Last week I provided a day of guided birding for a great couple from UK. James and Claire are very keen birders, and wanted to combine a cultural visit to Valencia with some bird watching with us at the local wetland reserves. The wetlands of Valencia in Autumn are fascinating as resident birds, winter visitors, summer visitors and passage migrants all “overlap” making for some very interesting species lists!
After a short drive from the heart of the historical quarter of Valencia, we arrived at one of our favourite wetland sites. Claire and James had expressed an interest in walking, so we modified the trip to suit, and had planned to complete a circuit of the entire reserve area, taking in beach, dunes, reed beds, lagoons and farmland. Our walk began by a brackish lagoon that gave views of White Headed Duck, Little Grebe and Water Rails.
Water Rail
We continued along the dune system and spent some time at an observation platform where we had views of Purple Swamphen, Great Egret, Greater Flamingo and Wood Sandpiper. As we continued our walk along the coast, we enjoyed great views of Audouin´s Gull and Marsh Harrier. The nearby scrub held Serin.
Audouin´s Gull
We spent a while in a hide overlooking a lagoon where we focussed on many wader species including Greenshank, Green Sandpiper and Common Sandpiper. We also saw Black-necked Grebe.
Black necked Grebe
After a little more walking we stopped at a picnic area for lunch where we had views of Dartford Warbler, Sardinian Warbler and Booted Eagle.
Dartford Warbler
The day ended with an exploration of an area of local farmland which rewarded us with sightings of Iberian Grey Shrike, Cattle Egret and Hoopoe.
Hoopoe
It had been a great day, spent in fabulous company and with some amazing sightings. Our species list for the day totalled 68 and included :
Booted Eagle, Common Buzzard, Red Kite, Marsh Harrier, Peregrine Falcon, Kestrel, White-headed Duck, Shoveler, Mallard, Wigeon, Teal, Common Pochard, Little Grebe, Black-necked Grebe, Flamingo, Glossy Ibis, Cormorant, Grey Heron, Great Egret, Cattle Egret, Little Egret, Water Rail, Purple Swamphen, Moorhen, Coot, Black-winged Stilt, Ringed Plover, Little Ringed Plover, Ruff, Snipe, Common Sandpiper, Spotted Redshank, Greenshank, Wood Sandpiper, Audouin’s Gull, Black-headed Gull, Yellow-legged Gull, Wood Pigeon, Collared Dove, Hoopoe, Monk Parakeet, Kingfisher, Iberian Grey Shrike, Magpie, Sand Martin, Penduline Tit, Cetti’s Warbler, Chiffchaff, Willow Warbler, Moustached Warbler, Reed Warbler, Zitting Cisticola, Blackcap, Sardinian Warbler, Dartford Warbler, Bluethroat, Whinchat, Stonechat, Starling, Spotless Starling, Grey Wagtail, White Wagtail, Meadow Pipit, Linnet, Goldfinch, Serin, House Sparrow, Tree Sparrow.