Bird Watching in The Alpujarra

Bird Watching in The Alpujarra

This years grape harvest was poor in The Alpujarra with many bunches of grapes shriveling up or bunches with only 5 or 6 grapes. As a consequence, many of the “frugal” bunches were left unpicked awaiting our annual pruning session in mid December.  This coupled with a long, hotter than normal Autumn meant that not only did we have the normal birds hanging around, but that we even had a surprise visitor that we have not seen in the 11 years we have been here. A Sardinian Warbler which spent a lot of time feeding on the unpicked grapes. Even when we did finally prune the vines, we left the grapes dangling and were rewarded visitations from Robins and Blue Tits in addition to the Sardinian Warbler.

Sardinian Warbler feeding on grapes at Finca Montaña

Our House, Finca Montaña is 1300m above sea level and it can get quite cool up here in the late autumn and winter. Snow doesn’t usually last more than 3 days as it’s always warm when the sun is out. However the night time temperature does often get down to around -8 degrees centigrade. That said our winter resident birds include: Golden Eagles, Griffon Vultures, Kestrels, Larks (crested and Sky), Black Eared Wheatears, Black Caps, Stone Chats, Robins, Blue Tits, Jays, Magpies and Ravens. A little above us (in the Juniper) we have Ring Ouzels (from around 2100m). But never before a Sardinian Warbler.

We are now planning to leave bunches of grapes every year in the hope of attracting more birds.

Black-eared Wheatear at Finca Montaña

In Summer the list of birds to be seen expands dramatically to include Egyptian Vulture's, Hoopoe's, Bee Eaters and various swifts and Swallows to name a few. 

Higher up on the mountain tops we are rewarded with Alpine Accentors which are remarkably tame on the summit of Mulhacen 3482 (mainland Spain’s highest mountain) where they have got used to being amongst people and feeding off the crumbs and remnants of sandwiches.

Alpine Accentor on Mulhacen

Spring is a good time to visit with both the migratory birds passing through and the summer visitors arriving. Finca Montaña is ideally placed for bird watching, situated very remote, in its own 5 acres of grounds but surrounded by mostly undeveloped natural mountain side and a few small holdings still mainly farmed in a traditional way.

Mike and Jane who own Finca Montaña provide a full board package from £30 per night.  As qualified International Mountain Leaders they also offer guided walks and treks in The Alpujarra and Sierra Nevada.

Finca Montaña "The Good Life"

Autumn’s Harvest is gathered at Finca Montaña.

Collecting the almonds

The walnuts, chestnuts and almonds are all now gathered.  It has been a poor year for Almonds in the Alpujarra and Sierra Nevada due to a combination of frosts getting at the blossom and high winds as the nuts were setting.  The grape harvest was poor too.  Probably due a lot of mists at our height (1300m) throughout the summer.  Most peoples grapes around here seemed to suffer the same mildew fate.

We have chestnuts in abundance and have been experimenting with chestnut recipes, though so far the best use for them has either been Chestnuts roasted on the fire or various forms of chestnut stuffing. Delicious!

This year we had to leave Spain in mid-October so didn’t manage to gather all of the grapes in.  As a result we have only been able to make 25 litres of wine this year. Although with wine so cheap in Spain I sometimes wonder if it’s worth the effort of making our own wine…..  Of course it is!  It will be bottled in December and will take pride of place at the dinner table for special events.

The Grape Harvest!

We had bought a new grape press this year to replace our traditional method of treading the grapes (in the washing up bowl).  It’s such good fun harvesting your own grapes and making your own wine.  With a predicted world shortage of wine looming in the next few years I’m starting to plan creating our own vineyard and will be planting next spring.  So if you fancy a working holiday contributing to save the world from a wine shortage combined with some fine walking, book your stay at Finca Montaña.

We’re currently enjoying a few weeks back in the U.K. but come the start of December we’ll be back to start the job of pruning our fruit trees, and turning the land over with our cultivator.

So the big plan for next year is to develop the wine producing alongside taking in guests and leading guided walks.  If you fancy staying at Finca Montaña visit our website.

December, walking in a T shirt!

