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Testimonials

Thank you to everyone for your kind comments and words of encouragement

Dear Julian. Having returned home, this short note is to thank you and say how much Chris and Geoff Isaac and myself enjoyed our two trips with you, earlier this month. They were really something special and I hope we shall be able to catch up with you again next year. Meanwhile, could you please remind me of the make of camera and lens you used to photo the Sacred Ibis at Pego and, if you have any photos of the area we visited near Albacete, they would be appreciated.

Peter Cheesman (Full & Half Day Tours - Valencia Region)

Jules, just a quick thank you for the last 5 days. It was most enjoyable, the company was good, the hotels and food were very acceptable, but most importantly your know how enabled us to reach the total of birds that we ended up with. Most of all, thank you for being my eyes.

Brian Conduit (Cranes, Plains & Wildfowl - November 2007).

Hi Jules, A slightly belated but very warm thank you for the trip, it was most enjoyable and everybody said how well you did, a big well done and thanks again. Really look forward to seeing you again in May and hopefully September, attached are details of my Solway weekend which still has spare place if you can make it?. All the best.

Richard & Jane Palmer (Cranes, Plains & Wildfowl - November 2007).

Hello Jules, Thanks for organising and conducting the trip, there were many memorable sights and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I may try for the May Short Break but can't make the one in Sept, however some of the other European ones might also be of interest.

Don MacBean (Cranes, Plains & Wildfowl - November 2007).

Hi there. We are still glowing from our visit to your lovely country earlier this week, unfortunately we have lost the list you gave us of your trips next year. Can you send me us please?

Michael & Wendy Ball (Cranes, Plains & Wildfowl - November 2007).

We had heard good things about this area and about Jules and Oliva Rama Tours and we were very impressed all round. We ended up with a list of 118 species, which we thought was pretty good since we had only had 2 days’ dedicated birding and our time was really spent on trying to find certain key species rather than clocking up a large trip list. The accommodation at Oliva Rama Pension  is very clean and comfortable (great breakfasts!) and the location is good too, with plenty of good birding right on the doorstep. Jules is a knowledgable and dedicated host who will really go that extra mile to try to meet his clients’ wishes. He went above and beyond the call of duty with us, and completely because of his efforts, we managed to see every one of our target species. If you like good company and want to see some great birds, I really can’t recommend Jules and Oliva Rama Tours highly enough. We saw many good birds, but I believe that the birding in Spring-time is likely to be even better, so the organisation of just such a trip is the next project on my list!  (Taken from Ray's trip report on Birdforum - here)

Ray & Lynne Baker (Short Break - Valencia Region)

Hi mate, just letting you know we are home safe and well, and thanking you very much once again for a great time you showed us both birdwatching. Please thank Jill for us and also give her our love. I will keep in touch and we hope to join you again in the not too distant future. All the very best once again (even if you are from bloody Yorkshire!).

Terry Wynn & Celia Pittaway  (Short Break - Valencia Region)

Hi Jules. We got back on time but were held up in passport control for a hour, so the luggage had to wait for us!!. Got fish and chips for Frank en route home so he was happy. Thanks again for a fantastic trip, looking forward to Poland.

Alan Moorhouse (Pyrenees & N/E Spain - September 2007)

Great holiday, and I am definite for Morocco next year and I would like to come on the Eastern Poland holiday as well, so please add me to the list for this.

Ron Waters (Pyrenees & N/E Spain - September 2007)

Just to say a big " Thank You" for a superb birding holiday. The Pyrenees are so spectacular as are the birds and we really enjoyed our day on the Ebro Delta. A fantastic trip, good birds, good food and good company. Hope to see you again very soon.

Keith & Val Hudson (Pyrenees & N/E Spain - September 2007)

Hi Jules, Just wanted to say thanks again for a really great holiday. Bit of a shock to the system being back home. Hope your trip this week goes well and isn't too affected by the weather.

Kim Blasco (Andalucia - September 2007)

Thank you Jules for your wonderful hospitality and excellent birdwatching holiday, we will be back.

