Field Meeting - 31st March 2012

[Peter]

The Field Meeting will be in Andújar Natural Park.

Date: Sat 31 March.

Meeting point: Hotel los Pinos.

Time: 9:00

Accommodation: Hotel los Pinos

I'm going to send you the plan: Timing, How to get there, requirements, species and optional day-trips. José Luis Sánchez Balsera

Please watch this posting for further and more complete details including excursion on other days around the 31st March.

Peter

[jerry]

does this mean there are 2 meetings in March - 31st and 24th ?

[jerry]

sorry just being obtuse !!! 24th feb  and 31st is March 1 ignore my last message !

[Bob Wright]

I have the March date as Saturday 24 March.  Please confirm that date has now been put back a week till 31st.

Bob

[Franky no Hair]

Hi Peeps
              I have been in contact with Jose Luis and says there was some confusion but the meeting will be on the 31th of March and he will post the details ASAP.  Hope this clears things up.
                                             Have Fun Frank

[Barrie]

Jan and I would like to come to this.

Is the hotel where the group will meet the COMPLEJO TURÍSTICO "LOS PINOS"? (Address Crta. Santuario km 14.2   23740  Andújar  JAÉN - tel  953 549 079 )

If that is the correct hotel, I found it is already programmed into my TomTom, and into Google Earth. If this really is the correct hotel then it looks a very interesting area indeed and, from Google Earth Street View it seems there should be plenty of places reasonably near to park my motorhome.

The location I found is near the Santuario de la Virgen de la Cabeza  - the GPS coordinates are  38°10'59.33"N   4° 2'27.94"W (see attached .kmz file)

Could you please confirm this is indeed the right place?

Not having a 4x4, we will need to get a lift with some other kind soul please.

Other field excursions are mentioned. Might one of them be to see the lynx?

Thanks

Barrie

[Scot Penny]

Hi there Peter!

I think I would like to go to the meeting on 31st March.

I'm hoping that someone else from Almeria is coming so that I can car share as I did for the last meeting in the Sierra Maria.

Regards

Valerie

[Scot Penny]

  Hi Peter!

I've just looked up the hotel and it looks great!  Will there be any trips out on other days? Then I can decide what to book!

Cheers

Valerie

[Petrea]

That's right Barrie, give us a lynx, pleeease!!     

Mogens and I are also interested, in particular with interesting additional activities!

Saludos
Petrea

[Peter]

Sorry for the delay to queries and questions for this month's Field Meeting in Juan. Jose has let me have more complete details and I post these below.

Briefing:

We´ll visit the Natural Park of “Sierras de Andújar” looking for birds across different habitats such as mediterranean pastureland called "Dehesa" and riverside forest.

Timing: (approx)
09:00   Coffee break and meeting point in Los Pinos Complex Hotel.
09:30   Birdwatching en route to and in “La Lancha reservoir”. Jándula River.
12:30   Stop at Los Pinos for refreshments and use toilete facilities. Estimated time of stay: 15 min.
13:00   Lunch time; packed lunch bring your own. Riverside forest habitat. Encinarejo Reservoir. Little walk.
18:00   End of the trip.


For further information:
José Luis Sánchez  - ABS Approved Wildlife Guide
jose@sierra-trek.com
Ph. nr.             +34 626700525     

Birds species in the area:

The characteristics of this trip will allow us to watch big raptors, including griffon vultures, black vultures, golden eagle, spanish imperial eagle.

Other interesteing birds: Azure-winged magpie, green woodpecker, great spotted woodpecker, kingfisher, yellow wagtail, black stork, crested tit, rock bunting, cragmartin, cormorant, grey heron...

Mammals: red deer, fallow deer, wild boar, mouflon, otter, and if we are lucky, the elusive Iberian lynx.

How to get there:

From Granada
http://www.guiarepsol.com/MapasRutas/Ruta/mapa.aspx#X=-3.817804&Y=37.679014&z=8&0|Txt=|Granada-GRANADA|&0|X=-3.599540&0|Y=37.176756&0|Z=19&0|Loc=Granada&1|Txt=|Virgen de la Cabeza-JAEN|&1|X=-4.036526&1|Y=38.178693&1|Z=19&1|Loc=Virgen de la Cabeza&enlace=true

From Malaga
http://www.guiarepsol.com/MapasRutas/Ruta/mapa.aspx#X=-4.228765&Y=37.452453&z=7&0|Txt=|Málaga-MALAGA|&0|X=-4.421113&0|Y=36.718301&0|Z=19&0|Loc=Málaga&1|Txt=|Virgen de la Cabeza-JAEN|&1|X=-4.036526&1|Y=38.178693&1|Z=19&1|Loc=Virgen de la Cabeza&enlace=true

From Almeria
http://www.guiarepsol.com/MapasRutas/Ruta/mapa.aspx#X=-3.252782&Y=37.512176&z=7&0|Txt=|Almería-ALMERIA|&0|X=-2.469154&0|Y=36.839718&0|Z=19&0|Loc=Almería&1|Txt=|Virgen de la Cabeza-JAEN|&1|X=-4.036526&1|Y=38.178693&1|Z=19&1|Loc=Virgen de la Cabeza&enlace=true

From Murcia
http://www.guiarepsol.com/MapasRutas/Ruta/mapa.aspx#X=-2.586780&Y=37.756434&z=8&0|Txt=|Murcia-MURCIA|&0|X=-1.132273&0|Y=37.983123&0|Z=19&0|Loc=Murcia&1|Txt=|Virgen de la Cabeza-JAEN|&1|X=-4.036526&1|Y=38.178693&1|Z=19&1|Loc=Virgen de la Cabeza&enlace=true

For further information, please contact José Luis Sánchez.

