The easy access to the observation points and the good conservation state in which are, makes of the masses of waters present in the coast of Janda interesting places for the ornithological tourist, so much of if you are a beginner birdwatcher, for the high number of individual that can be observed, as if you are an expert birdwatcher. In this section we will include the areas of the beaches, the estuary of the Salado river and the marsh of Barbate.

Species of interest

•  Ardeidaes, anatidaes, marine birds and other aquatic species.

Time of the year

•  The whole year (sedentary): little grebe, great crested grebe, cattle egret, European white stork, mallard, peregrine falcon, purple swamphen Kentish plover and Yellow-legged Gull.

•  Spring / summer (summer visitor): little bittern (Ixobrychus minutus), purple heron (Ardea purpurea), collared prantincole (Glareola pratincola), little ringed plover (Charadrius dubius).

•  Autumn / winter (winter visitor): Slavonia grebe, Balearic shearwater, great  cormorant (Phalacrocorax carbo), northern pintail, northern shoveler, pied avocet, golden plover, great knot (Calidris tenuirostris), black-tailed godwit (Limosa limosa), whimbrel (Numenius phaeopus), Audouin’s gull and sandwich tern.

Observation Sites

•  These species can be observed in the small estuary that form the river mouth of Salado de Conil river,  at  Barbate marsh, next to the town of the same name and throughout the different beaches that conform the coast.

•  In the Tajo de Barbate you can contemplate one of the few colonies of cattle egret  that breed in this marine cliff surroundings this site and one of the three colonies that exist in the county.

•  In sandy beaches of the region, the intertidal zone during the low tide and coinciding with the sunsets and sunrise, are the perfect time and place  to observe a good variety of wading birds and small seabirds. These observations increase when bad weather offshore and pelagic species approach the coast.

•  Associated to the marshy vegetation of these surroundings other species ca also be observed that being terrestrial develops in these ecosystems their life cycles  like for example the lesser short-toed lark, the Cetti's warbler, the great reed warbler or the reed bunting.

There is an important contingent of birds that is linked to one way or another to forest environments of the region.

Species of interest

•  Large raptors and owls, common woodpigeon, large group of passerines.

Time of the year

•  The whole year: Eurasian buzzard, Golden eagle, Bonelli's eagle, Eurasian eagle-owl, tawny owl, Eurasian green woodpecker, Common woodpigeon, Crow, Wren and Hawfinch.

•  Winter visitor (autumn / winter) species: red kite, merlin, Eurasian sparrow hawk, dunnock, fieldfare (Turdus pilaris), song thrush (T philomelos) and redwing (T. iliacus), common chaffinch and siskin.

Observation Places

•  In the district is located one of the points selected for the reintroduction of golden eagle, specie Critically Endangered that account also in the land next to La Janda Lagoon an area of juveniles dispersion for other breeding areas.

•  Without a doubt, the greater diversity is located in the group of passerines, remain an important place both for species residents at any time of year and for those migrating.

The big extensions of cereals cultivations land and pastureland as well as a lightly wavy profile, allows the existence of an avifauna community characteristic of plains habitats. This are species that in general avoid the human presence, with a highly cryptic plumage in accordance with the habitat they occupy, hence the observation of this group of birds is sometimes complicated.

Species of interest

Montagu's harrier, lesser kestrel, common crane, little bustard, stone-curlew, Alaudidae.

Time of the year

• The whole year (sedentary species): Common black-shouldered kite (Elanus caeruleus), Western marsh-harrier, common kestrel, red-legged partridge (Alectoris rufa), little bustard, stone-curlew, Calandra lark, crested lark, spotless starling and a numerous fringilidae group (goldfinch, European serin, etc.).

•Spring /Summer (summer visitors): Montagu´s harrier, lesser kestrel, common quail, common pratincole, greater short-toed lark, red rumped swallow (Hirundo rustica).

•  Autumn / winter (winter visitors): common crane, northern lapwing, hen harrier, European golden plover, grey plover, Eurasian skylark (Alauda arvensis).

Observation Sites

•  In the district several breeding colonies of lesser kestrel are located. The urban nucleus of Vejer de la Frontera has several of these colonies in different buildings of the town, with a total of 8 reproductive pairs (EBD, 1995). The rest of colonies are located in cliffs and abandoned quarries.  Stand out the colony located in a cliff inside the camping site Los Molinos (Vejer de la Fra.) accounting to about 40 pair  (EBD, 1995), although at the moment the number of pairs has decrease. Other two colonies are located in marine cliffs of Conil de la Fra. In these colonies, together with the lesser kestrel, can be found also common to find Eurasian jackdaw and common kestrels.

•  The lands of the dried out  Janda Lagoon  belongs to the estates of Las Habas, Navafría, Desramaderos and Las Lomas and function as the most southern wintering site in the Peninsula for the common crane. At the beginning of October they individuals begin to congregate in groups of up to thousand individuals.

•  The countryside of the district is an important area for the reproduction of Montagu's harrier, stand out  three areas where the concentration of breeding species is bigger as the low countryside of Vejer-Conil, the high countryside of Vejer and the countryside of Tahivilla that although are outside of the district of Litoral de La Janda, given the vicinity to this district, its been included.

•  The little bustard is another breeding specie present in the countryside of the district, sharing distribution practically with the Montagu's harrier. Is a species avoid the human presence, although is not difficult to listen the nuptial birdcall of the males of this species, in the first and last hours of the day during the months of May and June, mainly.

•  In the pastureland areas where seasonal water logging takes place after the rains, we can observe groups with  high number individuals of winter visitor like  European golden plover, grey plover and northern lapwing.

•  The roads that unite the different cultivation lands or the fallow areas are the favourable places for the observation of the alaudidaes like the Calandra lark, crested lark or the greater short-toed lark arouse interest among the foreign tourist.

•  Any time of the year can be observed the stone-curlew in the pastureland and fallow fields, is a specie not very conspicuous and very elusive for what difficult to detect, but that arouse  interest due to  the threat grade in that the populations is in.

© Photograph: Cinema Sur

For its proximity to the Strait of Gibraltar, the district of the Coast of Janda (Litoral de la Janda ) is a required passing area of a great group of birds that head to their  breeding or wintering locations.

Species of interest

•  Among the terrestrial species in path, the most numerous are the black kite, the European white stork, the European honey-buzzard and the short-toed snake-eagle; among the less numerous ones but also of high interest it figures the black stork.

•  Among the marine species, the most numerous is the Balearic shearwater and the northern gannet, also arctic skua, the little gull and the Audouin’s gull.

Time of the year

•  The biggest concentration of birds in migration takes place between the months of July and October, coinciding with postnuptial path from Europe to Africa; the different species present path peaks at different moments during this period.

•  During the step prenuptial path from Africa to Europe, between the months of February and May, the migratory path is less spectacular for the smallest number of individual and the biggest dispersion.