A few months ago I was delighted to provide a guided bird watching trip to Albufera of Valencia for Rene from Denmark. He was on a business trip to Spain and he had a day off so wanted to spend it birding in one of the Valencian wetlands.
He is an experienced birder who wanted to discover the diversity and ecosystems of Albufera Natural Park.
Birding in Albufera of Valencia
After I collected him from a meeting point agreed in advance in Valencia city, we drove straight to the natural park. First stop was in the main pier of the Albufera Lake to enjoy good views of Sandwich Terns and Marsh Harrier.
Next stop was in the main reserve area of the park, after a short visit to the visitor centre we headed into forest. Immediately we were stopped by the call of a Sardinian Warbler, after a few minutes trying to have a clean view we succeeded, it was a beautiful male. Also Cetti’s Warbler – a tricky bird to see in the open was happy to show up.
Once we arrived to the restricted area, we spent a long time scanning with the scope. It was overwhelming, hundreds of waders, Flamingo, Glossy Ibis and waterfowl were peacefully feeding in the southern lagoon of the reserve.
Before moving to the next stop, we decided to climb to the observatory tower which rewarded us with fantastic views of Booted Eagle and Crag Martin.
It was time for picnic lunch! We moved to a picnic area near to a hot spot in the rice paddies. We enjoyed picnic surrounded by a few Kingfisher and hundreds of Herons.
Kingfisher
After lunch we did a short walk to an observatory tower, the goal was to spot a Purple Swamphen and it was our lucky day! Also to end a magnificent day we enjoyed nice views of Water Rail, Snipe, Great White Egret and Black-winged Stilt.
Purple Swamphen
The species list of the day included…
Common Shelduck, Northern Shoveler, Mallard, Northern Pintail, Eurasian Teal, Red-crested Pochard, Common Pochard, Greater Flamingo, Little Grebe, Common Woodpigeon, Collared Dove, Water Rail, Eurasian Coot, Western Swamphen, Black-winged Stilt, European Golden Plover, Northern Lapwing, Black-tailed Godwit, Ruff, Dunlin, Little Stint, Common Snipe, Common Greenshank, Black-headed Gull, Audouin’s Gull, Lesser Black-backed Gull, Sandwich Tern, Great Cormorant, Grey Heron, Great White Egret, Little Egret, Glossy Ibis, Booted Eagle, Western Marsh Harrier, Common Buzzard, Eurasian Hoopoe, Common Kingfisher, Common Kestrel, Common Magpie, Kingfisher, Eurasian Crag Martin, Great Tit, Cetti’s Warbler, Common Chiffchaff, Zitting Cisticola, Eurasian Blackcap, Sardinian Warbler, European Robin, Black Redstart, European Stonechat, Blackbird, Common Starling, Spotless Starling, White Wagtail, Meadow Pipit, Water Pipit, Common Chaffinch, European Greenfinch, European Goldfinch, Common Reed Bunting, House Sparrow, Eurasian Tree Sparrow.