Guided birding Valencia - Valencia Birding - Guided Bird Watching in Spain

Summer Heat & Autumn Migration

Much of the second half of June and the month of July was largely devoted to the Osprey reintroduction project that Valencia Birding supports, more of which I’ll report on soon. As has been the case across much of Europe, Spain has been hit with some pretty severe heatwaves, so conditions have not been ideal for birding! However, as we approach mid August, the peak temperatures have begun to drop a little. Although we’re still very much in “summer mode”, the month of August represents in large part the beginning of “autumn” or post-nuptual migration for many birds. Therefore, it’s well worth the effort to get out the sunscreen, put on a cap, grab some water and head out into the coastal wetlands to see what’s on the move. The extensive rice fields of Albufera de Valencia, with the mountains of La Valldigna in the background That’s exactly what we’ve done in the past week with clients from both the UK and the USA, taking in trips to Albufera de Valencia and the wetlands of Alicante. The trips to Albufera were for a father and his 14 year old son…

Valencia Birding is back in action after the birth of our daughter!

Our blog and social media accounts have been quiet for a few months. The reason for that is that our daughter Alya suddenly came into the world in late September – two months before she was expected. There were some sudden and serious complications which resulted in the premature birth, but after a few weeks in an incubator and thanks to the excellent care provided by the health professionals at San Juan de Alicante hospital, we were able to bring her home in November. She’s doing great, growing fast and doing what babies do! Mum suffered some problems but I’m delighted and relieved to say that she’s doing fine now too. So with the Valencia Birding family all back home and doing really well, I returned to work recently and was really pleased to see John again, one of our most regular clients, with whom we’ve had many birding trips over the past few years. This time, he was joined by a friend who has also been on previous trips. We focussed our attention on Albufera de Valencia, Pego Oliva Marsh and the mountains of the interior of the region….

A Return to Albufera After the Devastating Floods

21st December 2024 The huge wetland of Albufera lies directly between the towns that were devastated by the recent flooding and the Mediterranean Sea. Therefore, its northern and western sectors have suffered a serious environmental impact. Although there has been a huge clear-up operation, much remains to be done. Many rice fields still contain debris, wrecked cars and mud that was washed down the rivers and canals, and some nature reserve areas have suffered serious damage to their facilities and infrastructure. However, the southern and eastern areas have escaped the worst of the effects, and hold plenty of birds. The southern rice fields of Albufera As previously commented, Albufera has being the subject of environmental impact in the past, and has recovered. It will do so again, but only thanks to a relatively small group of dedicated souls. Walking throiugh the elegant city of Valencia, one could be forgiven for being under the impression that nothing has happened, but as for the towns that were hardest hit, the destruction is hard to describe in written word. The conditions that people continue to live under are something akin to a disaster…

Kicking off 2024 at Albufera de Valencia

It was great to begin the New Year with a trip to Albufera with Sally and Pete, a couple of clients who have a home in this region and wanted to explore the lesser known corners of this huge wetland. We met close to their base in the village of Pego and made the comfortable journey to the south side of the park where we began the day amongst the rice fields. When the fields are recently ploughed and partially flooded, they are riven with shallow gullies and therefore need to be closely scanned to reveal the smaller birds that are present. Our first stop indeed gave us views of plenty of Meadow Pipits and White Wagtails that were feeding, and closer attention revealed a small flock of Snipe. Further away, we scoped a large mixed group of Golden Plover and Lapwing. Distant shot of a Golden Plover with Lapwing (taken through scope with mobile) As we returned to the car and drove along more tracks, a large bird to our distant left side caught our attention. We stopped to wait for it to fly closer, which indeed it did,…

TICK BITES – A Personal Health Scare and a Warning to Others

I’m writing this post having just spent almost two weeks in hospital. I can honestly say that I’ve never felt so ill in my life. Prior to this episode, I was fit, strong and healthy. I will return to being so, but I want to share my story with you all. Why? Because the same could happen to anyone, but with some prior knowledge and safety measures, it can be avoided. The problem – A TICK BITE. A few weeks ago, I was in Scotland, collaborating in a conservation project. With only a few days left of the trip, I woke one morning to find two ticks attached to my body. They were quite large, round and had obvioulsy been feeding on my blood for a while. I carefully removed them, and cleaned the bite areas but didn’t think much more about it, and decided not to mention anything about them to my partner. The rest of the trip passed without any problems, and no rash nor marks appeared on my body. A tick feeding on human blood – extreme care is needed when removing such We’d been back in…

A Day in the Mountains

19th May 2023 My second day with Maria and Jane was spent in the mountains of Valencia. We made the comfortable journey into the highland interior, stopping for a coffee and to pick up sandwiches before we enjoyed a walk along a wooded riverside path. Searching for Golden Oriole! A raptor soon flew into view before circling above us, and turned out to be a dark-form Booted Eagle. A Black Wheatear made a brief appearance before disappearing into a nest crevice on a crag above the woods. We then heard the wonderful song of Golden Oriole, my first of the year. These stunning birds, despite their bright colours, have an amazing ability of disappearing once they fly into the treetops! However, we were determined to find them, and eventually succeeded. Our walk continued, the woods full of the song of Nightingale and Wren, both of which we saw. A Spotted Flycatcher was catching insects in flight before returning to its perch, and Blackcaps were flitting through the undergrowth. Spotted Flycatcher We returned to the car and drove up into the mountains from where we enjoyed some fabulous views of Griffon…