Adrian & Joan Adams (Pyrenees & N/E Spain - May 2007)

Brilliant area, great birds and excellent local knowledge from Jules, since he managed to find me all my target species. SUPERB.

Darren Starkey (Short Break - Valencia Region)

Jules many thanks, 110% effort & success on our short stay. We will be back for more.

John & John Murray (Short Break - Valencia Region)

Hi Jules, Thanks for the excellent photos  - and for the great week! I'll certainly send you some of my pics as soon as possible. I hope your trips go well this week and will see you again sometime.

Richard Piner (Castilla la Mancha & Extremadura - May 2007)

A fantastic time - we have learnt a hell of a lot from our say here. Thank you very much and looking forward to coming again.

Kevin & Andrew Waddison (Short Break - Valencia Region)

We've had a fantastic time (again). It's always great to use your knowledge of the area, and the champagne was a lovely thought, thank you.

Gary & Gwen Smith (Short Break - Valencia Region)

Dear Jules and Ken, thanking you both for an excellent trip.  So many great memories - so many great birds!  I loved the country, thought it was absolutely amazing.  Kemeru and Cape Kolka in particular were outstanding.  Food superb (diet time now!) and I really enjoyed everyone's company, it was a fun group.   Your joint leadership was excellent, and you really took the trouble to ensure that we all had a really great time.  Thank you so much.

Anthea Skiffington (Latvia - April 2007)

Jules, I just wanted to drop you a quick mail to thank you for the wonderful time that we had with you and your family at Oliva Rama last weekend. We are both still missing everything about our holiday and we have not stopped talking about the few days that we spent at Oliva. We both wish that we were still there! The tour was a brilliant mix of great breakfasts, great company and great birding.  We were both impressed by your knowledge of birds and their habitats and really appreciate the effort that you put into showing us the birds in and around the region.  We cannot thank you enough for helping us identify the birds correctly by sight, sound and context.  Your patience was brilliant and I hope the next time we see you we will be much better birders and maybe even Gull converts. Although, you can't beat a family of Bee-eaters whistling whilst they feed on bees! Good luck with the business.  Hope things go smoothly during the busy summer months. Once again.  Thanks, thanks and more thanks.  It was great.  Hope to see you again.

Peter & Jenny Tennant (Short Break - Valencia Region)

Hi Jules, Just another thank you for the great time we had with you and thanks for letting us know about the Squacco Heron. Will send you the CD when I get it done and will also email other things I promised.

Geoff & Yvonne Beasley (Short Break - Valencia Region)

Hi Jules, This is just to say thank you so much for a fantastic birding trip in the beautiful Pyrenees. We had a wonderful time and enjoyed your being in your company – I only hoped you enjoyed ours. Once again we had a fab time and thanks for teaching us so much, we have come back with bins-a-ready. If you want some feedback on the trip…I loved the Uson, the hotel and the area around there and would definitely travel back to that area. I personally wouldn’t give the landlady at Fuendetodos any more of my money but maybe next time she’ll be a bit more hospitable to your group!!! Also I personally think it was a bit chilly for picnics and would have preferred a quick stop for a bocadillo for lunch. But none of this really made any difference to our enjoyment of the holiday and we had a blast.

Mike & Sue Pryor (Pyrenees & N/E Spain - March 2007)

Just a note of thanks for a great time last week, we all thoroughly enjoyed ourselves, I hope you did too: I personally have carried away a lot of great memories, topped of course by the Close Encounter of the Buzzard Kind. We know we spend too much time eating and not enough birding, but we learnt a hell of a lot.

Graham & Agi Turner (Pyrenees & N/E Spain - March 2007)

Hi Jules, Many many thanks for a really sensational time, and look forward to the next one with you.

Jan Beever (Castilla la Mancha & Extremadura - March 2007)

Hi Jules, Hope you are well and you have fully recovered from the shock of Lithuanian temperatures !!.It was great to meet up with you again and thank you for a real treat. It was a great experience especially my first walk on a frozen lake, also my feeders now seem a bit tamer than they did before!

