bird photography Spain - Valencia Birding - Guided Bird Watching in Spain

Two-day bird photography trip

At the end of last month, I had the pleasure of meeting Liu and Chung from Singapore who were travelling around Spain on a bird photography holiday. Prior to their departure, we´d had various email exchanges, after which they´d opted to include a few days in Valencia and specifically to do a two-day trip with me, one day in a photo-hide and the other day out in the field. Golden Eagle On Day 1, we had quite an early start as we had to drive to the mountains of the interior of Valencia to reach a photography hide designed to provide the opportunity to photograph the mighty Golden Eagle. Once inside the hide, we had to wait a few hours, but we remained hopeful. As we were waiting, we were treated to several visits by Dartford Warbler, Sardinian Warbler and Robin, all of which came very close to the hide, allowing for some great photo opportunities. More unexpectedly, after hearing her calling, a female Iberian Green Woodpecker came to perch in front of the hide too! Iberian Green Woodpecker Suddenly, a dark shape appeared low in the sky to the…

An autumn day at Albufera.

I´d been looking forward to welcoming back Stephen and Pennie since they´d booked yet another return trip to Valencia earlier this year. We´d previously enjoyed many happy days together so it was great to see them here again. Both keen birders, Stephen is also an experienced field photographer, and is very well travelled in pursuit of his hobby. We decided upon a return to Albufera de Valencia as this ever changing environment can differ greatly from month to month, plus Purple Swamphen was a key target bird for them both. We began at a small protected reserve area where we had views of Sardinian Warbler, Chiffchaff and Zitting Cisticola in the reeds. The lagoon held good numbers of Black Winged Stilts that were in a mixed flock with wintering Black Tailed Godwits. The highlight of this stop was the regular views of Booted Eagle and Marsh Harrier in flight, providing Stephen with the chance to get some fabulous shots. We also saw Dunlin, Ruff, Common Buzzard and Greater Flamingo. We fitted in a brief coffee break during which I was pleased to be shown some great photos from Stephen and…

Bird Photography in Early Spring.

Thanks to the continuing support of our client base, this Spring has been an exceptionally busy time for us here at Valencia Birding. Therefore, there are still many trip reports to write which I´m sure will bring back some very happy memories for Yanina and I. However, here´s a brief report on a multi-day trip that we provided for a returning client who wanted to enjoy some bird photography in early Spring. Stephen has been on many trips with us so knows the area well. This time he wanted a combination of field and hide photography. The highlights of the trip included a long day of field photography in the Alicante area. Here, he was most interested in species including White Headed Duck, Red Knobbed Coot, Marbled Teal and Purple Swamphen. It was a long day but very worthwhile. Despite rain during the journey from Valencia, by the time we arrived in the south of our region, the weather had dried up and we were able to get some great photos. We started the day by getting shots of Purple Swamphen before moving to Red Knobbed Coot and Marbled Teal….

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…

Bird Photography in Valencia

Last week, I had the pleasure of providing a birding break in Valencia for a client from Cambridge, England. Stephen is an experienced wildlife photographer and a keen birder and wanted to focus on bird photography in Valencia. He was visiting Valencia and wanted to discover the habitats and bird life of this extremely diverse region and to capture this on film. I planned a 2 day trip for him. One to the mountains and other to the wetlands. On day 1, I collected him from his hotel and after an hour´s drive we stopped for a morning coffee and a talk about the species that we were hoping to see. As soon we parked, Griffon Vultures appeared in abundance. Hundreds of House Martins were passing through on migration. Whilst we were walking through the mountain gorge, we enjoyed great views of Sub-alpine Warbler, Sardinian Warbler and Common Whitethroat. At the end of the walk, we were finally rewarded with views of Black Redstart and a brief view of Blue Rock Thrush. Lizards and spiders also formed part of the photographic interest. It had been a great day in…