A few weeks ago I was especially pleased to provide a day of birding in Albufera de Valencia for returning clients from the UK. Once again, they arrived in Valencia by cruise ship and didn’t have a full day so they decided to visit again Albufera de Valencia. They were keen to see this wetland site in the autumn. Eric is 83 years old has been birding all his life and is always happy to see Mediterranean species.
They wanted a relaxed birding trip and that’s what we did.. After I collected them from the cruise ship terminal we headed to the Devesa forest, early that morning I had seen a Yellow-browed Warbler close to my home and Eric was keen to see it. A few seconds after we parked we heard it calling and finally Eric had a good view. A great start to the day!!
Next stop was at the main reserve of the natural park – autumn in Albufera is excellent for enjoying waterfowl… a few minutes after we visited the visitor center, we were in the observatory enjoying great views of Red-crested Pochard, Shelducks, Teal, Shovelers and more.
Red-crested Pochard
The weather forecast was not great but good enough to explore most of the ecosystems of the area. Next stop was in a spring water reserve area surrounded by rice paddies. After a few minutes driving through the marshes we suddenly stopped to enjoy amazing views of a Booted Eagle.
Booted Eagle
Once we arrived at the spring water reserve area, we agreed to keep quiet, hoping to capture video of the Purple Swamphens.. Eric succeeded, he got a great video of the birds preening.
Purple Swamphen
To end a fantastic day, we a headed to a lake beside the sea where we were delighted to get stunning views of Black-necked Grebe, Audouin’s Gull and Grey Wagtail.
It was a great pleasure to welcome them again, they are inspiring birders.
The species list of the day includes…
Common Shelduck, Northern Shoveler, Mallard, Eurasian Teal, Red-crested Pochard, Little Grebe, Great Crested Grebe, Black-necked Grebe, Common Woodpigeon, Collared Dove, Common Moorhen, Eurasian Coot, Western Swamphen, Black-winged Stilt, Northern Lapwing, Black-tailed Godwit, Common Sandpiper, Black-headed Gull, Audouin’s Gull, Yellow-legged Gull, Lesser Black-backed Gull, Sandwich Tern, Grey Heron, Great White Egret, Little Egret, Cattle Egret, Booted Eagle, Western Marsh Harrier, Common Kestrel, Common Kingfisher, Common Magpie, Great Tit, Long-tailed Tit, Cetti’s Warbler, Yellow-browed Warbler, Common Chiffchaff, Zitting Cisticola, Sardinian Warbler, European Robin, Black Redstart, European Stonechat, Eurasian Blackbird, Common Starling, Spotless Starling, Grey Wagtail, White Wagtail, Meadow Pipit, Common Chaffinch, European Goldfinch, House Sparrow, Eurasian Tree Sparrow.