birding in spain - Page 2 of 7 - Valencia Birding

The Bee Eaters are back!

This has been the first post for a while, so before I begin, I´d like to say that I hope that you´re all keeping safe and healthy and wish you all the very best as we make our way through these tough times. For more than obvious reasons, I can´t write much about any recent birding trips! However, it´s always interesting to see what´s passing through in the skies above Valencia and what´s about in the area immediately surrounding our apartment. I hope that you´re all enjoying the bird life that´s close to you, be it in your gardens or on your daily walk. I´m really enjoying the photos on social media of what people are seeing each day. This week a Zitting Cisticola appears to have taken up residence in a small area of what we tend to call “waste ground” close to our apartment. Especially now, these patches of undisturbed vegetated ground can prove to be excellent feeding areas or even nesting sites. Despite its roadside location, this little patch has also given me views of Cattle Egret, Barn Swallow, House Martin, Sardinian Warbler, White Wagtail, Spotless Starling,…

A special time to be at Albufera

Last Friday, I provided a day trip for Andy and Lydia from the UK. They were spending a weekend in Valencia and wanted to include a day´s birding in their break. The vast wetland site of Albufera de Valencia is surrounded by rice fields, and the different phases of the rice cycle influence greatly the habitat and therefore bird life of the park. During the month of February, the flooded fields and gradually drained and ploughed, and the sight of huge flocks of gulls, egrets, herons and ibises that follow the tractors is one not to be missed. More on that later… We began our visit at one of the park´s protected reserve areas, where we started the day with perhaps one of the highlights, a Ferruginous Duck that was resting in amongst a group of Common Pochard. Other wildfowl included Shelduck, Red Crested Pochard and Teal. We then turned our attention to shorebirds, and enjoyed views of Black-winged Stilt, Ruff, Greenshank and both Black-tailed and Bar-tailed Godwits. Crag Martins were feeding in flights and Marsh Harriers passed over the reed beds. A Booted Eagle came to rest in a…

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…

A day on the steppe.

Last week, I enjoyed a great trip with Ville from Finland. A very experienced birder and professional biologist, he was in Valencia for a conference and had extended his stay to include a day on the steppe. He was particularly keen to see Great Bustard as he´d never seen it before. We also added White Headed Duck to the list of target species as this would also be a “lifer” for him. Having made the comfortable drive from Valencia, I was happy to discover that Ville was keen to have a coffee before we began our birding! We did so and then started by making a couple of stops to scan the vast fields. Our first stop gave good views of Crested Lark and Iberian Grey Shrike. Some old farm buildings provided sightings of Rock Sparrow, Tree Sparrow, Corn Bunting and Spotless Starling. We then stopped by a small lagoon to watch Gadwall, Shoveler, Black Necked Grebe and a few Lapwings. Then, as we scanned the surrounding fields again, we were delighted to see Great Bustard! There were 4 males quite some way off, but with the scope we could…

Autumn 2019 Newsletter.

Reflection. Following the summer holiday period, Autumn is always a time of reflection, thinking back over the year so far whilst at the same time looking ahead at what remains, particularly with migration in mind. We still have a few late summer visitors here, but in general the autumn migration is well underway. This week has seen huge mixed flocks of Swifts, Martins and Swallows passing through the region but what has been more noticeable has been the sheer numbers of Bee Eaters on the move this week and last. Waders are currently the big draw though, especially at our numerous coastal wetland sites. Recent sightings have included Terek Sandpiper. Looking back at the Spring of this year, we are delighted to say that Valencia Birding enjoyed its best ever period (in terms of number of clients) since we began back in 2011. In challenging times such as these, it´s fabulous to see such positive trends and we´re exceptionally grateful to all whose support has helped us to make this possible. The “star” species are too numerous to comprehensively list here but they have to include the returning Elegant Terns,…

4 Day Birding Trip around Alicante.

Just before our summer break, I was delighted to design and provide a 4 day birding trip around Alicante for two clients from the UK. Robin and Simon are both experienced and very well travelled birders. Robin was on a quest to see all the European bird species and prior to the trip, he had less than 30 species left to see!! His key priorities were Red-knobbed Coot, White Headed Duck and Red-necked Nightjar, but we also added Iberian Green Woodpecker (Picus sharpei) to that. Their flight arrived in Alicante in the afternoon, so once I´d met them there, we made the most of the few hours that we had by exploring the local salt marshes and coastal lagoons. We enjoyed good views of plenty of Greater Flamingoes, Little Tern, Whiskered Tern and Audouin´s Gull. We then moved to a hide overlooking a scrape from where we spotted a Kentish Plover on a nest. The large colony of Slender Billed Gulls also gave us great views. Although we´d only had a few hours, we´d made a good start. We drove to their hotel in central Alicante which was only a…