Maigmó

Maigmó is a mountain woodland reserve, no more than twenty minutes from the centre of Alicante, but not as easy of access as it used to be, before the new motorway was built.

Access instructions: Take the Alcoy/Castalla motorway from Alicante, and leave at the turning for Tibi. Ignore the right turn for that village, and continue until you see a sign for ‘Polígono industrial’ to the left. Go straight up here until you get to the top, where a small metalled road goes off to the left under the pines. This leads you under a bridge below the motorway. Turn right, and the entrance to Maigmó is some 100 metres along on the left. You can drive all the way to two summits, but most birds are lower down in the bigger pines, especially around the drinking ponds of ‘la Melonera’ a kids’ campsite, where Crossbill come to drink, and there are nestboxes for Crested and Coal Tit.

Short-toed Treecreeper, Firecrest, Crossbill, Mistle Thrush, Jay, Woodlark, Rock & Cirl Bunting are usually to be found, and summer breeders include Bonelli’s Warbler. Mammals include Wild Boar and occasionally Moufflon. Weekends are best avoided, as the reserve is a popular picnic venue.

SAT NAV CO-ORDINATES – N38 30.256 W0 37.283