A visit to Tarifa, the southernmost tip of Spain and located under 10 miles from Morocco in North Africa, which was clearly visible to the naked eye over the Strait of Gibraltar. Reason for the trip was to view the autumn migration of some of the larger bird species such as vultures, eagles, buzzards, kites, storks, etc as they depart Europe where they would have bred over the summer and head to Africa for the winter. Reliant on thermals, crossing over the sea by way of the shortest crossing will always be beneficial with least risk, and Tarifa is the major migration departure point in Western Europe.
Less than two hours drive west of Malaga, it's a total contrast to the Costa del Sol, with little by way of development. None of the larger hotel and apartment blocks you see in that area, everything is smaller scale and a very different experience. A major part of the tourist industry is geared towards water sports, kite surfing and similar - the beaches were fantastic with fine, clean, white sand.
Temperatures were in the mid-late 30 degrees, but a couple of days felt like early 40 degrees once the humidity was accounted for, and that made it really tough going. In addition to putting your body under stress with the need to keep hydrated, heat haze was a constant problem, affecting the quality of images. The strong easterly winds over the first four days also dragged in a lot of cloud, which when the trip was geared towards photographing birds in flight, was a pain.
Always going to be a mixed bag with a week long visit just giving a snapshot of an area. Plenty of great experiences, the boat trips into the Strait of Gibraltar were excellent, at some points Common Dolphin, Bottlenose Dolphin and Long-finned Pilot Whale were all in view at the same time, with the added bonus of some relatively close range Cory's Shearwater. Hundreds of White Stork literally dropping out of the sky onto every available lamppost one evening on a trip to Lidl in Tarifa itself was totally surreal.
Would love a return trip, maybe a week or two later in the year to coincide with the peak migration time of different species and lower temperatures, especially with the knowledge having been gained on this visit.
Less than two hours drive west of Malaga, it's a total contrast to the Costa del Sol, with little by way of development. None of the larger hotel and apartment blocks you see in that area, everything is smaller scale and a very different experience. A major part of the tourist industry is geared towards water sports, kite surfing and similar - the beaches were fantastic with fine, clean, white sand.
Temperatures were in the mid-late 30 degrees, but a couple of days felt like early 40 degrees once the humidity was accounted for, and that made it really tough going. In addition to putting your body under stress with the need to keep hydrated, heat haze was a constant problem, affecting the quality of images. The strong easterly winds over the first four days also dragged in a lot of cloud, which when the trip was geared towards photographing birds in flight, was a pain.
Always going to be a mixed bag with a week long visit just giving a snapshot of an area. Plenty of great experiences, the boat trips into the Strait of Gibraltar were excellent, at some points Common Dolphin, Bottlenose Dolphin and Long-finned Pilot Whale were all in view at the same time, with the added bonus of some relatively close range Cory's Shearwater. Hundreds of White Stork literally dropping out of the sky onto every available lamppost one evening on a trip to Lidl in Tarifa itself was totally surreal.
Would love a return trip, maybe a week or two later in the year to coincide with the peak migration time of different species and lower temperatures, especially with the knowledge having been gained on this visit.
© East Ayton Photography