On Friday 22nd March, we provided a day of guided bird watching for a great couple of clients from the Netherlands who were on vacation here in Spain.  Both keen nature lovers, they were eager to see the diverse bird life that the Valencian coastal wetlands holds, especially at this time of year when summer migrants are beginning to arrive. Our first stop was at a protected reserve within the natural park of Albufera de Valencia. We had excellent views of Purple Swamphen, Glossy Ibis, Avocet, Greater Flamingo and a small flock of passing Spoonbill. Recently arrived summer visitors included [read more]

On Wednesday 13th February, we had the pleasure of providing a leisurely day of guided birding for a couple from our local area together with their friends who were visiting from the UK.  We chose to explore the lakes, lagoons and rice fields of Albufera de Valencia, a coastal wetland of international importance. Our first stop was by a small, sheltered lake and as soon as we got out of the van we were treated to a spectacular sight – a flock of over 500 Greater Flamingoes in flight, the pink, crimson and black of their plumage contrasting beautifully with [read more]

Last week, we provided two days of guided birding for a group of 4 clients from UK.  To enjoy the diversity of habitat and bird life that this area offers, they had opted for a day at the Coastal Wetlands and a day on the Steppe and Lagoons in the interior of Eastern Spain. All well travelled nature lovers, the group was an absolute delight…knowledgeable and very good humoured.   Owing to some unusually windy weather conditions we proposed a slight amendment to the itinerary for the first day, and following a short journey from their hotel, we were at the [read more]

On Tuesday 8th January, together with two local birders, I enjoyed a leisurely day in the Natural Park of Albufera de Valencia.  We began our day by generally exploring some of the rice fields on the west side of the park. The usual Little Egrets, Cattle Egrets and Grey Herons were in abundance in amongst which were a five Great Egrets. A female Marsh Harrier passed low over the stubble, flushing out a Snipe. A pair of Stonechats were flitting around the edges of a field and an Iberian Grey Shrike spent a few minutes on an overhead cable close [read more]

On Sunday 21st October, I spent a very enjoyable day with some great clients from Kidderminster, UK.  Stella and Richard are both keen nature lovers and in recent years have been particularly interested in birds.  They were keen to explore the Valencian wetlands and to see the classic species of this diverse area. We started our day at one of the reserves within the natural park of Albufera de Valencia where we began by scanning the lake for wildfowl. We soon had good views of Red Crested Pochard, Shelduck and Teal. We also had great views of both male and [read more]

On 16th October I enjoyed a day of guided birding with a couple of clients from Canada. Ingo and Kiran were keen to see the classic species of the Valencian coastal wetlands. Having met them at their hotel in the city centre we made the short journey to the natural park of Albufera de Valencia. The first bird of the day was a Sandwich Tern perched on a pole on the main Albufera Lake. We then headed for one of the reserves where we had superb views of Marsh Harrier, and interestingly noted flocks of European Starlings arriving for the [read more]

On 10th October we provided a guided bird watching trip for a couple from Berkshire. Both keen nature lovers, David and Elizabeth were staying in Valencia as part of a trip around Spain. They had requested a tour of Albufera, as they wanted to see some of the classic wetland species of Valencia. As they were only here for a short while, we combined Albufera with another local wetland with the aim of improving our chances of spotting some of the target birds. We began the day with a visit to one of the reserves within the natural park of [read more]

On Wednesday 19th September we provided a “tailor made” trip to the natural park of Albufera de Valencia.  The group comprised experienced birders and general nature lovers so the trip was designed to offer something for everyone.  The day began with a visit to a reserve that not only provides a superb habitat but also serves as an open-air laboratory in which a great deal of valuable conservation work takes place. The reserve staff gave a fascinating presentation on the ongoing projects at the reserve and the history of the area. Following that, we spent some time in and around [read more]