Bird Watching in Spain - Page 2 of 46 - Valencia Birding

3 Day Birding Break from the Historical Town of Xativa (March 2023)

Few clients have travelled as far as James to visit the region, so when he told me he was coming from Australia, I was keen to help him to design something special! As part of his longer stay in Spain, he wanted to visit the city of Valencia for a few days but to stay in a smaller, more relaxed place. After some discussion, we opted for a three night stay in Xativa, three days of birding in different habitats, and then I would leave him in Valencia after our third day so he could spend a few nights there. The historical town of Xativa Xativa is a very historical town, with a fascinating past. Its castle, museum and narrow streets are a delight and there’s a good selection of places to eat, as well as a beautifully restored guest house that I often use for visitors, Casa Aldomar. The mountains of Alicante Day 1 – Mountains. I collected James from Casa Aldomar, which is located in the historical centre of the town on our first day, and we made the easy journey to the mountains in the interior of…

2-Day Trip : Steppe & Albufera de Valencia.

Just before Christmas, I had the pleasure of welcoming Larry and David from the USA back to Valencia. I met them last winter and we spent a day at the coastal wetlands of Valencia. This year, Larry spent a day with me on the steppe, followed by a day at Albufera when David also joined us. Day 1 – Steppe We had originally planned to go to the steppe the previous year, but bad weather had forced a change of plan. So, when the day dawned bright and with no wind, it was somewhat a relief! Our first stops on farmland gave us views of the usual suspects including Red-legged Partridge, Rock Sparrow, Crested Lark, Black Redstart and Spotless Starling. Then, as we were scanning across the fields, a beautiful male Hen Harrier came into view. It made a few passes, giving us fantastic views, before it eventually disappeared behind some low hills. Rock Sparrow We drove cross-country to a couple of lagoons where we had views of Greater Flamingo, Lapwing, Lesser Black Backed Gull and wildfowl including Shoveler, Gadwall and White Headed Duck. In the afternoon, we turned our…

Enjoying migration time at Albufera.

21st October 2022. I’ve spent many days over the past weeks at Albufera, and have been fortunate enough to do so with some wonderful people from all over the world. Today’s trip was for two very experienced birders from Denmark, who had chosen to include a day’s birding into their short break in Valencia. The day of our trip was quite warm for the time of the year, but with light cloud cover and no wind. We began to see an overlap of summer visitors, winter visitors, passage migrants and resident species as soon as we began – namely Collared Pratincole, Black Tailed Godwit, Dunlin and Black Winged Stilts respectively. Black Winged Stilts resting and preening Teal added to the wintering birds, and a Kingfisher came to perch before us, giving excellent views. Raptors then began to show, firstly a female Marsh Harrier gliding low over the reeds, soon followed by a pale morph Booted Eagle circling high above the reserve. Kingfisher We moved on to our next stop where we enjoyed views of Black Necked Grebe, now in winter plumage, Greenshank, Audouin’s Gull and Great Crested Grebe. Seemingly to…

Avoiding the storms at Albufera de Valencia

6th October 2022 It had been some time since Paul, a retired farmer from the UK, had contacted me to arrange a day’s birding at Albufera so it was a pleasure to finally meet him. He was taking a break with family and friends in the city of Valencia and was keen to include a birding trip in his plans. The long, hot summer is finally coming to an end, and as always in early autumn, we´ve had a few storms lately. The forecast for the day of our trip included an amber warning for heavy rain, but knowing that such weather can be very localised, we opted to meet as planned. I collected Paul from his hotel under a grey sky, and as we made the short drive to Albufera, it did indeed rain quite heavily. However, as soon as we parked the car and got out, the rain stopped! Common Sandpiper Our first site – a small, protected wetland reserve gave us views of Dunlin, Little Stint, Little Ringed Plover, Kentish Plover, Black Winged Stilt and Greater Flamingo. Wildfowl included Shelduck and Shoveler. This is a great time…

Global Bird Fair 2022

July 2022 After the past two years of Covid restrictions and cancellations, and an extremely busy spring 2022 season, it was fabulous to see the Global Bird Fair swing into action at Rutland Showground in England. I had the privilege of attending not only as Valencia Birding, but in a support role for the Valencia Region Tourist Board and the Association of Birding Guides of the same region. For such a major fair, everything had been put together at extremely short notice, and Tim Appleton´s team had obviously done an excellent job of making it all work. As I always say, the work that results in things that go well is all too often invisible, and it was clear that the team of volunteers had been burning the midnight oil. All credit to them! The fair was very well attended, and blessed with wonderful sunshine on all three days. It was great to see the birding community get together again, to meet so many new people, and to catch up with old friends and clients from around the world. We had some great “neighbours” too – the stands next to…

A summer day in the mountains of Valencia

Raptor expert and falconer Paul contacted me earlier in the year to arrange a birding trip to the mountains of Valencia during his short break in the city. The day finally arrived, and coincided with a heatwave across the Iberian peninsula! We spoke a few days prior to the trip to ensure that we would take all necessary precautions, and decided to go ahead! Paul from the UK, a passionate raptor expert We enjoyed a comfortable journey from Valencia, heading inland for around an hour unti we arrived at a historical hill-village where we had a morning coffee with the locals prior to beginning the birding. The trip involves a short walk, which we opted to do at the beginning of the day, before it got too hot. Our stroll through a riverside forest gave us plenty of opportunities to listen to the song of Nightingale, Cetti´s Warbler and Golden Oriole, and gave us views of Spotted Flycatcher, Rock Sparrow, Sardinian Warbler, Blackcap, Serin and Melodious Warbler. Spotted Flycatcher We returned to the car and drove further up the valley where we parked in the shade of some pines and…