Oliva Rama Tours and Holidays

• Being based on the east coast of Spain I run half & full day tours, plus a popular 'short break' birdwatching around the Valencia, Alicante, & Albacete Regions. In addition to the locally run birdwatching tours we also have all-inclusive birdwatching holidays to other areas of Spain including Andalusia, Castilla la Mancha & Extremadura, Pyrenees & N/E Spain, and the Picos de Europa. Our WP tour programme is currently limited to Lithuania, Latvia & Estonia, Southern Morocco and Scotland, but we have plans to expand to Bulgaria, Poland and the Azores.

Catalunia and North West Spain November 2010

• Stephen had done much research in advance of our arrival and as such was quite confident that our bird would show up. About five minutes later, as predicted, he spotted our quarry a stunning Wallcreeper....John Fox reports.

The Ebro Delta, Spain and the Ile de Re, France May 2004

• During May we made a trip to France and northeast Spain, partly business, partly birding; there was no rigid birding itinerary. The Ebro Delta was the only site we had definitely planned to visit. In the event, we managed to squeeze in a fair amount of birding, including a few days at the Ile de Re, a large island in the Bay of Biscay...Nick Ransdale reports

Where the birds are in Northeast Spain
Steve West: Buy direct from the Author

• This excellent book looks at all the most wanted birds of Aragon and Catalunya and gives the key sites in which to find them (with some nice sketches and handy maps), thus enabling the visiting birder to quickly target the species at the top of their wish lists!

The Complete Guide to the Birdlife of Britain & Europe
Rob Hume, Peter Hayman (Illustrator): Buy from Amazon.co.uk

• This is quite simply the best illustrated guide to Europe's birds that I have seen. Every bird is pictured at least five times (and sometimes twenty times) in varying poses within its habitat. Seeing the birds in context, really gives this book the edge.
  The text, written by an expert, is concise, thorough and up to date. Many of the recent splits are included. The likes of Yelkouan Shearwater and Southern Grey Shrike are illustrated superbly for perhaps the first time in any recent guide.
  More than a field guide, the book is coffee table size, and certainly deserves to be in the collection of every serious bird watcher.
  

Collins Bird Guide
Lars Svensson: Buy from Amazon.com or Amazon.co.uk

• "Well, it has been much hyped but it is all true. This beats most other European guides by a significant margin. The songs and calls are extremely well notated, even though the pronunciation takes some getting used too. Many pictures for each species. Very information dense. Buy it. The best available bird identification book for Spain

Where to Watch Birds in North and East Spain
Michael Rebane, Stephen Message: Buy from Amazon.com or Amazon.co.uk

• North and east Spain embraces an impressive range of habitats from the Pyrenees to the sun-drenched Catalan coast. As a consequence the area is rich in birdlife and full of potential for visiting birders. The 189 sites are described in terms of habitat, access and the species to be seen. The 104 major sites are accompanied by a map as well as maps of the region to show the location of each site.

The Rough Guide to Spain
Mark Ellingham: Buy from Amazon.com or Amazon.co.uk

• Published Jan. 2002, "The Rough Guide to Spain" is thoroughly up to date (all the prices are in Euro's!) and of the usual high standard that we have come to expect from Rough Guides. This is an excellent guide to my favourite place in Europe for a bird watching holiday. Over a thousand fact filled pages entice the reader to visit the towns, castles and Moorish villages, so full of character and history. For the birder, there is a very useful section on wildlife that gives an overview of the birds to be seen and the main regions to see them.