark, Crested Tit, Hawfinch, Short-toed Treecreeper, and Firecrest.  Amongst the crags we will also hope to see Spanish Ibex.

Wetland areas should yield Greater (and possibly Lesser) Flamingoes, White-headed Ducks, Ferruginous Ducks, Red-crested Pochards, Purple Swamphens, Black-winged Stilts, Little Stint, Pied Avocets, Eurasian Stone-curlews, Kentish and Little Ringed Plovers, and Black-tailed Godwits amongst many others.

On the surrounding plains and farmland expect Common Cranes, Little and Great Bustards, Iberian Grey Shrike, Black-winged Kites, wintering flocks of Eurasian Skylarks, Corn Buntings, Spanish Sparrows and Calandra, Crested and Thekla Larks, Iberian Grey Shrike, Dartford Warblers, Bluethroat and Eurasian Hoopoe.

Overview

Though just a short journey away from Málaga, the remote wooded mountains of the Serranía de Ronda are worlds apart from Spain’s bustling Costa del Sol.

This little-visited but astoundingly beautiful area hosts the densest raptor populations in Europe, at this time of the year featuring Griffon Vultures, Bonelli’s and Golden Eagle, Hen Harrier, Peregrine Falcon and Eurasian Eagle Owl.  In late winter, hardy mountain birds such as Black Wheatear, Rock Bunting, Blue Rock Thrush, Red-billed Chough and Alpine Accentor hang out amongst the imposing limestone crags.  Spanish Ibex cling to seemingly sheer rock faces.  Thousands of acres of Mediterranean scrub and Sweet Chestnut forests provide food and shelter for wintering Ring Ouzels, Rock Petronia and Black Redstarts as well as woodland birds like Crested Tit, Hawfinch, Short-toed Treecreeper, and Firecrest.

Nearby, the Fuente de Piedra lake covers an area of almost 1,400 hectares.  The shallow, salt water of this outstanding protected wetland is home to the largest colony of Greater Flamingoes on the Iberian Peninsula.  White-headed and Ferruginous Ducks, Red-crested Pochards, Black-necked Grebes and Purple Swamphens stand out amongst the pink-feathered haze, and Black-winged Stilts, Little Stints, Kentish and overwintering Little Ringed Plovers parade in the shallows.

On the surrounding plains and farmland, we´ll enjoy the spectacular sights and sounds of hundreds of Common Cranes resting and feeding before they disperse to their northern breeding grounds, and with luck, groups of Little and Great Bustards and Black-bellied Sandgrouse.  Iberian Grey Shrike and Black-winged Kite, Eurasian Stone Curlew and Bluethroat star amid huge flocks of wintering Eurasian Skylarks, Corn Buntings, Spanish Sparrows, Calandra, Crested and Thekla Larks.

As well as a visit to the beautiful town of Ronda – its three historic bridges straddling the Tajo Gorge in spectacular fashion – you’ll have chance to explore the pretty hilltop villages of the area – we’d be particularly excited to host you in the quirkiest of them, Júzcar, whose inhabitants voted to go against the grain and decorate the village blue!  In this gorgeous mountain location amongst Holm Oaks and Sweet Chestnuts, we´re in for a splash of luxury, dining on mouth-watering, sustainably-produced local specialities from the kitchen of an award-winning chef.

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Ethics

At Terra Incognita we support tours that do good in the world. They must help conserve the environment, support local people and provide educational opportunities for guests and staff, or be actively working to improve in these areas.

What conservation activities do you support through the tour, and your wider operations?

The Inglorious Bustards have a challenge!  As conservationists, we are only too aware of the environmental impact of the activities associated with our business.  We want to share with you the joy of watching wildlife all along the East Atlantic Flyway, but in doing so we inevitably encourage consumption of the planet´s resources. Our challenge as a responsible ecotourism operator is to ensure that our activities can be channelled into a positive outcome for the environment.  We want to make sure that, when you travel with us, you´ll be benefitting, not exploiting the wildlife we see together.  On our trips, “eco-tourism” is a promise, not an oxymoron.

