A very productive day in Valencia!

Birding in Valencia

11th April 2022 Earlier this week I provided a birding trip to the Valencian coastal wetlands for Wil, a very experienced ornithologist from the Netherlands. As I’ve written previously, migration this year is generally later than usual owing to freak weather conditions in March, so April is turning out to be a really interesting time for birding here in the Valencia region. Northern Wheatear Having made the short journey from the historical quarter of Valencia, we began our walk along the beach. As soon as we left the car, we had views of Audouin’s Gull on the coast and Tree Sparrows in a bush next to us. Barn Swallows, House Martins and Common Swifts were feeding on the wing above us and Zitting Cisticolas were around in good numbers too. Black-eared Wheatear We paid close attention to a strip of coastal scrub where we saw huge numbers of Yellow Wagtails, noting at least three sub-species. Amongst the wagtails were lots of Northern Wheatear, plus a few Black-eared Wheatear, both extremely smart-looking birds. Turnstone The reeds held Common Reed Warbler, and we also heard a Water Rail. After a while, we…

Continue reading

The day the rain stopped we went to the wetlands!

Valencia Birding

2nd April 2022 March 2022 was the wettest on record for over 60 years, which in some ways was a positive point as the mountains and hills of our region were previously very dry and its reservoirs were unusually low. That all changed very quickly! The prolonged wet weather had a delaying effect on migratory bird movement, so as soon as the rain stopped and the sun broke through, we were expecting a migration explosion! With perfect timing, I was delighted to meet Abhishek and Shweta from India and to spend the day with them at the Valencian Coastal Wetlands. Having collected them from Valencia city, we made the short trip to the coast and began our walk. The skies were absolutely full of Barn Swallows and House Martins, amongst which were some Common and Pallid Swifts. As we walked by a few bushes on the way to the beach, we saw Serin, Stonechat and Spotless Starling, but upon reaching the shore, we had our first “target” species, Audouin’s Gull. This very elegant gull has an established breeding population in the Valencia region. Audouin’s Gull We spent a little time…

Continue reading

A fabulous Spring day at the Valencian Coastal Wetlands.

Back in May I enjoyed a super day with a wonderful client from Austria.  Gudrun, who was visiting friends in Valencia, had previously met Yanina at a bird fair and had contacted us to arrange a trip.  After collecting her from the historic quarter of Valencia, we drove to one of the region´s coastal wetlands. As we began our walk, we watched both Common and Great Reed Warbler and heard the familiar song of Cetti´s Warbler.  On the first lagoon that we visited we saw White Headed Duck, a species that I was keen for Gudrun to see, and in a nearby tree we saw Turtle Dove, which stayed for a while giving us nice views. A pair of Marsh Harriers were flying low over the reeds, and we were then delighted to see a Moustached Warbler.  A small flock of Glossy Ibis flew over and on a small island in the lagoon we watched Little Ringed Plover.  A Little Bittern made several passes to and from a small island of reeds.  Our walk continued along the beach, where we had great views of Audouin´s Gull.  A little patience was…

Continue reading

Valencia´s Coastal Wetlands in Spring.

Bird watching holidays Spain

Last week I was delighted to provide a guided birding trip for a couple from my home city of Sheffield!  Both keen birders, they were on holiday here and wanted to spend a day enjoying Valencia´s coastal wetlands in Spring. Having collected them from the city centre, we made the short journey to one of the area´s coastal nature reserves where we began the day with a walk along the beach, looking at both the sea and a series of coastal lagoons.  Our first stop gave us views of Common Reed Warbler, Little Grebe, Glossy Ibis and Zitting Cisticola. We then spent a little time carefully scanning a lagoon that held White Headed Duck, Greater Flamingo and Black Winged Stilt.  The surrounding reed beds gave sightings of Great Reed Warbler and Little Bittern. We continued our walk along the coast, watching Little Terns and Collared Pratincoles passing overhead before stopping to get good views of Audouin´s Gull. Our next stop was at a hide from where we observed a tern colony.  Most of the Little Terns and Sandwich Terns were still incubating but the Common Terns almost all had chicks,…

Continue reading

Birding the Valencian Coastal Wetlands in Spring.

A couple of weeks ago, I spent a very happy day with a great couple of clients from the UK.  Michelle and David were spending a few days in the city of Valencia and were keen to include a day´s birding in their stay.  They were happy for the trip to involve a walk, so we opted to visit the coastal wetlands of Valencia.  Birding the coastal wetlands in Spring is a delight as all the summer visitors are here and there´s plenty of activity as birds jostle for nesting spaces, particularly the terns, gulls and Collared Pratincoles. After a short journey from the city we began the walk along the beach, watching over a series of coastal lagoons.  Michelle spotted a small bird perched low in the branches of a tree, which on closer inspection was found to be a Spotted Flycatcher – a nice start to the day.  A pair of Turtle Doves then flew over us.  The song of Cetti´s Warbler and the call of Zitting Cisticola seemed to be everywhere. We spent a while watching over a lagoon which gave us fine views of Red Crested…

Continue reading

Guided bird watching trip to the Valencian Coastal Wetlands

A few days ago, I had the pleasure to organise a guided bird watching trip to the Valencian Coastal wetlands for clients from London. They were visiting the city of Valencia and wanted a day out to discover the area´s bird life. It was a sunny autumn day – fantastic for birding.  I designed a trip that involved some walking through different ecosystems to maximise the quantity of species. As soon we started walking we stopped to enjoy great views of one of the target species of the day, White-headed Duck.  Right beside 6 examples of this very special duck there was a Water Rail enjoying a morning bath! We kept walking beside the sea and stopped again for good views of Audouin’s Gull and a flock of Red-Crested Pochard in flight. In the next lagoon, we were delighted by Little Grebes and Purple Swamphens.. one of the highlights of the day. After a picnic lunch by the sea, we headed inland enjoying a lovely walk searching for raptors.  We succeded…we had great views of 6 different Booted Eagles, as well as Common Buzzards and Marsh Harries that were enjoying…

Continue reading