I recently provided a 2-day bird watching trip from Valencia for an experienced birder from UK. Colin wanted to discover the birdlife of the region, but only had two available days. So, we designed a trip that would maximise his time and enjoyment.
Day 1 – Albufera Natural Park
After a brief coffee stop, we visited a number of natural reserves, where we had great views of Booted Eagle, Flamingos, Purple Swamphen, Spoonbill, Whiskered Tern and a huge diversity of waders. Albufera is an excellent site for waders in autumn.
Spoonbill
After an interesting drive through the rice paddies where we had fantastic views of thousands of egrets and herons, we finished the day with a brief visit to a sports field where we had great views of Hoopoe, Crested Lark and Serin.
The species list for the day included…
Booted Eagle, Marsh Harrier, Kestrel, Flamingo, Glossy Ibis, Spoonbill, Purple Swamphen, Moorhen, Coot, Little Bittern, Squacco Heron, Great Egret, Grey Heron, Cattle Egret, Little Egret, Great-crested Grebe, Black-necked Grebe, Little Grebe, Mallard, Teal, Shoveler, Red-crested Pochard, Gadwall, Shelduck, Great Cormorant, Black-winged Stilt, Avocet, Ruff, Spotted Redshank, Common Redshank, Snipe, Black-tailed Godwit, Bar-tailed Godwit, Wood Sandpiper, Ringed Plover, Little-ringed Plover, Kentish Plover, Red Knot, Grey Plover, Turnstone, Greenshank, Little Stint, Dunlin, Sanderling, Curlew Sandpiper, Common Sandpiper, Whiskered Tern, Yellow-legged Gull, Lesser Black-backed Gull, Black headed Gull, Audouin’s Gull, Kingfisher, Collard Dove, Wood Pigeon. Magpie, Spotless Starling, Common Starling, House Martin, Barn Swallow, Sand Martin, White Wagtail, Cetti’s Warbler, Serin, Redstart, House Sparrow, Blackbird, Great Tit, Sardinean Warbler, Reed Warbler, Savi’s Warbler, Zitting Cisticola.
2 Day – Steppe
On day 2 we travelled up onto the high steppe, where we enjoyed some fabulous views of Great Bustard, Lesser Kestrel and many more interesting species of this unique habitat.
It was an amazing day with very good views of Eurasian Sparrowhawk, Black-bellied Sandgrouse, Crested Lark, Little Owl and Red Kite.
Crested Lark
Species list:
Eurasian Sparrowhawk, Red Kite, Common Buzzard, Lesser Kestrel, Common Kestrel, Little Owl, Great Bustard, Black-bellied Sandgrouse, Stone Curlew, Eurasian Coot, Mallard, Northern Lapwing, Common Wood-Pigeon, Eurasian Collared-Dove, Magpie, Carrion Crow, Crested Lark, Barn Swallow, House Martin, Wheatear, Starling, Spotless Starling, Corn Bunting, Goldfinch, House Sparrow, Rock Sparrow.