We have conservation in our hearts and we care about the things that you care about! That is why we try to link our eco-tourism to conservation and wider sustainable societal gains wherever possible.

At Hotel Bandolero we enjoy views across the beautiful wooded valley from the terrace bar, before enjoying some of the best dining of the region!  Cordon Bleu chef Iván specialises in using seasonal, local produce to put his own mouth-watering twists on traditional Andaluz dishes.  You certainly won’t go hungry on this trip! He will bring you dishes made of the most extensively sensitively produced local produce and in doing so we will be supporting nature friendly farming.

The Migres Foundation are a private non-profit, scientific and cultural foundation, oriented to the preservation and enhancement of natural heritage in The Straits of Gibraltar.

They perform research and awareness programs, develop advanced training activities and environmental education, organise conferences and all kinds of national and international meetings, and encourage activities promoting sustainable local development and nature tourism in general.

Migres manages a long-term monitoring program of bird migration through the Strait of Gibraltar based on standardised constant effort protocols. Every year they run daily counts of migration always using the same observatories and schedule.

Based on this information they are able to calculate abundance indices that reflect the actual number of birds on migration, allowing them to monitor changes in their populations and migratory patterns. The origin of the program dates back to 1997 (soaring birds) and 2001 (seabirds), and is currently one of the greatest sustained efforts for monitoring migratory birds in Europe.

We work closely with Migres in assisting with monitoring, fundraising and promotional activities using our wealth of experience gained whilst working for the RSPB.

Inglorious Bustards have pledged to offset unavoidable carbon emissions through World Land Trust’s (WLT) Carbon Balanced programme.

Unlike some carbon-offsetting schemes, this is not simply a case of absolving guilt by shoving some trees in an ill-thought-out location!  WLT funds the purchase or lease of threatened land to create nature reserves, protecting both habitats and their wildlife.  By protecting and restoring threatened forest in key areas of conservation importance, CO₂ emissions are prevented and carbon storage enhanced.To make projects like this work, this fore-sighted organisation includes, rather than excludes local communities.  It funds partner NGOs to employ local people as reserve rangers, sustainably managing some of the world’s most threatened habitats and the animals found within them.

We balance all the CO₂ emissions associated with our staff flights and all in-country travel and accommodation associated with our tours.  In 2018, we offset over 24 tonnes of CO₂, funds for which went directly to acquiring and preserving threatened forest habitat.  We are also encouraging you to offset your own holiday flights through WLT. Currently this can be done directly through their website, but in early 2019 we will be introducing an option to our booking form allowing you to offset as you book your trip!

How does the tour support local people?

Supporting local farmers and land managers by promoting their produce and nature friendly farming techniques.

What type of environmental education activities do you incorporate into your tour?

As well as the amazing array of wildlife we see on this trip we will be able to understand the complexities of food production and the need for sensitive diet choice to help support nature friendly farming and reduce our impact on the environment and biodiversity.

Certificates

We are growing a little very year, and as we do, so does the work we can do with our partners to deliver real conservation benefits on the ground.  For 2020 we have some really exciting projects in the pipeline in Spain and The Gambia.

We´re also working closely with our accommodation providers across the board to come up with balanced menus that are not so heavily meat-based.  We are lucky enough to know some really talented chefs, and in 2019-20 we will be working towards introducing at least one meat-free day to every trip (an approach pioneered in partnership with our Straits accommodation provider, Huerta Grande eco-lodge), as well as making sure vegetarian options are as superb as the rest of the menu!

We work with our accommodation providers too, continually making small improvements that add up, including finding practical ways to avoid single use water and shampoo bottles.  Hopefully they feel supported and encouraged to expand this new approach to other groups!

After all it´s the little steps adding up that can eventually inspire great change!

Top 5 achievements

1. We encourage sustainable land use.

Our work over decades for the RSPB, attempting to reverse the fortunes of UK, European and African farmland wildlife, has made us recognise the power of food choice and how it can affect the plight of declining species.

