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 the mountains. Stunning scenery, great birds and good company.
On day 2, after I collected Stephen from his hotel we had a short drive to l’Albufera of Valencia Natural Park, one of the most important wetlands in Spain and indeed Europe…a breeding, wintering and migration hotspot.
First stop was in a protected reserve area which acts as a green filter to improve quality water and serves to provide superb habitat.
Our first challenge was to get good photos of Zitting Cisticola and Reed Warbler. We tried hard, and after quite some patience, we got our reward.
Kingfishers, Glossy Ibis, Great Egrets, Herons, Collared Pratincole and an array of waders provided some great opportunities for more wildlife photography.
Next stop was in another reserve area of l’Albufera Natural Park where many Flamingos, Mallards and Shovelers were feeding after their dispersal / migratory journeys.
It was a warm day so we decided to make a short stop in a bar for where we grabbed a sandwich which we ate in the Devesa forest. Whist we were having lunch, we began to hear Firecrest and Treecreeper calls, also Long-tailed Tits, Sardinian warblers and Sub-alpine Warblers.
Last stop was in some rice paddies, in particular a field where the rice had failed to grow, thus providing the perfect habitat for waders. We enjoyed great views of Ringed Plover, Wood Sandpiper, Black-Winged Stilt, Ruff and Little Stint.
It was two magnificent trips with a truly talented photographer and birder. Our species list included:
Griffon Vulture, Marsh Harrier, Common Kestrel, Northern Shoveler, Mallard, Garganey, Lesser black-backed Gull, Audoin’s Gull, Common Tern, Whiskered Tern, Little Tern, Flamingo, Glossy Ibis, Grey Heron, Great White Egret, Squacco Heron, Little Egret, Cattle Egret, Moorhen, Coot, Purple Swamphen, Little Grebe, Great-crested Grebe, Black-tailed Godwit, Ruff, Avocet, Black-winged Stilt, Collared Pratincole, Common Snipe, Wood Sandpiper, Green Sandpiper, Common Sandpiper, Curlew Sandpiper, Dunlin, Little Stint, Redshank, Greenshank, Ringed Plover, Little Ringed Plover, Hoopoe, Magpie, Wood Pigeon, Turtle Dove, Kingfisher, Swift, House Martin, Crag Martin, Barn Swallow, Blue Rock Thrush, Great Reed Warbler, Reed Warbler, Zitting Cisticola, Cetti’s Warbler, White Wagtail, Yellow Wagtail, Sardinean Warbler, Whitethroat, Dartford Warbler, Subalpine Warbler, Stonechat, Whinchat, House Sparrow, Black Redstart, Greenfinch, Coal Tit, Great Tit, Log-tailed Tit, Serin, Firecrest, Treecreeper.