Ray Swaine (Lithuania Short Break - Feb 2007)

Just a note to say thanks for organizing everything. Thoroughly enjoyed the trip, the birds, the company and the country; a real birding experience. Also thank Jos through the Lithuanian birding grapevine – what a fantastic job he’s doing in Labanoras. Hope to see you soon on a birding break – in Spain, Latvia, Poland………….?

Simon Bates (Lithuania Short Break - Feb 2007)

Hi Jules, Just a few words to say how much we enjoyed the week. The places visited, the birding and the company were  first class. We thought that you ran the trip with a great deal of consideration and brilliant enthusiasm. Thanks very much for a great holiday and I hope to see you again soon.

Richard & Jane Palmer (Pyrenees & N/E Spain - October 2006)

Dear Jules, I'm back at home sitting in the English sunshine catching up on my e-mails and just wanted to say a very big thank you for a great trip. Going back to work tomorrow will seem very dull indeed!

Chris Byrne (Pyrenees & N/E Spain - October 2006)

Hi Jules, thanks for a great time, really enjoyed it, the Nightjars were something else.  I think I got 10+ lifers, I’ll let you know when I’ve counted. Thanks for your patience, my head wasn’t really together and I felt I didn’t contribute as much to spotting birds as I would have liked. Thanks to Amanda too for a superb breakfast.

Gary Nicholson (Short Break - Valencia Region)

Hi Julian, Just to let you know that we are safely back in the UK and deeply immersed in our old worlds. We had a great time, easily one of our best birding trips, not least because the way you take care of the itinerary means that we have maximum time birdwatching and we felt we had the flexibility to change the itinerary with you, depending on what we felt like doing and seeing. We will definitely be back! Many many thanks for the way you looked after us, we will be sending  you a copy of the trip DVD. All the best.

Colin Lewis & Trish Taylor (Andalucia - September 2006)

Dear Jules, I would like to thank you so much for the wonderful birding holiday to the Pyrenees which I enjoyed so very much. I felt that the holiday was wonderful value for money compared to most bird tour operators and having been on many of these trips in the past I can guarantee that your expertise in spotting and identifying birds is second to none. The friendly atmosphere that you create and the excellent hotels that we stay in, are further proof of an all round idyllic experience. We had wonderful views of some fantastic birds and I will never forget the moment that we all sat and gazed at the Dupont’s Lark from close quarters and whispered a sigh of relief at finding this most elusive bird. I will not hesitate to join you on further trips and to recommend you to my friends who I know will enjoy birding with such a small group and a friendly experienced leader.

Jan Beever (Pyrenees & N/E Spain - May 2006)

Thank you both so much for making our first birdwatching holiday such a success. We had a great time being so well looked after by you and look forward to seeing you next year.

Joan & Adrian Adams (Short Break - Valencia Region)

Hi Jules & Amanda. Thanks for such a super time last week, the bird list was amazing.  The trip home went like clockwork, arriving home at 9.00pm.  Met some friends last night and told them of your trips and one is already interested in one of your short breaks!. I will keep in contact and wish you both the best of good fortune for the future.

Mike & Olga Gould (Castilla la Mancha & Extremadura - May 2006)

Just thought that I would drop you a line to say THANKS, THANKS, THANKS for a fantastic trip, both you and Ken are consummate professional's, and were attentive to our every needs, my trip list came to 188 species which by any standard is FANTASTIC, keep up the good work.

John Fotheringham (Castilla la Mancha & Extremadura - May 2006)

5 days of fantastic birding, 172 species including most of the best birds Spain can offer. Too many highlights to mention but I would like to thank Jules for his professionalism, birding skill and knowledge and most of all great company. See you soon,

Derek Charles (5 Day Break - Valencia & Castilla la Mancha)

Jules, just a short note to say thanks for all you and Amanda did for us, I will be posting a fuller appreciation on the SoS website and also Birdforum when I have recovered from our exertions in Madrid and Valencia.

