3-Day Bird Photography Trip in Alicante

January 2023 For the first time since the pandemic, I was delighted to welcome back Stephen from the UK. An experienced and well travelled wildlife photographer, he was keen to make another trip to the Valencia Region, this time to focus largely on Golden Eagles in the mountains of Alicante. I collected him from Alicante Airport in the afternoon and we drove into the mountains where he checked in to a small hotel in the historical village of Biar. Biar, Alicante The next morning we made a relatively early start to ensure that we were in the photography hide as soon as reasonably possible. Spain was gripped by winter weather, with cold air moving from the north east, so we ensured that we were well prepared. After a few hours waiting, the male Golden Eagle suddenly came into sight, before landing in front of the hide, seemingly to feed. He stayed for only around 20 minutes, but we managed to get some quality shots. I noticed that he was calling to the female bird during his stay, and he didn´t actually take any food. After he’d flown, we waited a…

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A spring day in the mountains

April 15th 2022 The busy month of April continued and on Good Friday I enjoyed a day in the mountains of Valencia with Frank from Ireland. He´s an experienced birder, as well as a pleasure to be with, so it was clear from the beginning that we were in for a good trip! As Valencia Birding traditions usually persist, we had a brief coffee stop in a small farming village before we headed into the hills in search of birds. As soon as we got out of the car, the air was full of the sound of Serins singing from the surrounding pines. We scanned some nearby crags in search of Black Wheatear and quickly located a pair that were obviously busy nesting. Having managed to get some good views, we headed into the woods. Stonechats, Sardinian Warblers and Chaffinches were around in good numbers, and then we were delighted to suddenly hear the unique song of Nightingale. A little patient searching gave us nice views of it too. Stonechat (male) As we approached a river, a Kingfisher darted downstream, and a small group of Long Tailed Tits passed by…

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Improvements to Mountain Birdlife Spring & Summer Trip!

Our “Mountain Birdlife – Spring & Summer” trip has been an extremely popular choice from the moment of its creation and I´ve had many happy days with clients who have enjoyed the magnificent birds that can be seen on this outing.  However, I´m always looking to improve and evolve and one of the relatively few positives that the Corona Virus situation has given me is more time to do just that.  I´ve spent a few days exploring some new areas around the general vicinity of the sites where this trip takes us to, with a view to adding more habitat diversity.  After a few unproductive outings, my efforts were rewarded and I´m now delighted to report that I´ve been able to improve this already fabulous trip. Last week, I carried out a “test drive” using my friend John as a willing guinea pig!  We made the comfortable and very scenic journey from Valencia, and stopped briefly at our first spot to look for Bonelli´s Eagle.  After only a few moments, we had super views of a young bird in flight.  (This trip can also be adapted to include a session…

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Birding and Cultural Break in Valencia.

In late March we enjoyed spending three days with Caroline and Lorna from England.  We´d met at Rutland Bird Fair the previous year and discussed how we could design a birding and cultural break in Valencia.  Having exchanged a few emails, we decided upon a week´s package with 3 full days of birding and 4 free days to explore this beautiful city. In order to maximise diversity, we opted for a day on the steppe, a day at the wetlands and a trip to the mountains.  Their first day of birding was with Yanina who took them up onto the steppe.  We were all able to meet for a coffee in a farming village as I was with another client and happened to be in the same area that day. The weather was ideal, not too much wind and clear skies.  Their first foray onto the high steppe gave views of Black Bellied Sandgrouse and Stone Curlew.  Before long, they succeeded in finding the first Great Bustards of the day and a stop by some farm buildings also gave views of Rock Sparrow, Linnet and Black Redstart. The surrounding fields…

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Birding and Photography in the Mountains of Valencia.

I was delighted when we received an email from Stephen and Pennie to say that they were returning to Valencia and wanted another day out with us.  We´d previously enjoyed two trips to Albufera de Valencia, during which we´d discussed the bird life of the mountains, especially during Spring.  Stephen is a well travelled bird photographer whilst Pennie enjoys bird watching very much, so we arranged a day of birding and photography in the mountains of Valencia. After a pleasant journey from the city into the highland interior of the region, we stopped briefly for a coffee in a village bar.  As we were walking back to the car, Pennie spotted a raptor soaring above us.  We grabbed the binoculars and camera and were soon enjoying views of a Booted Eagle…a good start to the day! Our first stop was to look around some ruined farm buildings.  This is a good place to see Black Wheatear, Serin, and Blue Rock Thrush.  Today we saw all three species, and Stephen was able to get some shots too.  A short stroll by the river was very pleasant, with Griffon Vultures gliding overhead…

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3 Day Birding Holiday

Last week, Yanina and I provided a 3 day birding holiday for returning clients and friends from the UK.  Rab and Jan have been on numerous trips with us over the past years and this time they were accompanied by their friend Pete from my home town of Sheffield. Our main objective was to provide as much diversity as possible in the three days that we had together.  So on day 1, I collected them from their holiday home in Javia and we drove south to visit the salt pans of Alicante.  Here we were focussing on gulls, and soon had the two key species – Audouin´s and Slender Billed as well as Yellow Legged. After a morning coffee, we headed to one of the region´s premium wetland sites where we began by searching for Bluethroat.  Eventually, our patience was rewarded and we enjoyed great views of this ever popular little bird.  Having spent a little time watching Little Ringed Plover and Purple Swamphen, we then turned our attention to one of the region´s conservation success stories, the Red-knobbed Coot, and were treated to some excellent views. A visit to…

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