22/4/23
Today I had the pleasure of meeting Michael and Paula from the UK, who were spending some time in Valencia and had previously booked a day with me. As they were happy to include a walk in the trip, we decided to spend the day at one of Valencia´s coastal wetlands.
Once parked by the reserve, we began our walk and the day got off to a great start with almost immediate views of Little Bittern, Night Heron and Greater Flamingo. We headed along the coast, looking across a series of lagoons and reed beds that held White Headed Duck, Black Winged Stilt, Zitting Cisticola and Purple Heron.
Night Heron
Our first observatory gave us the opportunity to enjoy views of Moustached Warbler, Collared Pratincole, Squacco Heron and Audouin’s Gull. We walked further along the coast to a hide from where we saw Common Tern, Sandwich Tern, Great Reed Warbler, Avocet and Ringed Plover.
Collared Pratincole
After enjoying our picnic lunch, we strolled through an area of scrub and pasture towards another lagoon. This held Purple Swamphen, Wood Sandpiper, Spotted Redshank and a Garganey. We caught sight of a small group of Common Waxbill and Cetti’s Warbler in the reeds as well as enjoying the song of Nightingale.
Cetti´s Warbler
It had been a great day, spent with a lovely couple who I hoped had enjoyed an introduction to the bird life and biodiversity of this fascinating region.
The species list for the day included…
Swift, Grey Heron, Collared Dove, Black Headed Gull, Little Bittern, Night Heron, Mallard, Greater Flamingo, Red Crested Pochard, Moorhen, White Headed Duck, Coot, Marsh Harrier, Glossy Ibis, Little Egret, Black Winged Stilt, Zitting Cisticola, Pochard, Great Crested Grebe, Great Egret, Whiskered Tern, Purple Heron, Moustached Warbler, Collared Pratincole, Squacco Heron, Monk Parakeet, Audouin’s Gull, Common Sandpiper, Common Tern, Redshank, Little Grebe, Avocet, Shoveler, Great Reed Warbler, Sandwich Tern, Ringed Plover, Goldfinch, Purple Swamphen, Hoopoe, Tree Sparrow, Common Waxbill, Magpie, Serin, Wood Sandpiper, Spotted Redshank, Garganey, Kestrel, House Martin, Cetti’s Warbler, Nightingale (h), Stonechat.
Written by Dave Warrington.