Graham & Agi Turner (Short Break - Valencia Region)

Hi Julian, Just a quick e-mail to thank you for the great day out in February watching birds. Myself and Jane both thoroughly enjoyed the day.

Simon Metcalfe (Day Tour - Valencia Region)

Thank-you once again for a great trip, and thanks for the photo's mate they look great in my report, could I be cheeky and asked for the other picture of Eagle owl that appears in your diary too. Best of luck for the trip or if I missed you and you've already been I hope it was a success.  Thank you once again as it was you that made it.

Jon Starie (Short Break - Valencia Region)

Just spent three and half days birding the area of southern Valencia with Julian as our guide, the area is excellent for birds, at some superb sites, but what made the trip was the hospitality and warmth of Julian & Amanda. As a tour guide Julian is excellent, with enthusiasm, patience, wonderful knowledge of the area and is excellent company to be with, I would highly recommend anyone to try a tour/trip with him.

David Taylor (Short Break - Valencia Region)

A big thank you note. The thank you is from the holiday for making my recognition of the Woodlark so easy. They were singing well when I got there but not to be seen. However when I went back later two came very close, right in front of the hide and I instantly knew what they were.

John Moon (Castilla la Mancha & Extremadura - March 2006)

Thoroughly enjoyed our stay here, the bird tours were superb and the breakfasts were lovely. We will be coming again, thanks for a great few days.

Gary & Gwen Smith (Short Break - Valencia Region)

First of all we have to thank you for a trip we will be talking about for some time to come. After the Extremadura trip with you we didn't think it could get any better, but we were wrong. It surpassed all our expectations, the scenery was superb and the birds were fantastic, well done. 

Keith & Val Hudson (Pyrenees & N/E Spain - October 2005)

Before I collapse in a heap and sleep for England I thought I'd let you know I'm back safe and sound and the journey went very smoothly. I 'd just briefly like to say a million thanks to you for organising such a wonderful trip, it exceeded all my expectations and I'm sure I'll be back soon for another one. Anyway there will be plenty of time to reflect over the next couple of weeks so expect a few messages and keep me posted on "the Eagle".

John Moon (Pyrenees & N/E Spain - October 2005)

Congratulations on the ID confirmation of the Spanish Imperial Eagle, a just reward for your efforts and I keep looking at your web-site to check your future plans, especially for the back-end of next year. I will send a copy of the video I took when I have put it together. Thanks once again for your help and enthusiasm on a brilliant trip, I look forward to coming again soon.

Ray Swaine (Pyrenees & N/E Spain - October 2005)

Jules, there have been so many highlights Nightjars, Rollers, Hoopoes, Bustards, I could truly go on & on, but I would really like to thank you for your kindness and patience, and for such a great time. However next Spring could you please have the birds lined up instead of me having to find everything for Christ's sake!!!. All the best.

Derek Charles (5 Day Tours - Valencia Region)

Thanks Jules for some magnificent birdwatching, thanks Amanda for two wonderful breakfasts. We will be back one day soon. 

Martin & Carol Blick (Day Tour - Valencia Region)

Thank you for a wonderful holiday - the birds were amazing and your kindness & hospitality was much appreciated. This trip has surpassed all expectations, not so much bird-wise but in how much we have enjoyed it. I think you both have found your vocations and have earned the 'good write up'.

James Lowther & Carol McKay (Short Break - Valencia Region)

Three intrepid birders from Iceland stayed here with Jules & Amanda for 3 nights and we thoroughly enjoyed our time here. Jules, you were an excellent & knowledgeable guide and most importantly a great travelling companion & 'fair dinkum' Yorkie

Edward, Gunnlaugur, & Sigmundur (2 Day Tours - Valencia Region)

Firstly many thanks for a great day out. Have read your diary and and made my own notes I think I have now nearly had sufficient time to appreciate just how much we saw and how much we would not have seen without you. Sorry if I didn't outwardly show as much excitement as I felt - that's my nature - anyway you kept us guessing as to what might be round the corner, (especially Ann's snake !!!) I can only think of one day's birding that had a similar impact on me and that was my first visit to Minsmere, with many lifers. My only regret for the day was that there were never going to be enough hours, as I could happily have spent all day with the Rufous Bush Robins or indeed any of the other sites. The drive and sight of the Trumpeter finch "trumpeting away" will always remain one of those special moments.

