Last Sunday I was delighted to provide a day of guided birding in Valencia for an experienced birder from Australia.
Jillann was in Valencia for work but on her free day she wanted to discover the bird life of the Albufera de Valencia Natural Park.
After I collected her from her hotel in the city, we went to a protected reserve area where there´s one of Europe´s largest Tern colonies, comprising mainly of Sandwich Terns and Common Terns.
We also enjoyed seeing different species of ducks and waders with their young. Jillann was amazed to see the large populaton of Avocet.
The Marbled Duck is an endangered species which we´re delighted to see breeding in this reserve. We were fortunate enough to see it with 4 young.
Next stop was in a Mediterranean pine forest where we enjoyed a picnic lunch, relaxing for a while in the Spring sunshine and listening to the calls of Serin, Long-Tailed Tit and Sardinian Warbler.
Then we went to the rice paddies where more than 100 Flamingos were feeding in the fields, then an amazing drive through the marshes with great views of Night Heron, Purple Heron and Squacco Heron.
Last stop was beside a canal where we watched Purple Swamphen and Fan-Tailed Warbler.
It was a real pleasure to guide a person so enthusiastic to discover the bird life of our region. The species list for the day included…
Kestrel, Audouin´s Gull, Slender-billed Gull, Mediterranean Gull, Black-headed Gull, Shelduck, Marbled Duck, Mallard, Common Pochard, Red-Crested Pochard, Flamingo, Glossy Ibis, Purple Swamphen, Moorhen, Coot, Little Grebe, Grey Heron, Purple Heron, Squacco Heron, Little Egret, Cattle Egret, Night Heron, Oystercatcher, Black-tailed Godwit, Black-winged Stilt, Avocet, Collared Pratincole, Kentish Plover, Little-Ringed Plover, Redshank, Common Tern, Sandwich Tern, Little Tern, Whiskered Tern, Elegant Tern (hybrid), Spotless Starling, Magpie, Hoopoe, Great Reed Warbler, Serin, House Sparrow, Fan-tailed Warbler.