Finca Montaña is a great, reasonably priced, base for walkers to enjoy the spectacular hill and mountain walking that the Alpujarra and Sierra Nevada have to offer. Walking is possible throughout the year in The Alpujarra though it’s a good idea to miss the heat of August. Even in January and February it is often possible to walk wearing a T shirt. Walking in the High Sierra Nevada is cooler! The best months are June, July, September and October though if you fancy some snowshoeing (possibly combined with some warmer walking in the Alpujarra), February is a good time to visit.

Mike and Jane the owners of Finca Montaña are both qualified International Mountain Leaders with an extensive knowledge of walking in The Alpujarra and Sierra Nevada.

Mulhacen, Magnificent!

Mulhacen, Magnificent!

It’s normal for us at Mountain House Holidays to be guiding people up Mulhacen which at 3482m is the highest mountain in The Sierra Nevada and the whole of mainland Spain. However yesterday, having a day off we decided to climb Mulhacen ourselves for the sheer enjoyment of it. Legend has it that Mully Hasan the deposed and penultimate Arab King of Al Andalus is buried on the mountain.

Mulhacen Summit

Most people tackling Mulhacen take the National Park bus from Capileira up to Alto del Chorrillo at 2700m and ascend and descend Mulhacen’s South Ridge. It’s fine to use the bus and the South Ridge as part of the excursion but to only do a “there and back from the bus” is a short day and will leave you thinking it’s not been a proper day out!

Setting out early in summer is the best tactic. This allows you to get the climbing done before the heat of the day starts to sap your energy. We started from Hoya del Portillo 2160m at 7.30am. It was cold, 10 degrees C and for the first 20 minutes we were in the forest so no sun. Still the motto is: start cold and warm up walking up hill! By the time we had reached the view point of Puerto Molino 2380m (30 minutes) we were warm! Our route continued along the ridge of Prado Llano 2577m to 2622m before joining the old road along to Alto del Chorrillo arriving there for a breakfast break at 9.15am.

Dense Flowering Sandwort

The actual ascent of Mulhacen along the south ridge is pleasant, and in summer a well defined path with cairns marking the way through the screes just below the subsidiary summit of Mulhacen II at 3361m. Even though we stopped to take photo’s of plants and beetles, we reached the summit at 11.20am a total time of 3 hours and 50 minutes. A distance of 11.4Km with a total height gained of 1412m. An hour and 20 minutes ahead of Naismith (The rule for calculating the time to walk up mountains – allow 4Km per hour and add a minute for every 10m of ascent).

We were ahead of the crowd from the bus so the summit was fairly quiet. There was a small group of “Cabra” the Iberian Ibex mooching around not particularly afraid of us, the usual Alpine Accentor and a large squadron of Swifts giving a good display of aerobatics.

Iberian Ibex

After a short break on the summit, it was time to head downwards before the crowds from the bus arrived. There is a zig zag path down the screes of Mulhacen’s West flank which we took heading to the Collado de la Mosca which gives great views of both Mulhacen’s and Alcazaba’s 3371m North Faces. A further 10 minutes and you are down to the Caldera Hut, an unmanned “bivouac” hut with bunks, tables and chairs. From here there is an impressive view back up to Mulhacen’s summit. A spot of lunch was called for at The Caldera!

With clients if we had caught the bus we would continue down to the Poqueira Refuge 2500m to make a circuit back to Hoya del Portillo. However as we had not walked the old road back to Alto del Chorrillo for a few years we though we’d re-acquaint ourselves with this option. It proved as boring as we remembered it though a useful way out if the weather turns nasty. From Alto del Chorrillo we then returned the way we had ascended finally arriving back to Hoya del Portillo at 3.30pm.

Mulhacen's West Flank from the Caldera Refuge

All that remained was to drive back to a bar in Capileira for the customary drink and plan for the next outing!

Mountain House Holidays and our company “Sierra Nevada Guides” are the only British Qualified Guides (International Mountain Leaders) working in Spain’s Sierra Nevada and Alpujarra.

The Sierra Nevada Guides website has a lot of useful information for people wanting to visit the area, especially for walkers and climbers.

We are always happy to respond to emails answering questions about the area.