FAQ
The whole Barcelona Birding Point team is fully vaccinated against Covid-19.
Regarding European legislation, Barcelona Birding Point guarantees a 100% refunding to all clients in case of cancellations due to restrictions on mobility, flight cancellations, lockdowns or closing borders affecting you or your destination.
Regarding the recommendations and instructions of the WHO (World Health Organization) and the competent health authorities, Barcelona Birding Point has developed a protocol to guarantee the safety of everyone throughout our tours. Barcelona Birding Point will follow health restrictions and recommendations on behalf of the safety and health of all tour participants and thirds.
To book your seat in one of our tours it is necessary to follow these steps:
- To complete the Booking Form that we will send you as soon as you contact us.
- To scan and send a copy of the Booking Form once completed and signed.
- Payment of a refundable deposit.
- Once the previous steps are done Barcelona Birding Point will confirm your booking.*
Deposits and payments are to be done via International Bank Transfer or PayPal.
*The booking ends up with the confirmation of Barcelona Birding Point of your booking. If the selected tour includes flights or any other services provided by a third enterprise, the final confirmation of your booking will not be done until those enterprises confirm the availability of their services.
To book a day or 2 days outing around Barcelona is fairly easy. Contact us to set up:
- What day would you like to get out to check our availability.
- Your address in Barcelona where to pick up you early morning.
- Once the previous steps are done Barcelona Birding Point will confirm your booking.
- Payment is to be done via PayPal or in cash during the outing.
In the unlikely event that Barcelona Birding Point cancels a tour, for whatever reason, including not reaching the minimum number of participants required to complete it, all payments made, including deposits, will be returned to the payer or transferred to another tour chosen by the client.
In the event that it is the client who decides to cancel the reservation, the following cancellation charges will be applied as a general rule, without prejudice to the specific cancellation charges (Specific Conditions) that may appear in your reservation document or Guarantee Deposit of Reservation:
- If the cancellation is made between 31 and 62 calendar days (both inclusive) before the start date of the tour, 30% of the capital paid up to the time of cancellation will be returned.
- If the cancellation is made during the last 30 calendar days (including the 30th) before the start date of the tour, no refund of the capital paid will be made until the moment of cancellation. In any case, Barcelona Birding Point could consider the possibility of transferring said capital to another tour as long as it has places available and its price is equivalent to or greater than that of the canceled tour. Any increase in the price will be paid immediately and this offer will not be made again in the event of a new cancellation by the client.
- In any case, Barcelona Birding Point has the right to retain all the capital received when cancellations occur during the last 30 calendar days (including the 30th) and is not obliged to offer any alternative tour.
- COVID-19. In cancellations directly related to Covid-19 pandemia, Barcelona Birding Point will offer the client to relocate the contracted tour on other dates. If the client does not accept this possibility, a full refund of all the amounts paid will be made,
These general cancellation conditions can be modified by specific conditions in some tours. The client will be informed of the specific cancellation conditions at the time of booking.
If coming in a tour around Barcelona, we always recommend our guests to take with them sun glasses, a cap and sun cream all year round. If coming to coastal wetlands you should bring anti-mosquitoes lotion.
Binoculars, spotting scope, photo camera, birding guide, notebook… Every gadget is welcome!
If attending any of our tours overseas, we will provide you with a complete list of what essential items it is necessary to have with you during the tour. This list will include clothing, vaccines, passport information, protection against insects and information to make your holiday a pleasant experience.
Even if our tours are not photo tours, there are always chances to casual bird photography. Still, this can vary from one tour to other, and day to day within a tour. In Catalonia, Ebro Delta is probably the best place to bird photography, but many of our clients dream with good shots on Wallcreeper!
When being in a tour with a small group of clients, we are happy to help photographers in the group to get the best possible images, even if the tour cannot stop as much as we would like.
Overseas, excellent tours to bird photography includes Finland, Oman, Uganda, Ethiopia and Ecuador to name a few.
In average, all year round is great out of July and early August, when birding can be quiet (but not bad).
Most of birdwatchers tend to explore the Mediterranean countries in spring, when mild temperatures combine with bird migration and several resident species are already nesting.
That’s a great time to enjoy great specialities such as Great Spotted Cuckoo, Lammergeier, Black Woodpecker, Dunpont’s Lark, European Roller, Citril Finch, Collared Pratincole, Little Bustard and so on while searching for scarce migratory birds: White-winged Black Tern, Little Crake, Red-footed Falcon.
January-February is also a wonderful time, and many birdwatchers choose to spend some days in winter in search of the Pyrenean specialities: Alpine Accentors, Wallcreepers and the nomadic White-winged Snow Finches. It is also a great time to enjoy Bluethroats, and Moustached Warblers are most active during these months. Flocks of Larks, Sandgrouses and Bustards are present in the steppes, and it is an excellent time to enjoy early nesting birds of prey such as Eurasian Eagle Owl, Bonelli’s Eagle and Lammergeier.
For those aiming to enjoy a good general birding and exciting raptor and wader action, late August to mid September is their time. A really good variety of waders can be seen at Ebro Delta and other wetlands, while raptor migration offers good chances for large flocks of European Honey Buzzard and scarcer raptors including Eleonora’s Falcon and Pallid Harrier.
Yes. Even if over 80% of our clients are British, Americans or Dutch, we are glad to have a good variety of nationalities attending our tours.
An average overseas tour can have people from 3 or 4 nationalities. All our tours are guided in English.
Yes, all our guests attending multi-day tours are provided with a birding check list.
We build up the list of every tour only with the species seen in previous issues and pre-tours. In multi-day tours exploring Catalonia and Spain, we do offer a check list including all the species that we may see.
Our check lists may also include mammals, butterflies, dragonflies and reptilians depending on what country/region we do explore.
