7 Day Guided Birding Trip – Day 3 (Wetlands of Alicante)
The plan for our third day was to drive to the coast at the southern end of the province of Alicante and visit one of the region´s premium wetland reserves.
After a drive of around one hour from Banyeres de Mariola, we arrived at the reserve. Although a little breezy, the weather was fine. After a brief chat with the reserve warden we looked out onto the first small lagoon where we were fortunate to see some of the Red Knobbed Coots that are part of a release programme. This extremely rare bird has its European stronghold along the Valencian coast and much work has been done to protect it.
We then walked along a boardwalk across another lagoon where we had great views of Purple Swamphen (another conservation success story for Valencia).
The first hide of the day gave views of Black Necked Grebe, Little Grebe and another very rare species, the Marbled Teal. Cetti´s Warbler were singing in the surrounding scrub and Stonechats and Sardinian Warbler were also seen.
The next hide gave views of Green Sandpiper, Greater Flamingo, Little Ringed Plover and Shoveler. We then took a walk around the reserve, stopping at a couple of lagoons. We enjoyed views of Kentish Plover, Little Stint, Glossy Ibis and Great Egret.
After a picnic lunch we made a short drive to visit another couple of superb hides, both built on wooden stilts in a lagoon surrounded by reeds. Their excellent vantage point gave us great views of a selection of wildfowl including White Headed Duck, Garganey and Red Crested Pochard plus some fabulous views of yet more Black Necked Grebe, almost all of which were already in full breeding plumage.
White Headed Duck
It was time to head back inland up to the guesthouse in Banyeres de Mariola. The beautiful evening light of Southern Europe, especially over still water always provides a lovely end to a day´s birding and today was indeed no exception.
The species list for the day included :
Red Knobbed Coot, Coot, Moorhen, Purple Swamphen, Little Grebe, Great Crested Grebe, Black Necked Grebe, Flamingo, Shelduck, Marbled Teal, Red Crested Pochard, Pochard, Mallard, Shoveler, White Headed Duck, Garganey, Cormorant, Glossy Ibis, Little Egret, Cattle Egret, Great Egret, Fan Tailed Warbler, Stonechat, Whinchat, Chiffchaff, White Wagtail, Black Redstart, Kingfisher, Green Sandpiper, Little Ringed Plover, Kentish Plover, Little Stint, Marsh Harrier, Booted Eagle.