Recommended Links:
http://www.juntadeandalucia.es/medioambiente/servtc5/ventana/mostrarFicha.do;jsessionid=3ADF15001133670549F63B2EF4D99EA3?idEspacio=7422


Accomodation:

Hotel Los Pinos         VIÑAS DE PEÑALLANA       http://www.lospinos.es/
Hotel del Val     ANDÚJAR         http://www.hoteldelval.es/InicioIngles/inicio_english.htm
Villa Matilde      VIÑAS DE PEÑALLANA      http://www.villamatilde.org/
Casa Rural La Caracola      VIÑAS DE PEÑALLANA      http://www.lacaracolacasarural.es/

Optional Extra One-Day-Trips

Detailed information and recommendations will be given as required.

April 1st 2012
Sierra Mágina Natural Park Birdwatching trip, guided by José Luis Sánchez.
Full time day-trip. Price per person 50 euro (min. 4 persons).
Car, telescope, permits, insurance and experienced guided service included.
Lunch not included.

Recommended link:
http://www.andalucia.com/environment/protect/sierramagina.htm


Accommodation:

Hotel Puerto Mágina         TORRES      http://www.puertomagina.com/

Hotel Ciudad de Úbeda      ÚBEDA       http://www.hotelciudaddeubeda.com/rl2/es/1/29/Inicio.html

Hotel Jurinea                   TORRES      http://www.hoteljurinea.com/

April 2nd, 2012
Cazorla Segura y Las Vilas Natural Park.
Full time day-trip. Price per person 50 euro (min. 4 persons).
Car, telescope, permits, insurance and experienced guided service included.
Lunch not included.

Accomodation:

Hotel SPA Sierra de Cazorla     LA IRUELA   http://www.hotelsierradecazorla.com/

Hotel Rural La Calerilla             LAIRUELA    TF: 953 727 326 / 953 727 327

Hotel Ciudad de Cazorla           CAZORLA      http://www.rlhoteles.com/#cazorla


Recommended link:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sierras_de_Cazorla,_Segura_y_Las_Villas_Natural_Park
http://www.andalucia.com/environment/protect/cazorla.htm

For any queries on the above itinerary or optional extra days, please contact Jose direct.

Peter

[jerry]

sorry cant make it on Saturday again . also April is no good either as its on a Friday as it was last year so roll on May hopefully!!

[Barrie]

Thanks Peter for the extra information.

Unfortunately I had two problems with the links on How to Get There so in case others also encounter them, I hope you will not mind if I explain.

Firstly, as displayed, all of the links are only BLUE up to half way along the first line - i.e. to just before the "|TXT" characters. Therefore when I click on them, all I get is the map with no route and no destination. To get the route and destination I had to copy ALL of the link (up to an including the word "TRUE") and then paste all of this into my internet browser (in my case Firefox).

Secondly, they all seem to show the destination as the Chapel/Shrine of the Virgin de la Cabeza, not Hotel Los Pinos.

If I am correct then the meeting point is some way (nearly 1.3km) from where the links would take me to.

I realise you and others will just laugh if I play the same old cracked record again, but would it not have been so much simpler to just say the destination is at 38°10'59.33"N   4° 2'27.94"W and then leave us to put these coordinates into Google Earth or whatever mapping system/route planner we like to use? (Believe it or not, you do NOT need to have a GPS to use them!)

Jan and I will be there - we will try to park in or near Hotel Los Pinos.

We would also like to know more about the extra trips. I doubt we can afford to go on both so could you explain please where are the Sierra Mágina Natural Park and the Cazorla Segura y Las Vilas Natural Park and what are we likely to see in each of them, so we can decided which trip to go on?

Thanks,

Barrie

[Petrea]

Thanks Barrie, I had the same problem with the links! And "location" on the hotel website is very tedious - and misleading: you get the impression that it is close to Andujar, while it is ca 30 km away! Anyway, I guess that the Virgin de la Cabeza is so small a place that it should not be a problem to find the hotel, once you're there.

And are the 2 extra days the same as last year?

Saludos
Petrea

PS: just got an answer from jose Luis: not qiute the same: different places and species.

[Peter]

Sorry if the information has been misleading and some of the links don't work. I passed-on the information I received from Jose. Please do contact him directly with your queries as I will not be in Spain from the 19th as I am leading a group overseas. Better Jose answers you as he is the one organising and running the day/s.

Thanks.

Peter

[Petrea]

We're certainly not blaming you for the hotels silly homepage, Peter! Just wanted to warn other members.

The 2 extra days were great last year, so Mogens and I will be there for all 3 days. And since we will be 2½ month later this year, I think everything will be different - certainly warmer (frozen streams and snow in Cazorla last year!) I sincerely hope!   .

Hotel Ciudad de Ubeda can be recommended: very nice rooms and gastronomy! Breakfast buffet free if you stay for 3 nights or more. No parking problems last year in January.

saludos
Petrea