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Spain & Morocco | Inglorious Bustards Birding & Wildlife Tours | Birding Two Continents

Spain & Morocco | Inglorious Bustards Birding & Wildlife Tours | Birding Two Continents

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Highlights

1. Witness the spectacular bi-annual migration of hundreds of thousands of soaring birds as they cross the Strait of Gibraltar - expect huge swirling flocks of migrating raptors including Honey Buzzards, Black Kites, Short-toed and Booted Eagles, Marsh and Montagu´s Harriers interspersed with masses of White and Black Storks and European Bee-eaters - a real bucket list experience!

2. Make your own crossing of the Strait to Morocco, where we will hope to find Moroccan Marsh Owl, Moussier´s Redstart, Black Wheatear, Atlas Long-legged Buzzard, Bonelli´s Eagle, African Blue Tit, Little Swift, Levaillant´s Green Woodpecker, Marbled Duck and Red-knobbed Coot among many others!

3. On our Cetacean-watching trip out into the Strait we can hope for views of Cory’s, Scopoli´s and Balearic Shearwaters as we search for Long- finned Pilot Whales, Common and Striped Dolphins and possibly migrating Sperm Whales.

4. A trip in a traditional fishing boat out onto Morocco´s legendary Merja Zerga lagoon teeming with thousands of waders and seabirds, including Kentish Plover, Curlew Sandpiper, Grey Plover, Sanderling, Dunlin, Whimbrel, Greater Flamingo, Eurasian Spoonbill, Audouin’s and Slender-billed Gulls, Caspian, Little, Sandwich and Whiskered Terns and perhaps even Lesser-crested or Royal Tern.

5. Experience Chefchouen, Morocco´s famous "Blue Pearl", where we´ll enjoy the sights, sounds and spicy smells of the medina´s narrow blue-washed streets, as well as trying some delicious local food and watching Atlas Long-legged Buzzards overhead!

Overview

Legend has it that Hercules used his incredible strength to separate the continents of Europe and Africa, creating the Straits of Gibraltar. The Inglorious Bustards are all set to use our outstanding local knowledge and expertise to bring them back together for you! This is our feature specialist tour, and our experience of the area and local contacts mean we can take you where other guides fear to tread

The point at which Africa and Europe meet is also the epicentre for one of the world’s most spectacular bird migrations.  Every year, millions of birds make the 14 km journey across the Straits of Gibraltar, making use of uplifts and thermals rising off the Rock of Gibraltar and the stunning Moroccan peak of Jebel Musa. An estimated 250,000 raptors pass over this rugged terrain during these periods, as well as untold thousands of other journeying passerines and seabirds.

On this trip we will experience the very best of two continents from cracking locations in both Spain and Morocco.  As well as being at the heart of the thrilling migration spectacle, we will look for Marsh Owls, Northern Bald Ibis and Barbary Macaques as well as the seabirds and cetaceans of the Straits on a boat excursion and Moroccan specialities in both mountain and wetland sites.

There’ll be plenty of time to really enjoy the cultural differences too – one day you’ll be sharing tapas by the sea, the next you’ll be sipping mint tea on a rooftop!

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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 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.

How does the tour support local people?

We have teamed up with the Tarifa Ecocenter - a local hub in Tarifa for eco-consciousness.  They operate by the philosophy that "The fork is the most powerful tool to change the planet". Their organic vegetarian restaurant and pizzeria is a great social meeting place where folk can share delicious food and enjoy sustainably-sourced local produce.  We source seasonal picnic fruit and vegetables from the Ecocenter, being grown on organic, wildlife-friendly farms here in the Strait. By supporting this local business we support many small producers who in turn protect the wildlife and health of the countryside for the benefit of all local people.

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

We work in partnership with the Tarifa Ecocenter to offer visitors a thought-provoking - yet delicious! - experience around the wide-ranging effects of food choice and how making changes in what we eat can have huge positive effects on our wildlife and the wider environment.

In Morocco, we use our tours to raise awareness of the impacts of unsustainable strawberry farming for the British market on Moroccan Marsh Owl habitat, and the consequences of out-of-season strawberry consumption.

We also work with our local conservation partners, Fundación Migres, to enhance our migration experience by adding an eye-opening, educational angle, making sure that our Flyway Birders leave understanding the human-created challenges that migrating wildlife faces across the Flyway, and understanding how this relates to the choices we make in every day life.

Do you provide any additional conservation, community or educational benefits through your wider operations that you’d like to mention?

All across the East Atlantic Flyway, there are passionate individuals and local NGOs running brilliant small-scale conservation initiatives, making immediate positive differences for their local wildlife.  As our company grows, so does our ability to contribute to their efforts.  Our portfolio of projects expands all the time, and you can read more on our website, but here´s a taster:

The Migres Foundation is a private non-profit scientific and cultural foundation, focused on the preservation and enhancement of natural heritage in the Straits of Gibraltar.

Migres has run a long-term monitoring program of bird migration through the Strait of Gibraltar since 1997, making it the greatest sustained effort for monitoring migratory birds in Europe, and is immensely important in monitoring population change and migratory patterns in many avian species, including endangered species such as Egyptian Vultures and Balearic Shearwaters.