Latest findings presented at the IPCC in October 2018 were striking and conclusive.  While everyone talks about electricity generation and fossil fuel consumption, it is an oft-ignored fact that by far the best way of having a positive impact on our planet is to change what we eat.  Currently 85% of the world´s farmed land produces just 18% of our calories.  Loss of wildlife areas to agriculture is the leading cause of the current mass extinction of wildlife.  This is the legacy of meat and dairy production, which has enormous environmental costs in terms of habitat loss, air and water pollution and carbon release.

In order to keep global temperature rise below 2ºC by 2020, we as global citizens will need to eat around nine times less red meat, five times less poultry and five times more legumes, vegetables, nuts and seeds. On our trips we are working towards these changes by offering a higher proportion and better quality of vegetarian options on our dinner menus than ever before.  We want to make the choice to eat ethically an irresistible one!

We are also extremely proud to have teamed up with the Tarifa Ecocenter.  Operating under the slogan “The fork is the most powerful tool to change the planet.”, the Ecocenter is not just a superb vegetarian restaurant, it is a local hub for eco-consciousness.  Here you can partake in delicious, sustainably-sourced meals, made with produce from local wildlife-friendly farms.  The organic produce shop and meeting spaces are a sociable place designed to encourage the exchange of ideas.  We love working in partnership with them, along with their sister project, Molino de Guadalmesi – an organic farm, community centre, eatery and eco-lodge situated in a beautifully-restored water mill.  On selected tours, we visit the mill for dinner, offering our guests a thought-provoking experience around food choice and how positive change can help our wildlife and the wider environment – not to mention be extremely tasty!

Our picnics always contain seasonal local produce from small farmers.  In all of our destinations, we are lucky enough to find a wealth of small artisanal producers, many of whom are organic.  In 2019 we will source at least 50% of the fresh goods in our picnics from them.  Our aim is to increase this to 75+% by 2020.  Luckily, local extensively grazed goats´ and sheeps´ cheeses are invariably superb, and Andalusian organic tomatoes and peppers are quite simply world-beaters!  Our picnic fruit and vegetables for our Straits-based tours are now sourced wherever possible from the Tarifa Eco-centre, being grown locally on their farm.  In all of our trips to Africa, we source fresh from local markets and village traders.

2. We minimise packaging waste.

It seems that after many years of campaigning, the horror of the extent of our plastic consumption has finally entered the public consciousness, and changes might actually be made.  Our history of avoidance, reuse and recycling of plastic goes back many years, but when we are out cetacean-watching on the Straits enjoying copious marine life, we are certainly pleased to be part of the current wave!

Of all the hazardous materials littering our seas today, plastic poses one of the greatest threats.  Thanks to our locally-produced food sourcing, the excess of packaging associated with supermarkets is immediately eliminated.  When we buy dry and other goods, we buy in bulk and manage their use carefully, thus reducing both food and packaging waste. Luckily Niki is from Yorkshire originally, so thrift comes naturally!

We ask our clients to bring their own water bottles which are filled from taps or potable mountain springs.  In countries outside the EU where tap water is not drinkable, we buy large containers and decant into personal bottles to reduce plastic waste.

3. We minimise our in-country transport emissions - what we can´t eliminate, we offset.

In Spain, we minimise the emissions associated with our in-country transport by use of modern, fuel-efficient vehicles.  Our minibus is a Renault Trafic, known as being one of the most economical vans on the market, returning an impressive mpg of 50, with further features such as Stop & Start, Cruise Control and ECO mode adding to its green credentials.

Our focus on hosting trips along the glorious East Atlantic Flyway means that we are able to arrive at 90% of our tour destinations to meet you without boarding a flight ourselves.

We know our areas well, so we are also able to apply careful route-planning to minimise driving distances between sites.

Inglorious Bustards have pledged to offset unavoidable carbon emissions through World Land Trust’s (WLT) Carbon Balanced programme.

Unlike some carbon-offsetting schemes, this is not simply a case of absolving guilt by shoving some trees in an ill-thought-out location!  WLT funds the purchase or lease of threatened land to create nature reserves, protecting both habitats and their wildlife.  By protecting and restoring threatened forest in key areas of conservation importance, CO₂ emissions are prevented and carbon storage enhanced.  To make projects like this work, this fore-sighted organisation includes, rather than excludes local communities.  It funds partner NGOs to employ local people as reserve rangers, sustainably managing some of the world’s most threatened habitats and the animals found within them.

