19th June 2022
Last Sunday I provided a birding trip to the wetlands of Valencia for Genevieve and Nick from the USA, who were spending a few days in Valencia. Most of Europe was enduring a heatwave, so we opted to begin the trip a little earlier than usual, and after enjoying a simple breakfast together, we began our walk along the beach. I was keen for them to see a number of specific species that are considered to be highlights of the region, and we were soon watching our first of them – Audouin’s Gull.
Audouin´s Gull
Barn Swallows and House Martins were feeding overhead in good numbers, and the air was filled with the flight call of Zitting Cisticola. Our first viewing platform gave us the opportunity to see Great Crested Grebe with young, Little Grebe, and another of our target birds, Purple Swamphen.
Great Crested Grebe with young
We spent a little more time at the viewing point, and soon saw Purple Heron, Little Bittern, Avocet, Glossy Ibis, Squacco Heron and Night Heron. We continued our walk along the coast, stopping at a few small lagoons to watch Whiskered Tern, Common Tern, Little Tern, Greater Flamingo and Black Winged Stilt. We also had good views of White Headed Duck, another species on our list of targets for the day.
Glossy Ibis
We were doing well, and still had time to visit one more location before we had to think about lunch. After a further walk of around 15 minutes, we were under the shade of a viewing platform that overlooks a huge reed bed and lagoon. It was here that we were delighted to see Marbled Teal, another member of our key species list. The final member then made an appearance, the extremely elegant Collared Pratincole. As we were about to leave, Genevieve spotted a small group of Spoonbills in flight.
Marbled Teal
We eventually strolled back to the car and drove further inland, stopping on the way to grab a cool drink. We enjoyed our picnic in the shade of some old pines, listening to Sardinian Warbler and Serin and then began our final walk of the day. We were hoping to see Marsh Harrier, as there is usually a breeding pair here, and we did indeed get great views of the male, hunting low over reed beds. As well as Tree Sparrow, Hoopoe and Greenfinch, we were also delighted to get good views of a Moustached Warbler, which brought the trip to a nice ending!
Tree Sparrow
The mid afternoon sun was now beating down, so extremely happy with the day’s sightings, we strolled back to the car and headed back to Valencia. The day had been a great success, and had provided Genevieve and Nick with a brief glimpse of this area’s diverse bird life.
Collared Pratincole
The species list for the day included…
Black Headed Gull, Glossy Ibis, Zitting Cisticola, Barn Swallow, House Martin, Audouin’s Gull, Serin, House Sparrow, Yellow Legged Gull, Little Grebe, Great Crested Grebe, Purple Swamphen, Grey Heron, Cormorant, Great Egret, Little Bittern, Avocet, Common Tern, Mallard, Night Heron, Squacco Heron, Whiskered Tern, Magpie, Greater Flamingo, Whiskered Tern, Little Tern, Black Winged Stilt, White Headed Duck, Collared Pratincole, Purple Heron, Spotless Starling, Crested Lark, Common Pochard, Little Egret, Marsh Harrier, Marbled Teal, Spoonbill, Spotless Starling, Hoopoe, Wood Pigeon, Goldfinch, Greenfinch, Moustached Warbler, Tree Sparrow.
Written by Dave Warrington.