The body of scientific research generated by Migres on interactions between soaring birds and wind turbines has global importance.

They also perform research and awareness programs, carry out advanced ornithological training activities and environmental education, organise conferences, and encourage activities promoting sustainable local development and nature tourism in general.

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

Marisma 21 is an organisation devoted to the restoration of the salt marshes in the Bay of Cadiz, on the south western coast of Spain. The salt marsh is an important ecological area and Marisma 21’s objectives are the recovery and holistic revitalisation of the salt pans using artisanal salt production methods. This not only ensures the maintenance of the macro-flora in the salt pans, an important food source for migratory wading birds, but enhances the local environment for aquatic salt-loving species.

The sympathetic management and hand-harvesting of the pans not only generates multiple benefits for wildlife, it also brings employment to the area in the form of salt production work and nature tourism.

On selected tours, we offer you the opportunity to dine on site at the salt pans, watching breeding Little Terns and Kentish Plovers while eating delicious freshly-cooked tortillitas de camarrones, and shrimps fished from the salt pans just moments before!  You´ll have the opportunity to support their work by taking home some souvenir salt, an incredibly tasty product you´ll also get to sample at our picnics!

Based at Kotu Creek, near Brufut, The Gambia Birdwatchers Association was established in 2007.  It provides a headquarters for the area´s bird guides, trains the next generation of ornithologists, and carries out excellent project-based conservation work, including utilising local volunteers in the restoration of mangrove swamp habitat.  In The Gambia, many important forests are community-owned, and GBA are instrumental in setting up community reserves, training bird guides in the villages and enabling them to benefit from the preservation of forest habitat through well-thought-out ecotourism.

Inglorious Bustards work closely with GBA, giving project advice and consultation.  From 2019, we will be donating 10% of our profits from all our Gambia trips to supporting their high quality, objective-led work.

Certificates

Listed on Terra Incognita Ethical Bird Tours, 2018.

Registered on the Andalusian Tourism Registry (RTA), and licensed to operate in Natural Parks by the Junta de Andalucía.

World Land Trust Corporate Supporter.

Top 5 achievements

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 call this concept #FlywayBirding.  We have turned traditional so-called “eco-tourism” on its head, putting conservation action and education at the very heart of what we do, not just as a guilt-assuaging afterthought to our trips.  We´ve thought hard about how to bring a completely fresh approach to delivering wildlife holidays from a sustainable standpoint, making only a positive impact on our surroundings.  And we’ve worked extremely hard to build some fantastic partnerships to help us!

Here is how we’re doing it – our #FlywayPromise to you.

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.

What new sustainability steps or initiatives do you plan to take next?

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 2019-20 we have some really exciting projects in the pipeline in Spain and The Gambia.  All will be revealed…

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!

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  1. Lynne Dale, July 2018
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    There were so many outstanding elements to this trip. In Spain, watching huge numbers of migrating raptors on the crossing from Spain to Morocco, and being on a boat in the Straits watching migrating cetaceans and seabirds. In Morocco, getting up close with waders in the huge lagoons and walking the mountain trails to see species such as Moussier’s redstart, blue rock thrush, black wheatear and barbary macaque. There was also a walk through the Blue City to give a cultural aspect to the trip. But I think the most memorable moment was sat on the cliffs above the Straits of Gibraltar with views to the Riff mountains watching the migrating raptors, storks, bee-eaters and many more whilst eating a picnic of local produce prepared by our leaders.

    Inglorious Bustards stood out because of our guides’ knowledge of the local area and how the changing weather conditions alter where and how the birds migrate. Simon and Niki are extremely adaptable to make the most of the conditions for observation. Their enthusiasm when talking about migration down the Eastern Atlantic flyway is obvious. They use the whole flyway to engage with nature enthusiasts so that birds can be seen in the summer breeding grounds, during migration and at wintering areas.

    Simon and Niki make you very aware of the conservation issues facing wildlife; beyond just talking about the problems, they are very involved with local conservation groups and engaging with local businesses, big and small. Culture isn’t forgotten either, particularly in Morocco where we visited small local restaurants and gained insight into local culture during a walk around the Blue City of Chefchaouen.

    Birding Two Continents is a tour for everyone, no matter what your level of experience. Although you cover a lot of ground, it is at a relaxed, easy pace and even the less-abled are catered for. The base for the tour is in an ecolodge within excellent grounds for birdwatching just from the veranda, while other accommodation is in small ethically run hotels or lodges. All food on the tour is excellent. The leaders’ knowledge and experience ensure you are unlikely to miss anything and the experience gives a unique perspective to observing migration and culture.

    4 years ago

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Company Name

Inglorious Bustards

Birding, Conservation & Wildlife Tours

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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.

If like us you enjoy amazing wildlife spectacles where adventure meets relaxation and fun, then you have found the right place!

Tour Website

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Cost

€1,450 for 8 days –  price includes all accommodation, meals, guiding, transportation, ferries, taxes and entrances but excludes flights, incidental refreshments and items of a personal nature.

Deposit: €290

Single supplement: €200

info@ingloriousbustards.com
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