John Muddeman's trips for 2012

John Muddeman - Butterflies, dragonflies, birds and birding in Madrid, Extremadura, La Mancha and Andalucia, Spain John is a professional tour guide, writer and scientific translator, with a lifelong interest in diverse aspects of natural history. He lives in Madrid and guides organised groups throughout Iberia and Europe. Birding is his main field of expertise.

burnet moth sp. Zygaena hilaris

John Muddeman

After periods of post-graduate research at Oxford, research trips to Turkey and Armenia, followed by almost a year in the U.S.A. (Birds of Armenia Project), all related to bird biology, ecology, distribution and identification, I started leading wildlife tours in October 1996. Birds are my main focus, with over 30 years of experience under my belt. However, I have much wider natural history interests, especially regarding identification: botany, particularly orchids, mammals, reptiles, amphibians, dragonflies, butterflies and moths. Bluethroat
Luscinia svecica A recent side-line of these natural history interests is digital photography, including digiscoping, and I have begun to build photographic databases of Iberian dragonflies, butterflies and moths. A few of these pictures are shown here and elsewhere on the site.

Having been drawn to central Spain in early 1997 by a Spanish señorita, to whom I am now married, I rapidly fell in love with the diverse landscapes, huge horizons, extraordinarily rich wildlife, the people, food and generally good weather of the Iberian Peninsula!

Less than a month after settling near Madrid, I joined a trip to Extremadura in west-central Spain. This remarkable area has held a fascination for me ever since, leading to publication of "A Birdwatching Guide to Extremadura" Griffon Vulture
Gyps fulvus by Arlequin Press in 2000. I have also travelled and led groups widely across Spain and Portugal, from the Balearic Islands (Mallorca and Menorca), Pyrenees and Picos de Europa in the north, to Doñana, the Strait of Gibraltar and the Algarve in the south, several of these in conjunction with Teresa Farino. I am currently also co-authoring both "The Birds of the Balearic Islands: historical review, status and distribution" for Christopher Helm and "A Birdwatching Guide to Central Spain".

Shrubby Pimpernel
Anagallis monelli

I have led a number of trips for individuals and small groups in the past, particularly to see such key species as Black Vulture, Spanish Imperial Eagle, White-headed Duck, Pin-tailed Sandgrouse, White-rumped Swift and Dupont's Lark. However, my main focus is on leading for established UK companies. I am a principle guide for The Travelling Naturalist Wildlife Holidays, but also lead tours for Limosa Holidays, Honeyguide Wildlife Holidays and Island Holidays.

While the bulk of my tours have been in Iberia (Balearic and Canary Islands, Andalucía, Extremadura, Sierra de Gredos, Picos de Europa and Pyrenees), I now also specialise in shorter 7-12 day trips in several parts of Europe. With well over 100 tours and 13 years' wildlife guiding experience under my belt, outside Iberia these have included natural history tours in such magical and wildlife-rich places as Islay (Scotland), Finland, Poland, Switzerland, eastern Austria, eastern Romania, Hungary, the French Pyrenees, Lesvos and Cyprus. Further afield I've now also had the immense good fortune to have led in Trinidad and Tobago (Asa Wright N.C. and Little Tobago are hard to beat!), Churchill in Canada (the Polar Bears are astounding!), eastern Yellow-winged Darter
Sympetrum flaveolum South Africa (another amazing experience!) and New Zealand (3 weeks is not enough!).

While obviously always endeavouring to get the most from each of the areas visited, I am a firm believer that a holiday should be just that, with time for rest and relaxation Scarce Swallowtail
Iphiclides podalirius and the opportunity to enjoy the sights and sounds of the surroundings.

If you are after orchids and bottle-nosed dolphins in Portugal in March, or the birds and 'watercolour' landscapes of Extremadura, perhaps a birdwatching bonanza in SW Spain in April, searching for Lammergeiers among the wildlife-rich Pyrenees, getting the thrill of watching raptors pouring south over the Strait of Gibraltar to Africa in late September, seeing masses of wintering Cranes in Extremadura in November, or Wallcreepers and Cranes in Aragón in late autumn, then perhaps one of these trips is for you!

Interested?

Please feel free to look at further details of the trips detailed below, either in the relevant websites (just click on the link), or by contacting me directly.

John Muddeman - Trip listing for 2012

Please click on the name of the tour which interests you to go direct to the tour page, where you can find more details of what we might see, a provisional itinerary and, in the case of The Travelling Naturalist / Limosa Holidays, detailed reports of past trips. Bookings should be made directly with the company in question, but I am obviously more than happy to answer any queries that you might have regarding the tour. Please note that I am first leader except on those tours where initials are indicated.

John Muddeman - Contact Details

Address:	C/ Alcocer 1, 1-C 28214 Fresnedillas de la Oliva, Madrid Spain
E-mail:
Office:	(+34) 918 989195
Mobile:	(+34) 649 608747
			Great Bustard Otis tarda