Almeria Spain 29th Jan - 12th Feb. 2003

• I arrived at Cańada de Las Norias, on the outskirts of Las Norias town, about 1.30pm and spent the afternoon there. This is one of the best birding spots in the area and a must to visit, one of those places where anything can, and does turn up. I visited here several times over the next 2 weeks and each time saw at least one bird not seen on a previous visit...John H.Johns reports.

Birdwatching on Spains Southern Coast
John R. Butler: Buy from Amazon.co.uk

• Written by local expert and guide, John Butler, "Birdwatching on Spain's Southern Coast", is the ideal accompaniment for the holidaying birder on Spain's Southern Coast. The real strength of this guide over similar books is the information about the lesser known sites close the resorts of the Costa's. Great if you only want a quick hours early morning jaunt before the heat of the Summer sun becomes unbearable. Also covered in good detail are Doñana and the main Almeria sites...Recommended.

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.

The Rough Guide to The Pyrenees
Marc Dubin: Buy from Amazon.com or Amazon.co.uk

• Anyone could find their perfect retreat in the Pyrenees, a range that encompasses in its four-hundred-kilometre length a diversity of landscapes rarely equalled in Europe. Between the balmy beaches of the Mediterranean and the more turbulent Atlantic coast lie regions of lush meadowland, peaks permanently clad in ice, sun-beaten canyons of sinuously sculpted rock, swathes of dense broadleaf forest, weirdly eroded limestone pinnacles and valleys so sheer and overgrown that scarcely a ray of light penetrates them.