7th October 2022
At this time of year, our wetlands are particularly interesting as many migrants, especially shorebirds, are passing through the region on their voyage from Europe to Africa. Today’s trip was for Mary from New Mexico, who was visiting Valencia with a friend and was keen to fit in a day’s birding whilst here.
It was another grey day, as storm fronts had been moving through for a few days, but we succeeded in staying dry throughout the trip, despite being surrounded by sharp, localised showers.
Marbled Teal
Our first spot, at a reserve area, gave us a couple of very welcome surprises – Marbled Teal and a Collared Pratincole (October is relatively late for both, although Marbled Teal can often be seen in the south of the region). As we were sitting in the hide, a Kingfisher made a brief appearance, perching beautifully in front of us for a minute or so, before flying off into the reeds.
Kingfisher
Careful scanning then revealed a Teal, probably recently arrived as this is a winter visitor here, a Grey Plover and a Common Sandpiper. The next hide gave views of Ruff, Black Winged Stilt and Greater Flamingo.
Very pleased with the species seen so far, we opted to grab a coffee in a village bar before moving onto our next birding spot, a small coastal lagoon. This is very productive as it turned up shorebirds including another Grey Plover, Ringed Plover, Kentish Plover, Little Stint, Dunlin, Redshank and Greenshank. Black Necked Grebe, Little Grebe and Great Crested Grebe were on the water, and an Audouin´s Gull was resting by the shore.
Grey Plover
Rain was threatening so we decided to have lunch close to the car in case it materialised, but fortunately for us, it didn’t. So, having eaten and chatted for a while, we began to drive across the rice fields. This was also very productive as we enjoyed views of Squacco Heron, Glossy Ibis, Little Egret, Cattle Egret, Great Egret and Lesser Black Backed Gulls. Overhead we saw Common Buzzard and Booted Eagle.
Squacco Heron
As Mary is a keen and very active ecologist, we decided to end the day at Tancat de la Pipa, a great little “green filter” reserve, where she could learn of the wonderful work that takes place here, mostly focussing on improving water quality and providing critical habitat and biodiversity. Whilst we were here, we saw Purple Swamphen, a species that I was keen for Mary to get views of.
Purple Swamphen
As we were heading out of the reserve, a relatively small bird came to rest on the track in front of us. We slowly raised our binoculars, and were delighted to see that it was a Wryneck! A beautiful way to bring a great day to a close!
It had once again been a pleasure for me to meet such an interesting and enthusiastic person in Mary, and I hope that she returns to the USA with fond memories of her time here.
The species list for the day included…
Mallard, Moorhen, Shoveler, Marbled Teal, Black Winged Stilt, Greater Flamingo, Collared Pratincole, Cetti’s Warbler (h), Common Sandpiper, Ruff, Grey Plover, Kingfisher, Teal, Little Grebe, Black Tailed Godwit, Common Starling, Sardinian Warbler, Little Egret, Redshank, Greenshank, Ringed Plover, Dunlin, Great Crested Grebe, Black Necked Grebe, Black Headed Gull, Little Stint, Audouin’s Gull, Kentish Plover, Squacco Heron, Glossy Ibis, Cattle Egret, Lesser Black Backed Gull, Booted Eagle, Common Buzzard, Cormorant, Purple Swamphen, Wryneck, Magpie, Collared Dove.
Written by David Warrington.