Bespoke Guided Bird Watching Trips & Holidays from Valencia & Alicante (Eastern Spain) for Individuals, Couples and Small Groups.
Established in 2011, we´re based in the autonomous region of La Comunidad Valenciana, Spain, one of Europe´s top birding destinations. We design and provide tailor-made guided bird watching day-trips, breaks and holidays for individuals, couples and small groups. Based in both the historical town of Xativa and the coastal town of Dénia, this allows us to cover both the Valencia and Alicante regions. This flexibility offers the possibility to visit an incredibly diverse range of habitats and excellent birding sites, many of which are virtually unknown!
We cater for all levels of bird enthusiasts from complete beginner to expert, and provide trips for individuals, couples, families and small groups. Our local knowledge ensures that our clients can maximise their time in Spain by depending on us to take them to the best sites whilst providing top levels of care and attention.
Thanks to the support of our clients, and the kind reviews that have been posted on Trip Advisor, we are proud holders of the Trip Advisor Certificate of Excellence. You can read our clients´reviews here.
Our objective is simple…to provide a value-for-money service that is exactly tailored to the wishes, requirements and priorities of our clients, focussing firmly on delivering the best levels of service. Our approach is what makes us different…
Our business model is unlike that of most professional bird watching companies. We provide our services on an extremely flexible basis, working closely with our clients to design their ideal trip or holiday. We have a range of single-day trips, but frequently work with our clients to design bespoke breaks and holidays, ranging from 2-day to 8-day packages. We never mix groups – all our trips and holidays are exclusively for the individual, couple or group that make the reservation, and we never add others to the trip.
Blue Rock Thrush
Our pricing structure is competitive, great value and fair…Here at Valencia Birding, we wish to make our guided bird watching trips available to all. Therefore, our pricing structure is thoughtfully and carefully designed to assure maximum value across all group sizes. We clearly understand that some clients will be traveling alone, whilst others will be part of a group. Therefore we have endeavoured to structure our pricing to provide superb value for smaller groups, couples or even individuals whilst still offering fair and competitive rates for larger groups. Contact us to discuss options and we´d be very happy to quote specific rates (without obligation).
A professional bird watching guide, David Warrington was born in Sheffield, England and began his fascination with birds as a child in the Peak District National Park. He moved to Spain in 2006 and was amazed by the natural diversity of the Valencia region, a huge influence in his decision to establish Valencia Birding in 2011.
David is also a founding member of the Association of Birding Guides of the Valencian Community, and regularly works as a consultant to promote sustainable nature tourism.
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….
In early September, I had the pleasure of finally meeting Bridget and Chris from the UK. We had previously communicated about a possible trip to the region, and had discussed options at length. So it was great to finally put faces to names and to enjoy two days together. Autumn migration was already underway, so we were keen to see what was moving through. Wood Sandpiper Early September is still quite hot over here, so we adapted the trips accordingly, and started our first day in the wetland site of Albufera de Valencia. After a short walk to a hide overlooking a shallow lagoon, we sat and enjoyed great views of Wood Sandpiper, Green Sandpiper, Little Ringed Plover and Avocet. Little Ringed Plover Black Winged Stilts were feeding together with their young, and Kentish Plover were scurrying around on the shore. The soundtrack to the morning was constant calls of Zitting Cisticola with explosive interuptions of Cetti’s Warbler! The nearby bushes held Chiffchaff, Sardinian Warbler, and Long Tailed Tit. Oystercatchers with Greater Flamingos We moved on to a coastal lagoon over which flocks of House Martins and Barn Swallows were…
Alicante is not widely known for its birding, but the truth is, it has some of Spain’s most important wetlands, as well as huge expanses of mountainous terrain, highland forests and even an area of steppe. In the weeks prior to the summer break, during which time I turn my attention to the Osprey Reintroduction Project, working alongside Itziar (Fundacion Migres) and Ian Perks (Roy Dennis Wildlife Foundation), I spent many days in Alicante with clients from both the UK and USA. White Headed Duck This region has a number of key species that are always very popular with visiting birders, White Headed Duck, Marbled Teal, Red Knobbed Coot to name a few. We managed to see all three on every trip this spring, which was even more special for those for whom it was a first sighting! Purple Swamphen The extensive reed beds provide habitat for Purple Swamphen, Great Reed Warbler, Little Bittern and much more. The shallow lagoons and their shores provide nesting grounds for Avocet, Collared Pratincole, Kentish Plover and Tern species including Common, Sandwich, Little, Whiskered and the occasional Elegant! Great Reed Warbler As many of…
I’m both delighted and very grateful to report that this spring season has been extremely busy, with clients from across Europe and the USA. For those based in Valencia, trips have included the coastal marshes and the rice growing wetland region of Albufera, as well as the mountains of the interior. One client in particular, Erik from the Netherlands, flew down to Valencia with the hope of seeing Elegant Tern. With only a couple of days in which to locate it, the challenge was on, but he indeed returned home having had good views, and the opportunity to photograph it too! Elegant Tern with Sandwich Terns Others were very happy to see the mixed colonies of Sandwich Tern, Common Tern and Little Tern, all of which produced good numbers of chicks across the region. Little Tern Much work has been done across the region to protect both Marbled Teal and White Headed Duck, so to see both species raising young has been wonderful. Marbled Teal Female White Headed Duck with young Another breeding bird that is especially vulnerable, and is the subject of various conservation projects is Kentish Plover. This…
As a collaborator of Fundación Migres, and the representative of the Roy Dennis Wildlife Foundation for the Osprey Reintroduction Project here in Spain, I am honoured to be heavily involved in this incredible work. Back in February I was delighted to assist Itziar Colodro and Ian Perks in giving a presentation in the town of Pego. The focus was on the history and success stories of Osprey conservation in Scotland and beyond. Here you can see the presentation (both in English and Spanish). Click on the image below to go to the YouTube video…
