Spain's Costa Blanca

Summary

The Costa Blanca is often overlooked as a natural history destination, yet this part of mainland Spain, better known for its beach resorts, is home to an abundance of wildlife, and birds in particular. This beautiful length of coastline offers a rewarding blend of wetlands, coastal habitats, sierras and open steppe, each supporting a distinct community of birds that changes subtly with the seasons. This 2-centre holiday explores these contrasting habitats at a time of year when it is pleasantly warm, escaping the cold, wet and dark days in the UK. Together, they provide an excellent overview of Mediterranean birdlife, including some of the most iconic of Spanish species and some of the finest winter and spring birdwatching in eastern Spain.

The wetlands of El Hondo and the nearby saltpans of Santa Pola form one of the most important refuges for aquatic birds in the Iberian Peninsula. Their mixture of freshwater pools, saline lagoons and extensive reedbeds attracts a wealth of species. In March, the air is filled with the display calls of Purple Swamphens and the trumpeting of Greater Flamingoes, while migrating waders pause on their way north. By November, the scene changes as wintering wildfowl arrive in large numbers, joining year-round residents, White-headed Duck, Red-crested Pochard and Marbled Duck among them, and raptors such as Marsh Harrier and Booted Eagle patrol the reed fringes. A short boat crossing takes us to Tabarca Island, a low, rocky outcrop surrounded by clear Mediterranean waters and home to colonies of Yellow-legged Gulls, Shags and Audouin’s Gulls. Offshore passage in spring can bring migrating terns and shearwaters, while in autumn the island serves as a brief resting point for southbound migrants. Inland, the Spanish steppes reveal a different landscape of open cereal fields and dry plains. Here, species such as Great and Little Bustards, Pin-tailed and Black-bellied Sandgrouse and Calandra Lark evoke a wilder, older Spain — a timeless counterpart to the life-filled marshes nearer the coast.