3 Day Birding Break in Valencia.

Over the weekend Yanina and I provided a 3 day birding break in Valencia for a group of four people from the UK.  Like many of our clients, they wanted to combine a cultural stay in this enchanting city with guided birding to some very diverse habitats, all of which are within easy reach of the city.

Day 1 – Albufera de Valencia.

One day one, Yanina provided a trip to the Natural Park of Albufera de Valencia.  This huge site comprises a freshwater lake, rice fields, reed beds, forests, dunes and a saltwater lagoon, so is extremely species rich.  They spent the morning in a couple of special reserve areas where they particularly enjoyed watching a tern colony.  Specific tern species included Little, Gull-billed, Caspian, Whiskered, Common and Sandwich.

They also enjoyed great views of many waders, including Kentish Plover, Ringed Plover, Little Ringed Plover, Black-tailed Godwit, Ruff, Curlew Sandpiper, Dunlin, Little Stint, Green Sandpiper and Spotted Redshank.

Almost all of our summer visitors are here by now, and it was great for them to see and hear some of the recently arrived passerines such as Pied Flycatcher, Spotted Flycatcher, Nightingale and Great Reed Warbler.

The afternoon included a visit to a coastal lagoon where they had views of Audouin´s Gull and Black-necked Grebe.  The trip had been a great success and had got the 3-day break off to a great start.

The species list for the day included :

Common Shelduck, Mallard, Red-crested Pochard, Common Pochard, Red-legged Partridge, Little Grebe, Great Crested Grebe, Black-necked Grebe, Greater Flamingo, Grey Heron, Purple Heron, Cattle Egret, Black-crowned Night-Heron, Glossy Ibis, Water Rail, Purple Swamphen, Moorhen, Coot, Black-winged Stilt, Avocet, Grey Plover, Kentish Plover, Ringed Plover, Little Ringed Plover, Black-tailed Godwit, Ruff, Curlew Sandpiper, Dunlin, Little Stint, Snipe, Green Sandpiper, Spotted Redshank, Common Greenshank, Wood Sandpiper, Common Redshank, Slender-billed Gull, Mediterranean Gull, Audouin’s Gull, Yellow-legged Gull, Little Tern, Gull-billed Tern, Caspian Tern, Whiskered Tern, Common Tern, Sandwich Tern, Woodpigeon, Collared Dove, Kestrel, Magpie,Crested Lark, Sand Martin, Barn Swallow, Great Tit, Cetti’s Warbler, Moustached Warbler, Reed Warbler, Great Reed Warbler, Zitting Cisticola, Sardinian Warbler, Spotted Flycatcher, Nightingale, Pied Flycatcher, Spotless Starling, Goldfinch, Serin.

Day 2 – Mountain of Inland Valencia.

Day two was a trip to a specific habitat to aim to see some specialist target species.  After a short drive into the highland interior of the Valencia region, we stopped for a coffee break before heading into the mountains.

Our first stop in a forested riverside setting delighted us with the song of Nightingale, Serin, Golden Oriole and Cetti´s Warbler.  The Oriole made a brief appearence, but quickly disappeared into the canopy.  A Booted Eagle glided into view, not too high above us, giving fabulous views.

The next stop was below a limestone crag where we had great views of Raven, Griffon Vulture and in the surrounding scrub Sardinian Warbler.

We then headed for our principal viewing area of the day, looking onto a huge mountain wall.  The technique here was to wait, be patient and hopefully we´d get views of our target birds.  Initially, we enjoyed good views of Chough, Crag Martins and nesting Griffon Vultures with young.  Then one of our target birds came into view – a small flock of Alpine Swifts.

After an hour or so, spent enjoying lunch in the sunshine watching Griffon Vultures effortlessly gliding overhead, one of our key target birds suddenly appeared – Egyptian Vulture!  We were able to really enjoy this very attractive bird as it flew across the vast face, coming to rest on ledges before being joined by its mate.

Extremely pleased with the views, we were thinking of packing away the optics when we were treated to another piece of action – a Griffon Vulture being mobbed by a Peregrine Falcon.

We headed back down to valley level before ending the day in some farmland where we had fine views of Bee Eater and Crested Lark.  The day was brought to a close with good but distant views of a Short Toed Eagle.  Happy that we´d got all the key species, we returned to the car and headed back to Valencia.

The species list for the day included :

Collared Dove, Serin, Great Tit, Chaffinch, Nightingale (h), Cetti’s Warbler, Goldfinch, Golden Oriole, Bee Eater, Crested Lark, Chough, Raven, Barn Swallow, House Martin, Crag Martin, Alpine Swift, Swift, Griffon Vulture, Egyptian Vulture, Booted Eagle, Short Toed Eagle, Peregrine Falcon.

Day 3 – Steppe.

Day three was to be spent up on the high steppe of Castilla de la Mancha.  The forecast was for quite a blustery day, which wasn´t the best of news, but we headed up onto the steppe, hoping for the best.  Two of the group had never seen Great Bustard, and the other couple had only had distant views in the past, so this was clearly going to be the priority for today.

After around an hour´s drive, we stopped for coffee and to buy sandwiches before heading out across the vast cereal fields.  Our first stop gave us views of Lapwing, Red Legged Partridge, Linnet and Corn Bunting.  It was clear the wind was gradually increasing, making for quite difficult birding conditions, but we agreed to continue our search for the Bustards.  After around half an hour of driving and scanning, something caught my eye off to our right.  Although they were crouched trying to find shelter it was indeed a pair of Great Bustards.  We set up the scopes and enjoyed some fabulous views, both birds eventually showing themselves very well and walking across the field in front of us.

Not only was the wind steadily increasing, but we were now faced with the occassional shower.  After a picnic lunch spent watching Black Necked Grebes on a lagoon we had a group debate and opted to descend to sea level where we could spend the afternoon at a coastal wetland site.  To continue regardless wouldn´t have made any sense and the key species had been seen anyway.

Back at the coast we had a walk along the beach, watching a series of coastal lagoons and scrapes.  Our first stop gave us views of Sandwich Tern, Audouin´s Gull, Little Tern and Collared Pratincole.

From the reeds suddenly appeared a Purple Heron, flying slowly past and giving great views.  We also enjoyed watching Kentish Plover, Avocet and Red Crested Pochard.

Although we´d had to change the original plan, we managed to modify the day to afford maximum value and enjoyment and everyone was happy at the end of the day with the species that we´d seen.  It had been a pleasure to provide this trip for such great people and to show the hugely varied habitats of the Valencia region.

The species list for the third day included…

Collared Dove, Lapwing, Swallow, Red Legged Partridge, Mallard, House Martin, Linnet, Corn Bunting, Spotless Starling, Great Bustard, Goldfinch, House Sparrow.

Common Tern, Little Tern, Sandwich Tern, Audouin’s Gull, Yellow Legged Gull, Black Headed Gull, Avocet, Black Winged Stilt, Collared Pratincole, Purple Heron, Grey Heron, Marsh Harrier, Kentish Plover, Redshank, Mallard, Red Crested Pochard, Pochard, Little Grebe.

Written by David Warrington.

Bird Watching Guide at Valencia Birding.