Cabo de Santa Pola

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Spain

Overview

The Cabo de Santa Pola has a good range of habitats and birds and is very conveniently situated between the highly developed tourist centres of Alicante to the north and Torrevieja to the south. The headland itself rises about 100m above the sea and consists of terraces of fossilised coral reef. The vegetation is largely typical Mediterranean scrub with the addition of numerous Dwarf Fan Palms. Lying about 4km offshore is the small island of Tabarca and its many islets. There is a village on the western side of the island but the remainder has a covering of dense prickly-pear scrub. Both the headland and the island attract many migrants and the sea around the island is now a marine sanctuary. To the east of Santa Pola town are a series of salt-pans with an excellent range of wetland birds.

Birds

Notable Species

Rufous-tailed Scrub Robin is a fairly common breeder on the Cabo de Santa Pola as well as various shrikes and warblers including Sardinian Warbler and Zitting Cisticola. The cliffs of the headland are home to Black Wheatear and Blue Rock Thrush and Black-eared Wheatear and Greater Short-toed Lark can be seen on Tabarca. Yellow-legged Gull is common on the island and Audouin's Gull can often be seen on the southern coast. European Storm-petrel breeds on Tabarca's satellite islets and Rock Dove and Pallid Swift nest in the village. During passage periods and in winter the headland and island can provide good seawatching with Cory's Shearwater and Balearic Shearwater, Mediterranean Shag, Northern Gannet and Razorbill. Osprey regularly occurs on passage and in winter.

The former delta of the River Vinalopo now consists of salt-pans, freshwater pools and reedbeds, saltmarsh and a long sandy beach. Greater Flamingo, Little Egret, Red-crested Pochard and Kentish Plover can be seen throughout the year at the Santa Pola salt-pans. Other residents include Lesser Short-toed Lark, Moustached Warbler, Zitting Cisticola, Spotless Starling and Bearded Tit. These are joined in summer by Little Bittern, Squacco Heron and Purple Heron, Marbled Duck, Black-winged Stilt and Gull-billed Tern and Whiskered Tern. During passage periods the salt-pans may be visited by Slender-billed Gull and Audouin's Gull, Caspian Tern and Black Tern, Osprey and Common Kingfisher.

Check-list

Birds you can see here include:

Little Grebe, Great Crested Grebe, Black-necked Grebe, Balearic Shearwater, Cory's Shearwater, European Storm-petrel, Great Cormorant, Mediterranean Shag, Northern Gannet, Little Bittern, Black-crowned Night Heron, Squacco Heron, Cattle Egret, Little Egret, Grey Heron, Purple Heron, White Stork, Glossy Ibis, Eurasian Spoonbill, Greater Flamingo, Common Shelduck, Eurasian Wigeon, Common Teal, Mallard, Northern Pintail, Garganey, Northern Shoveler, Marbled Duck, Red-crested Pochard, Common Pochard, Tufted Duck, Common Scoter, Marsh Harrier, Montagu's Harrier, Osprey, Common Kestrel, Common Quail, Water Rail, Eurasian Coot, Black-winged Stilt, Pied Avocet, Little Ringed Plover, Ringed Plover, Kentish Plover, Golden Plover, Grey Plover, Northern Lapwing, Red Knot, Sanderling, Little Stint, Curlew Sandpiper, Dunlin, Ruff, Slender-billed Gull, Audouin's Gull, Yellow-legged Gull, Caspian Tern, Sandwich Tern, Common Tern, Gull-billed Tern, Whiskered Tern, Black Tern, Razorbill, Rock Dove, Pallid Swift, Common Kingfisher, European Bee-eater, (PM), Hoopoe, Greater Short-toed Lark, Lesser Short-toed Lark, Thekla Lark, Barn Swallow, Eurasian Crag Martin, Water Pipit, Rufous-tailed Scrub Robin, Black-eared Wheatear, Black Wheatear, Blue Rock Thrush, Zitting Cisticola, Savi's Warbler, Moustached Warbler, Reed Warbler, Great Reed Warbler, Sardinian Warbler, Bearded Tit, Woodchat Shrike, Spotless Starling, Reed Bunting

Other Wildlife

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Site Information

History and Use

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Areas of Interest

The island of Tabarca can be reached by boat from Alicante or, more conveniently, from Santa Pola with shorter and more frequent trips. Camping is allowed on Tabarca for those wishing to spend more than the usual few hours.

Access and Facilities

Santa Pola can be reached on the N332 south from Alicante and the headland can be found on the minor 'Faro' road to the east about 3km north of Santa Pola. Accommodation is plentiful in both Santa Pola and the nearby towns of Alicante and Torrevieja and the area is ideal for visitors on package holidays to these towns. The salt-pans cover a large area and lie to the east of Santa Pola and may be marked on maps as the Albufera de Elche. From Santa Pola take the N332 Cartagena road which crosses the area giving good views over the salt-pans. There is a track round the northern edge of the pans almost opposite the Playa Lissa road which is worth exploring and further south the old tower to the east of the N332 also gives access to good birding areas.

Contact Details

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External Links

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Content and images originally posted by Steve