Camp: Bird migration and large birds in flight

Meet like minded and combine your passion with exploring beautiful Andalusia.

5 days camp

7 nights Accommodation, breakfast buffet, 3 course welcome and goodbye dinner, location suggestions for migration, breeding storks and vultures, urban and river birds.

2023 dates unlocked

March 4th - 10th: Bird migration and large birds in flight
April 23th - 29th: Bird migration / Mountain and river habitats

September 2th – 9th: Bird migration / Mountain and Urban habitats

Stunning nature spectacle

Europe's best spot for bird migration at the coast as well as at surrounding mountains - colonies of griffon vultures nearby

Beautiful place

Stay in one of the most beautiful parts of Andalusia, discover country and people while enjoy large bird photography. Small artists' white village Gaucin nearby.

Limited to three bookings

Three double rooms are available - two of them with double beds - one with two single beds

Kick off special: 950,- Euro / double room

Bring your friend or partner and enjoy time with like minded.

Camp – basics

  • Meet like minded, join me photographing in beautiful Andalucia and be part of a true natural spectacle when millions of birds migrating from Africa back to Europe. Spring is particularly interesting for photography as large birds of prey and storks reach the Spanish coast at low altitudes, searching for resting and feeding places. On the way north they are crossing the Serrania de Ronda with observation points near Finca Olivar. 
  • Mainly black and white storks, black kites, vultures, short-toed eagles, then increasingly lesser spotted eagles and finally honey buzzards are expected.
  • Towards the coast we will find large colonies of breeding storks.
  • In mountains and canyons around Finca Olivar we will find some large griffon vulture colonies. The best spots are off the road and can only be reached on foot. But we are rewarded with numerous of these 2.7m large birds flying past us at eye level and in close proximity.
  • All this is making it a perfect place to focus our spring camps on large birds in flight as well as photographing huge numbers of those. Experiment with right settings for autofocus and tracking and get a feeling how to frame many birds in one shot.  
  • Beside of our main focus on large birds in flight there are countless options for photographing birds living in urban, river, forest and agriculture habitats.
  • Take your time to explore beautiful Andalusia: The artistic village of Gaucin with tapas bars and restaurants is just around the corner, spectacular city of Ronda is 35km away and even Morocco is possible for a day trip. Follow one of those fantastic hikes nearby, photograph birds or insects at one of four national parks nearby, drive to the beach.  Check what to do near by our finca here….
  • Strictly limited to three exclusive bookings for three double rooms, own bath and own terrace. Check rooms and property here….
  • Breakfast buffed included
  • Three course welcome and goodbye dinner included 
  • Fully equipped kitchen available
  • Depending on wish of participants we can additionally book transportation, an experienced local ornithologist or additional dinner.

Location

  • Find our finca about 40km north of Gibraltar at about 550 meter above sea level.
  • In addition to large birds at the coast and in the mountains there are a couple of perfect birding spots at the surrounding cities and rivers. They covering river and urban habitats as well as forest ones.
  • Perfectly placed with national parks nearby: Sierra de Grazalema in the north, Los Alconorcales in the west and Los Reales de Sierra Bermeja in the east. Each of them with unique species and breathtaking diversity of flora and fauna.
  • Picturesque artistic village Gaucin with nice Tapas bars and restaurants is juts around the corner.
  • Check our rooms and property here….
Be part of a true nature spectacle – come to Andalusia and join our spring camps 

Camp hosted by Martin Hochbruck

  • Professional camera man, editor and photographer for decades
  • More than 200 TV documentaries and TV magazine features, mainly in extreme sports, nature parks and Environmental protection projects. Check my work here…. (German)
  • Landscape photo work mainly for tree nurseries, waterways boards and nature parks.
  • Looking forward to meet you at Finca Olivar and sharing this beautiful place with you!

Bird migration at the coast and the mountains nearby

  • Expect huge counts of white and black storks, black kites, serpent eagles, booted eagles vultures and honey buzzards. Daily counts are peaking above 20.000
  • Observing spots at the coast are within a good hour drive while there are a few spots in the mountains within 15 min.

Breeding colonies of vultures and storks

  • Within half an hour drive we will find three griffon vulture colonies. One is in urban environment. Getting close to the mountain colonies includes a fantastic hike through beautiful landscape.
  • Lot’s of storks are nesting towards the coast.

Three national parks

  • Each of them with unique species and breathtaking diversity of flora and fauna: Sierra de Grazalema in the north, Los Alconorcales in the west and Los Reales de Sierra Bermeja in the east. 

Urban habitats in reach

  • Beside artistic village of Gaucin with it’s castle and different eagles there is Ronda and Casares first to mention. Here we find vultures, blue rockchat and black wheatear right in the village, as well as thousands of pallid swifts that breed here. In the evening come cliff swallows and here you can also see stone sparrow. 

River habitats in reach 

  • Most interesting spot for river based birds is the confluence of the rivers Guardiado and Genal. We reach it with a 40 minutes drive.
  • Here we have different kinds of herons, wrynecks and ospreys in winter times, a lot of different passerine birds during migration time.

  • A little further downstream, the river divides into many different runs and accumulations of water. Together with the surrounding cultivated flats, the shrubs and the trees, this results in many different habitats that attract a large number of different birds. 

  • The birds that are here all year round include Kingfisher, little ringed plover and grey wagtail and many more…. 

Mountain habitats in reach

  • The Sierra Crestellina has an impressive rock formation just a 15 minutes drive away. The biggest colony of griffon vultures has occupied most of the rocks but there are many other species of birds of prey throughout the year as well. 
  • Even if it is possible to observe the colony well from the observation point by the road, it is better for photographers to go to the left peak in the picture below. This is a strenuous hike from the back and takes about 1.5 hours. 

Book your camp today!

We will help you with your special requests. Plan your camp at Finca Olivar today. We are looking forward to meet you.

Be part of an awesome time