Birdwatching in Tarifa

Tarifa lies on the southern most tip of Western Europe. It juts out into the water where the Mediterranean Sea and Atlantic Oceans meet. Located on the bottom right corner of Spain’s Iberian Peninsula, this costal town in Southern Spain captivates my imagination. Greek mythology locates the limit of the Greek world at the Pillars of Hercules. One pillar is a few miles east back in Gibraltar, the other can be seen from Tarifas ancient city walls across the water in the Riff mountains of Morocco . At this point, only fifteen kilometres of water separate the continents of Africa and Europe. So quite naturally this is the European crossing point for over 250,000 raptors, bi-annually.

In recognition of its unique location, the International Bird Fair took place in Tarifa in September of this year ’08 and is now to become an annual event. If you haven’t been to Tarifa yet, you are in for a wonderful surprise. Besides fine food, beautiful Moorish architecture and great people, it is a viewing platform for one of nature’s great migrations.

Tarifa’s strategic geographical location, once a military vantage point, is now a meeting place for the avian voyeur. Massive flocks of raptors congregate to cross back to Africa from here in the autumn. A flock as large as 11,000 honey buzzards was reported heading south during the autumn migration back in the late 70’s. These broad winged birds are too heavy to be energetic flyers and crossing large bodies of water is a dangerous hazard for them. They have evolved to glide. Many are even able to 'lock' their extended wings by means of a specialized tendon. They circle and soar up rising hot air currents. These ‘updrafts’ occur only over land as the land air warms up in relation to the cool sea during the day and the hot air rises. Thousands of raptors, buzzards, vultures, eagles and various species of stork, find and ride these updrafts to gain enough altitude to safely glide across the straits to return home from breeding in the higher brighter latitudes. Where have they come from? How far have they left to go? Scientific research suggests some species can actually see magnetic fields. Their ability to measure time so precisely allows them to navigate by the position of the Sun. Something humanity only achieved with the invention of the marine chronometer by John Harrison in 1761.

What makes Tarifa an especially good destination for bird lovers is the variety of bird habitats it has to offer. Nearby are wooded hills, virgin coastline, sand dunes, saltpans, even a winding river and creek. It has grassy plains and adjacent mountains. All types of birds can congregate in vast numbers here in their preferred habitat. A few miles north of Tarifa past the amazing Roman costal ruins of Bolonia, lies what was once the Iberian Peninsulas largest wet land. ‘Laguna de La Janda’. Sadly for bird lovers, it was drained in the 1960’s to make the land more suitable for agriculture. It floods occasionally and hints at its former wetland glory. One day maybe its importance to the natural world will be acknowledged and the waters will be allowed return permanently. The migrating birds that congregate around Tarifa have come a long way and by their sheer numbers have had a profound affect on the planet. Nature works to harness these migrations and spreads not only joy with their passing but also plant seeds, bacteria and even plankton across the face of the Earth twice a year.

Many of the smaller birds do their migration at night; if you time your visit, their silhouettes can be seen against the smiling face of a full moon. Over looking the harbour are the imposing solid castle walls of ‘Guzmán the Good’. In it’s ancient walls, colonies of the lesser kestrel nest and breed. This is an amazing opportunity to view one of Europe’s rarest falcons. This is bird watching made easy. Lesser kestrels can be observed hovering overhead while one enjoys refreshments in a local street café. If one wanted to multi task even further, why not pretend to go whale watching, boats leave the small harbour every day and no one will ever suspect your motives for looking upwards. Being in the centre of the Straits is exhilarating; every country east of you, sends its shipping through this gap to reach the rest of the world.

The most common pattern of bird migration involves flying north to breed in the temperate or arctic summers. The longer days in the northern latitudes ensures more time to find food and food in turn means life. As the days shorten in Autumn and the weather turns colder they return to warmer southern regions where food is readily available and not so tied to the seasons. For birds, commonsense and good weather go hand in hand.

Such extreme travel comes with certain costs. It is estimated that up to 15% of the birds die each year crossing between the continents. Solitary birds grouping together for migration crossings are more prone to parasites and disease. Predators have even evolved in parallel with the migrations. In Tarifa you can sometimes see Eleonora's falcon, she times her breeding season to coincide with the autumn migration and her chicks gorge themselves on unsuspecting passerine birds heading home for a warm winter.

Both legs of this epic migration journey funnel across the straits and over Tarifa heading into Europe in spring and back to Africa in autumn. There are many places to stay in Tarifa, but if you want something unique – with a large roof terrace! – then I recommend the beautiful and reasonably priced apartments run by Esteban and Ingrid, life long lovers of Tarifa and all it has to offer. You will find them not only gracious hosts but also valuable repositories of local knowledge. You can view and book the apartments through their website www.ilovetarifa.com The accommodation is located right in the heart of the old town. And did I mention the large roof terrace?