Wildlife to see in Spain in September
8 spectacles at their peak in Spain in September, and 4 more still going on. Wild animals only: no zoos, no wildlife parks, no hunting. Open Spain in September in the interactive calendar for listening times on the day you pick.
At their peak in September
Cory's shearwater colonies of the CanariesThe wailing, sobbing 'pardela' chorus from thousands of birds over sea cliffs — the sound behind the Canarian mermaid legends — with the Atlantic swell and Bulwer's petrels' soft barking.
La berrea in the Cantabrian mountainsRoars bouncing off limestone walls in high beech and oak valleys — a longer, harder reverb than the southern dehesa — with wolves occasionally answering and cowbells far below.
La berrea — Monfragüe, Cabañeros & Sierra MorenaStags roaring across dehesa and rocky sierra — three or four bellowing at once from the Monfragüe viewpoints while griffon vultures settle on the cliffs; wild boar and little owls in between.
Iberian wolf howling, Sierra de la CulebraPack choruses with pups' yips across the heather-and-pine sierra, roe deer barks, and the deep quiet of one of the emptiest corners of Spain.
Pilot whales of Teno–Rasca, TenerifeWith a hydrophone: pilot whale whistles and clicks from a resident population of about 500 animals in deep water only 2–3 km offshore; above water, resting groups blowing quietly between boats.
Strait of Gibraltar: raptor & stork passageMostly visual — kettles of thousands — but bee-eater flocks pour over calling all day, honey buzzards pass at head height in a levante, and the stork pre-roost at Los Lances is a bill-clattering crowd.
Cantabrian mountains: chamois rut, bears and wallcreepersChamois whistling alarms and clattering hooves on limestone, alpine chough flocks, wallcreeper thin whistles from the gorge walls, bells and the Cares river; bears are silent and distant.
Seabird passage at Estaca de BaresMostly a scope spectacle — over a million seabirds a year round Spain's northernmost point — but the gale, the surf on the rocks and passing gannet flocks make a raw Atlantic ambience.
Also going on in September
Cicadas of the Spanish pinewoodsContinuous cicada chorus from Aleppo and stone pines — Cicada orni's ticking pulses over Lyristes' saw — with the sea and, at dusk, bush-crickets taking over.
Balearic shearwater & storm petrel islandsHoarse, cackling Balearic shearwaters arriving to cliff burrows after dark, storm petrels purring in cave crevices, Audouin's gull colonies and Eleonora's falcons screaming over the sea in late summer.
Griffon cliffs: Hoces del Duratón, Hoces del Riaza and MonfragüeA griffon colony settling at dusk is a surprisingly loud thing: hisses, grunts and cackles from hundreds of birds squabbling over ledges, the rush of wings passing at head height, choughs and alpine swifts along the wall and, after dark in winter, eagle owls hooting across the gorge.
Orcas hunting bluefin tuna in the StraitWith a hydrophone: orca calls and echolocation, pilot whale whistles, and the tuna-boat engines they hunt around. Above water: blows, and the shouts from the fishing boats.