Meet our team

These are our birding guides

  • Are you looking for birding guides to explore the best sites in Andalucia and Spain?
  • Or maybe you are looking for a local guide to go birding in Tarifa and the Strait of Gibraltar?
  • Do you want to sign up for a bird photography workshop to learn quick tips and get better pictures?

Our Birding The Strait Team can help you! They are based in Tarifa, Strait of Gibraltar, where they guide locally. Also, they travel extensively and go birding in Andalucia, all over Spain and Morocco.

Nacho Barrionuevo

Nacho Barrionuevo, a native of Andalusia, has always had a strong interest in birds, but his fascination deepened when a bird guide in Tablas de Daimiel National Park infected him with enthusiasm. As a result, he decided to pursue studies in biology and focus his undergraduate thesis on the populations of forest birds in Sierra de las Nieves National Park. He has collaborated in various bird surveys, such as the International Waterbird Survey, as well as national surveys of Eurasian Jackdaws, Monk and Rose-ringed Parakeets. Nacho is also a co-author and reviewer of several bird guides dedicated to his native province, Málaga. He is currently a regional eBird reviewer and one of the most active birders in the region.

Javi Elorriaga

Javi Elorriaga, original from the Basque Country, has been involved in the conservation of the Cinereous Vulture in Greece. He also worked with the Bearded Vulture in the Pyrenees and Picos de Europa National Park. Later, he participated in the monitoring of bird migration in the Strait of Gibraltar. Finally, he has been part of the Osprey reintroduction in northern Spain. He has contributed to over 30 scientific papers, book chapters and articles in birding journals and has been a member of the Spanish Committee of Rare Birds. Javi is one of the founders of Birding The Strait and the main guide in our Spain and Morocco tours and in charge of our pelagic trips in Andalusia.

Fernando Gross

Fernando Gross grew up in Andalusia, where he discovered birding at an early age during summers in the countryside of Málaga and Sevilla. His fascination with birds and biodiversity developed into a lifelong passion, leading him to explore new places in search of rare species. He has participated in raptor monitoring projects in the Strait of Gibraltar and volunteered in Batumi, Georgia, collecting data at one of the world’s most remarkable raptor migration bottlenecks. Fernando also leads a personal initiative to protect nesting Montagu’s Harriers in the Guadalquivir lowlands, where much of his field experience has been gained. At Birding The Strait, he leads many of our day trips and contributes to the monitoring of Balearic Shearwaters as part of our collaborative project with the University of Cádiz.

María León

María León is a biologist who has worked in various research centers, such as Doñana Biological Station. Her inquisitive character led her to study a master’s degree in Geographic Information Systems and Databases at the University of Seville. In the Strait of Gibraltar, she conducted counts of soaring birds, passerine and seabirds for the Migres Foundation, worked as a field biologist at wind power plants and collaborated with the Moonwatching Program for the study of birds migrating across the lunar disk for several years. María is the Operations Manager at Birding The Strait, she develops project coordination tasks, management and implementation of new strategies.

Yeray Seminario

Yeray Seminario became a veterinarian and started working in wildlife rehabilitation. He got a Master’s in Conservation Biology, basing his thesis on the Red Kite in the Canary Islands. After that, he did an internship with the International Bird Rescue in California and was part of an oil-spill rescue team with IFAW in Argentina. He worked with The Peregrine Fund on the Orange-breasted Falcon and Harpy Eagle conservation projects in Central America. Yeray is one of the founders of Birding The Strait and takes care of many of our international tours, leading birding trips in countries like Belize, Bhutan, Cuba, India and Senegal, to name a few.