Is October a good time for the Spanish Lynx? Also need recommendations on local guide / outfitter?
It looks like I will have an opportunity to go to Spain to photograph the Spanish lynx in October. Is that a good time of year?
I would want to do this as a private guided trip.
I am not sure how long to budget for this. Most commercial trips seem to be about a week, which might be possible for me, or I might want to try a bit shorter and return if I fail to see the lynx.
If this isn’t a great time of year, then tell me what would be better.
I will have one companion, and lots of photo gear all the way out to 600mm and 1200mm lenses.
I presume the best place is the Sierra de Andujar, and I think that means flying in to Seville or possibly Cordoba.
Any other recommendations on this are also welcome!
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7 Comments
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natrodpar
Birds and Lynx ecotourism https://www.birdslynxecotourism.com/
has a private field besides going to Andújar.
They know everything about the flora and fauna of the area -
JanEbr
I know people like guided trips, but Sierra de Andújar must be one of the most absurd places in the world to take one – the site for the Lynx is literally one road, easily accessible (in October) with a sedan. There really isn’t much the guide can do for you there.
The closest airports are Cordoba and Granada, but it’s also reasonably close to drive from Madrid if the connection is better.
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europesbig5kej
I’ve been successfull many times in Oktober
In the area myself too end of Oktober
This from an autumn trip combined with Iberian Wolf
https://europesbig5.com/news/3150/I advice you to visit both Donana and Andujar for the lynx
Both areas about 250 K’s from each other ; about 3 hours driving
A week is just fine
With the open option, once ground base, of using a local hide if there are recent sightings near themCheers Jan
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Nathan Myhrvold
Thanks so much for all the information! The reason that I thought that a guide or outfitter was a good idea is that it was my understanding that a lot of the best photography was from hides on private property. A guide would presumably have the necessary contacts to arrange hides and know which one is best.
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John Rogers
Iberianlynxland (Jose Luis) does have access to a hide on private property and to one of the lynx recovery sites that is also on private property. I was there in early summer (not the best time of year to try) and we saw two lynx in three days – the first was from the public road approaching midday (the actual area off the road is private too) and the second was at the recovery site (as was typical at this site, it was a bit distant for great photos in the late afternoon). We dipped at the private hide which is your best chance for great photos. There were also 4 species of bats at the road/tunnel at the end of the dam wall.
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BrettHartl
I used the local company Iberian Lynx Land (https://iberianlynxland.com/) to set up the trip and handle logistics. Their guides also know their birds too and places to look for other mammals in addition to lynx. I flew into Madrid and drove to the area near Parque Natural de la Sierra de Andújar, which has the most lynx. I would say three full days more than enough in December-February when the lynx are generally considered to be most active. You might need more time in October.