After a fabulous summer, we´d like to begin the “new season” with some great news. Thanks to the support of our clients, Valencia Birding has been awarded the Trip Advisor Certificate of Excellence. Sincere thanks to all those who made this happen. We genuinely appreciate your support and time taken to post such kind reviews. Dave & Yanina.
Last week I provided a birding and nature photography trip for a family from Maine, USA. They were visiting Valencia for the first time and they also wanted to discover the nature and birdlife close to Valencia and photograph some of the fabulous bird species of the Albufera de Valencia Natural Park. At this time of the year, the bird life in l´Albufera is distributed in different areas of the park, depending on which rice fields have been ploughed, thus influencing food availability. So, our first stop was in the western part of the Natural Park, where we found an amazing sight – over 2,000 flamingos, plus thousands of gulls, egrets, herons and glossy ibis. After this wonderful spectacle, we kept driving through the rice paddies where we found a magnificent biodiversity with spectacular species such as Little Stint, Black-tailed Godwit and Peregrine Falcon. Next stop was in a high road that has great views to a ravine where we enjoyed fantastic views of Purple Swamphens and Marsh Harriers. Next stop was in the Devesa forest, a natural native Mediterranean pine forest. We watched and photographed many passerines…
Day 3 of Charles´4-day birding trip to Valencia took us to the inland mountains of the province of Alicante. Birding in the mountains of Valencia doesn´t usually yield an extremely long species list, but with a little effort it can provide views of some very special species that thrive in the rocky peaks of the region. After the easy drive from the city, we stopped for a morning coffee in a small town, allowing sufficient time for the morning mist to clear from the peaks and valleys. We were already at a height of 600 metres, and the mist cover had brought the temperatures down to around 6 degrees C. However, the sun soon began to break through, allowing us to begin the short walk through a dramatic rocky gorge. The first species that we spotted included one of the day´s targets – the Blue Rock Thrush. Although the male is much brigher blue in the breeding season, even in it´s winter plumage it´s still a striking bird. We then spent a little time trying to get good views of the often illusive Sardinian Warbler, but were suddenly interupted…
This is one of a series of 4 reports that cover a 4-day birding holiday in Valencia that we recently designed and provided for a client from London, UK. Charles, a young but experienced and knowledgable birder had contacted us earlier in the year to explore the possibilities of designing a bespoke birding break. Together, we designed a trip for him. He opted to stay in Valencia city, but we put together a plan that included guided birding trips to diverse habitats including steppe, forest, mountains, coast and wetlands. This report covers “Day 1” which was a day on the steppe and lagoons of Castilla de la Mancha. We left Valencia city centre at around 8am and in less than 90 minutes drive we were up on the steppe. The weather was perfect for birding if not unseasonably warm for December. After the usual coffee stop, our first birding spot was a relatively high vantage point overlooking the rolling fields and wide open space of this wonderful region. At over 900 metres in altitude, it can be a harsh place in which to live and work, but its bird life…
This video of a Bittern in Valencia was taken during a guided birding trip to Albufera de Valencia with clients of USA. It is fantastic to see this endangered species thriving here in this internationally important wetland.
Last week I provided a guided birding trip to Albufera de Valencia for a client from the Netherlands. She was staying with her husband in a campsite near El Saler on the edge of this Natural Park, and was eager to see the classic species of this Valencian wetland. After I collected her we made a short drive along the local country lanes between the rice fields to arrive at our first stopping point, a protected reserve area. We were delighted to see a great variety of species including Flamingo, Great Egret, Glossy Ibis and many other waders. However, perhaps the most interesting species were Purple Swamphen and Great Reed Warbler. We then moved on to a different reserve area where we enjoyed views of Shelducks and Avocets, to name but a few. The last stop of the day was beside some rice paddies where the rice plants hadn´t grown this year, resulting in a partially flooded haven for birds! It proved to be a fantastic spot, and as we sat there enjoying the spectacle, we counted over 30 species, all feeding together in the same field. It was a…
