I headed to Spain with my son Jamie, for a 3 night break, with the main aim of seeing the very rare and elusive, Iberian Lynx. As recommended by my fellow birder and pal, Andy Lawson, we stayed at Villa Matilde, hosted by Mercedes and Roland. (www.villamatilde.org/en).
On Friday 6th March, we flew to Malaga, picked up a hire car, and drove the 250k (3 hrs) to our base, arriving around 6pm. We arranged for breakfast, lunch and dinner each day to be provided, which were all excellent.
On Saturday 7th we'd arranged for Mercedes to guide us all day, take us to the best spots for lynx sightings and bird along the way. Sunrise was around 7.30am and we were on the road by 8am. It's about 45 minute drive to the main lynx viewing areas from the villa, along a very bumpy pot holed road.
Looking for lynx can be a very long process and take a lot of patience. We arrived in thick fog and poor visibility so we headed to the reservoir for some birding, adding a few common species to the trip list. Common birds in the area included, Rock Sparrow, Serin and Chough.
The fog cleared late morning and we spent the next 7 hours scanning the hillsides. It's a bit of a needle in a haystack job, so the more eyes looking the better. Unfortunately for us there were very few people there. We were told that December is the best month to go as the cats are much more active, as it's breeding season.
Jamie in one of the view points
We didn't manage to see a lynx on Saturday but did have good views of Ibex, Wild boar, Spanish Imperial Eagle, Azure Winged Magpie, Griffon and Black Vulture. Plus, we now had the lay of the land for our second attempt on Sunday.
We were back out on the road by 8am on Sunday heading back to the view points. It was cold and we were a bit ill prepared clothing wise. When we arrived we were the only people there looking so it was not going to be an easy task.
A few people arrived but left quite quickly, not staking it out like us. I spoke with a guide, Miguel, and we swapped numbers so we could up date each other, should we get lucky.
By late morning and no sign of a cat, it started to rain and then rain heavily. We sheltered best we could hoping it would pass but by 1.30pm it was still very wet and visibility was poor. We weren't optimistic and decided to head back to our digs, warm up, get some coffee and hoped the weather improved.
Luckily within an hour of getting back the rain stopped and in the distance we could see clear skies. Out we went again. We arrived back on site around 3pm, We were the only 2 people looking. We'd agreed to stay till dusk if no joy and drive back in the dark, which would not be fun on the pot holed road, but we'd heard reports of lynx occasionally being seen in car headlights after dark.
Around 4pm another car arrived and parked up at the next view point to us around 200m away. It was Miguel and his party. By 4.30pm we'd convinced ourselves it wasn't meant to be and were discussing the possibility of a return visit in December. AND THEN, Jamie shouts, "They've got one!" Miguel was waving his arms to alert us. We ran as fast as we could to where they were and there it was, below us, c150m away, walking slowly across the grassy plateau below. We tracked the lynx as it went in and out of view, behind bushes, trees and rocks, over the next 15 minutes, seeing it a few times, until it went behind a bush and was not seen again. We were elated and many hugs and high fives were had.
Jamie's back of camera shot
Very happy dad and son
Whilst looking for a lynx on Sunday we also saw Golden Eagle, Southern Grey Shrike and heard Great Spotted Cuckoo.
On Monday we stopped at Guardalhorce bird reserve by Malaga airport, which was relatively quiet as there's no real migration yet, but saw of note, Greater Flamingo, Slender Billed Gull and White Headed Duck.
Overall a 10/10 trip which we couldn't have scripted better, pulling victory from the jaws of defeat.
