Covid-19 and its effects on birding.

I´m writing this article simply as a humble reflection on how the Covid-19 situation has impacted on our world of birding, and how we can take just a few positive points from what is obviously a severe and terrible situation. Firstly, and above all else, we of course send out our love and best wishes to everyone, and wish you all the very best of luck at all levels as we progress through such unprecedented times. Lock-down The lock-down hit us here in Spain just over two weeks ago. At the time, I was with my family in our house in the mountains. At first, apart from the obvious financial hit of losing all of our work, the prospect of having to stay in what is as close to paradise as I´ve ever seen, didn´t feel too bad. Having the time to focus on garden birds thrilled me, especially when up there, our “garden ticks” include Crested Tit, Golden Oriole, Red-necked Nightjar, Scops Owl and Eagle Owl!! Then, the news came through that everyone had to return to their primary residence and stay there, with heavy fines been threatened for…

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A short “birding break” in Valencia.

I´ve often said and written that it´s a real privilege to welcome back returning clients, and last week was one of these special occasions.  I´d first met Alexia from Sweden a couple of years ago when she booked a day´s birding with us.  She subsequently returned a year later, this time in Spring and with her friend Lena, and we enjoyed a fabulous day in the mountains and a day at the wetlands.  This was her third time with us, and she´d carefully designed a break to include a couple of days in the historical town of Xativa and a short stay in the city of Valencia as well as two days of birding with us.   As we´d planned to visit the steppe, I collected Alexia from her hotel in the historic quarter of Xativa as it´s on the way from Valencia.  It was such a pleasure to welcome her back!  We continued the journey and after a quick coffee stop, we began exploring.  Numerous flocks of Linnet were flitting around, and we also had good views of Crested Lark, Black Redstart, Stonechat and Rock Sparrow. Some scanning of…

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A Birding Break from Valencia.

I recently provided a 2-day trip for Gordon and Heather from the UK. They are very experienced birders who we met at the British Bird Fair last year.  They had planned a trip in their motorhome and wanted to include two days of birding with us when they were in the Valencia region.  We agreed on a day in the mountains and a day on the steppe. First, to the mountains… After I collected them at their campsite beside the beach we made the relaxed drive to our first stop in a quarry surrounded by natural crags too.  Our targets were Blue Rock Thrush, Black Wheater, Rock Sparrow and Bonelli’s Eagle. We did succeed with most of them except for the eagle. We decided to keep going and try again on the way back. Then, after a drive up to a high peak, followed by a short walk, we arrived on the summit of a 1,000m mountain.  Here, our goal was Alpine Accentor.  Sadly, they were nowhere to be seen, so we continued with our planned route, agreeing to return to the peak in the afternoon.  When we did, they…

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2 Day guided birding break from Valencia

A few days ago I had the pleasure to provide a 2 day guided birding trip for Norman from the UK and Urszula from Poland. Last year, Norman had visited the Valencia Region Stand at Rutland Bird Fair and after that he contacted us to book a trip. During the Bird Show we had the opportunity to talk about the different habitats and bird species , so it was easy to send him a proposal for the areas and species he was looking for. We planned to do Albufera de Valencia and the Steppe and Inland lagoons, but unfortunately they had a flight delay due to the storms that were affecting most of northern Europe.  Therefore I collected them from the airport and we headed directly to Albufera! We were determined to have a fantastic day with many lifers… and that’s what we did!! First stop was in the main reserve area of the Natural Park where we enjoyed amazing views of Flamingos, Glossy Ibis and two stunning Booted Eagles Next stop was in an observatory tower which looks over the lake and to a small reserve area. After a…

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Two fabulous trips to the steppe and the wetlands with Margaret from Canada.

Last week, we enjoyed some beautiful weather here in the Valencia region.  Clear skies, no wind and temperatures hovering around 22 degrees.  Perfect conditions for birding on the steppe, which is a high and vastly open area that in more wintry conditions can be challenging! So, for my first trip with Margaret, a very keen Canadian birder, the steppe was our destination.  She was very eager to see Great Bustards above all, but we also added Black Bellied Sandgrouse, Calandra Lark and Rock Sparrow to our target list.  Having collected her from her accommodation close to Valencia´s fascinating Central Market, we drove up onto the steppe.  Our first spot was a view point overlooking the surrounding cereal fields and vineyards.  The usual passerines were around – Crested Lark, Stonechat, Corn Bunting and Goldfinch.  A little effort of scanning the fields gave us good views of a flock of Calandra Lark, their dark underwing showing clearly against the blue sky. A favourite spot next to an old farm was our second stop, and today it proved positive.  We spotted a lone Golden Plover, Rock Sparrows on a stone barn, an Iberian…

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A winter weekend birding break in Valencia.

Last weekend I was pleased to welcome back returning client Norman to Valencia.  He had previously spent two days with us last Spring when we visited the coastal wetlands and the mountains.  We´d kept in touch and he subsequently arranged a winter weekend birding break in Valencia.  This time we opted to visit the steppe on day one and the huge wetland site of Albufera on day two. Day 1 I collected him from his hotel close to the stunning City of Arts & Science complex in Valencia, and we made the comfortable journey south west to the high plains.  Before starting our birding, we enjoyed a coffee break in a farming village where we discussed the target species of the day. We were blessed with blue skies, very mild temperatures and more importantly, no wind, and our first brief stop by a flooded field gave views of a Snipe, Lapwings and a Reed Bunting. We then moved to a vantage point where we set up the scope and began to look closely at the surrounding fields.  Crested Larks were moving around on the ground very close to us, a…

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