We balance all the CO₂ emissions associated with our staff flights and all in-country travel and accommodation associated with our tours.  In 2018, we offset over 24 tonnes of CO₂, funds for which went directly to acquiring and preserving threatened forest habitat.  We are also encouraging you to offset your own holiday flights through WLT. Currently this can be done directly through their website, but in early 2019 we will be introducing an option to our booking form allowing you to offset as you book your trip!

4. We encourage respectful wildlife-watching.

For the prosperity of the species that we enjoy watching so much, and for our own ongoing enjoyment, it is imperative that we avoid disturbing the wildlife we are trying to see.

We never flush birds.  The reward of seeing a Red-necked Nightjar or a Tawny Owl at rest after patient and quiet searching from afar is so much greater than glimpsing one fly away after some idiot has just booted it out of the undergrowth!  For ground-nesters such as the Moroccan Marsh Owl, we now only offer trips outside the breeding season, and time our site visits to maximise the chance of finding the birds active rather than roosting.

We use fieldcraft to find passerines.  Usually with a little patience and listening, it is perfectly possible to find the bird you are looking for.  On the very rare occasions we choose to use a tape, we do so sensitively, always adhering to the guidelines published in the article “The Proper Use of Playback in Birding” by Sibley et al.

Where we work through other companies, for example for cetacean-watching boat trips or to look for Iberian Lynx, we only work with reputable firms who have non-intrusive wildlife-watching protocols in place.

5. We challenge the unethical.

While we as individuals have no problem with sustainable subsistence hunting within local communities, we personally find hunting for so-called ‘sport’ abhorrent, and unsustainable trophy hunting completely unacceptable.  The hunting industry seems to be out of control, able to damage ecosystems and illegally kill native wildlife with impunity.  Of the thirty optics companies that were examined in the 2018 Ethical Consumer report entitled “Shooting Wildlife II”, 83% were found to specifically market to hunters as well as birders.  And a disappointing 13 of these actively glamorise trophy hunting in their promotional material, including targets like lions and bears.

That´s why we´re proud to be ambassadors for Viking Optical – a British-based company which is one of only a handful of companies that produce high quality optics solely for the wildlife-watching market.  They too have nature at their heart and support a variety of conservation projects including being RSPB Species Champions for two critically endangered birds and long-time sponsors of the Birdfair.  We love the personal contact, trust and compassion involved in working with them.  They really put their optics where their mouth is, enabling us to loan binoculars to volunteers monitoring the raptor migration across the Straits of Gibraltar, to bird-watching newcomers, and to budding young Gambian ornithologists.

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Company Name

Inglorious Bustards

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About Company

Here at the Inglorious Bustards, experiencing the powerful event of bird migration has led to a life-long fascination with avian migration and #FlywayBirding. It’s no accident that we have chosen our base to be here in The Straits of Gibraltar. Our location near Tarifa puts us right at the epicentre of birding in The Straits and, from a migrating raptor’s point of view, we must surely also be at the centre of the world!

We love not only to marvel at the birds passing but also to follow them on their migratory journey, and explore the whole range of fascinating and varied terrains they traverse each year.

More than that though, we love to share our adventures with you! As well as our home-from-home in southern Spain, we take pride in bringing you the best of birding and migration spectacles along the whole East Atlantic flyway journey, through Europe, and North Africa, right down to the steamy wintering grounds of many of our nomads, south of the Sahara. Our #FlywayBirding tours have nothing to do with racing around ticking birds and everything to do with enjoying landscapes, habitats and cultures and having a good laugh – at a relaxed pace.

Tour Website

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Cost

€1,300 for 7 days – price includes all accommodation, meals, guiding, transportation, taxes and entrances but excludes flights.

€260 deposit

€165 single supplement

+34 665 94 59 92
info@ingloriousbustards.com
ingloriousbustards.com

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