Jimena de la Frontera is a small town in the South East of the province of Cadiz, on the edge of the Los Alcornocales Natural Park. Depending on where you set off, you can go to this place up in the mountains taking the C3331I or by taking the faster A381. Driving along the C3331can be a bit tricky. There is not a lot of traffic, but it is a quite narrow track in the mountains, with a lot of curves. Keep your eyes on the road at all times, and don't get distracted by the beautiful landscape or birds.
As I approached my destination, I saw a lot of Chaffinches sitting on a shady part the road. Unfortunately, I didn't manage to photograph a single one. There is simply no space to pull over your car.
If you do like me and take this road through the mountains, then be careful with what your GPS tells you. Avoid going through the centre of the village at all costs! The streets are very narrow and extremely steep.
Upon arriving I immediately heard a Nightingale, singing in the bushes. Some Griffon Vultures, House Sparrows, Barn Swallows, Greenfinches and Goldfinches could all be observed at the start of the trail, called Sendero Rio Hozgarganta, within minutes after starting my walk. As you can see in the photo, there wasn't much water in the river at some stage.

After a few minutes I came across a curious structure, which turned out to be the remains of an old ammunition factory. A few swallows performed an acrobatic display through the canals that used to lead to the factory and I assume they had their nest in one of the small tunnels.
The path continues along the river. Sometimes you can get really close to the crystal clear water. The sound of the stream flowing over the rocks is really relaxing, especially in cambination with the songs of the many birds.

After one kilometre or so there are concrete blocks in the river so you can reach the other side if you want. I was hoping to find a path there and continue my walk, but I soon found out I had to turn back to the original side of the river.

Chaffinches were the most common species of the afternoon, together with a colony of Griffon Vultures. I was prepared for a very long distance walk, but at the point were I expected to find some way to cross the river, my only option was to climb a mountain. The views were great, but I started to feel I was getting too far away from the river and I wisely decided to descend and go back.

Before I went down again, I took some photos of a low flying Griffon Vulture and spotted a nest on the opposite side of the river, high up between the rocks.








During my walk I identified these species:
White Stork
Collared Dove
Egyptian Vulture
Griffon Vulture
Eurasian Blue Tit
Eurasian Crag Martin
Barn Swallow
Eurasian Blackcap
Sardinian Warbler
Eurasian Wren
Eurasian Blackbird
Common Nightingale
House Sparrow
Common Chaffinch
European Greenfinch
European Goldfinch
European Serin
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