John & Ann Moon (Day Tour - Valencia Region)

I decided to come home before I wrote to say thank you very much for an  interesting time at Pego marshes. It was so exiting to see so many new species that I had not seen before.  I recorded 45 different species on the day. We seemed to be have been very lucky to have seen those unusual ones as Ian dropped me off  at 8am on Tuesday and spent 2 hours on foot seeing only a few of the more common birds. Thanks again for the day together most enjoyable, maybe there will be another time.  

Brian Macfarlane (Half Day Tour - Local Area)

Here is something you can put on your website from a satisfied customer!
"Jules is the perfect blend of expert birder and good tour leader; his knowledge of the birds of Spain is extensive, and his skill in locating and identifying them, second to none!  Our trip with him was highly enjoyable and great fun.  I rate him up there with the best, and recommend his trips to anyone."
I've passed on details of your website to two birding friends who have expressed an interest in trips to Spain, so hopefully something may come of that.  If not, I shall definitely be back myself!

Anthea Skiffington (Castilla la Mancha & Extremadura - May 2005)

First of all thank you for a trip that we will be talking about for quite a while. I don't think you can realise how much we enjoyed it and your company of course. We feel very unsettled today. I suppose after such a lovely week it was bound to happen. Thanks also for the photo's. If that was a taster we can't wait to see the rest. What a star you are.

Keith & Val Hudson (Castilla la Mancha & Extremadura - May 2005)

Many thanks for 2 brilliant days birding. Although the birds are ones you see all the time it is a special treat for us. To have seen the Golden Eagles was beyond our dreams. You have made two old people very happy!!!! We have done all the ticking now and our year list is now 136. We also checked how many lifers we have had since we came to Spain. Keith has had 18 and me 17 so pretty good so far with hopefully many to come when we go to Extremadura. Thank Amanda for the lovely picnics and the breakfast. Tell her we don't think we could manage one of her English breakfasts, she really does your clients proud. Will be in touch again before our trip.

Keith & Val Hudson (2 Day Tour - Valencia Region)

Many thanks for driving us about and for finding so many of the birds during the week, and for your good humour.  I had a good time and lots of laughs, and I think everyone else did, too.  I just wish I could have spent another week or two watching those raptors, in all their variations.  As it is, I have a particular image burnt into my mind of moon-high adult Honey Buzzards, stacking up on the thermals; and of Griffon Vultures, sailing along with ne'ery a flap, just casually peering about them as they go along. I wish you good luck with your developing venture into birding tours. I shall keep the occasional eye on your website, just to see what you have been up to and what you may have in store.

Elspeth Chaplin (Tariffa - September 2004)

Just a few lines to say thanks for all your help last week, the tips you passed on with regards to identifying some of the birds was invaluable, it certainly helped to make the week a great success for me, thanks again. I hope your plans for birding trips come to fruition and that you have great success, as I said during some of our chats you have tremendous enthusiasm and of course great knowledge so I'm sure it will work out anyway "good luck".

David Grant (Tariffa - September 2004)

With only approx. 18 hours serious birding during the week I was more than happy with a trip list of 103 species and a good number of my target species seen. Obviously more time spent birding could greatly improve on this and also a few weeks later and more of the summer migrants would have returned. For anyone looking for a great family or birding holiday (with excellent breakfasts) I would highly recommend a visit to Jules & Amanda’s Oliva Rama Pension.

The preceding article, of which this is part, was written by Tom Moodie and published in Spring/Summer 2004 'SCOPE' (Fife Bird Club's quarterly magazine). Tom is a trusted friend of mine and instrumental in my starting this business, his honest opinion and advice is, and always will be valued.