It was great to begin the New Year with a trip to Albufera with Sally and Pete, a couple of clients who have a home in this region and wanted to explore the lesser known corners of this huge wetland. We met close to their base in the village of Pego and made the comfortable journey to the south side of the park where we began the day amongst the rice fields.
When the fields are recently ploughed and partially flooded, they are riven with shallow gullies and therefore need to be closely scanned to reveal the smaller birds that are present. Our first stop indeed gave us views of plenty of Meadow Pipits and White Wagtails that were feeding, and closer attention revealed a small flock of Snipe. Further away, we scoped a large mixed group of Golden Plover and Lapwing.
Distant shot of a Golden Plover with Lapwing (taken through scope with mobile)
As we returned to the car and drove along more tracks, a large bird to our distant left side caught our attention. We stopped to wait for it to fly closer, which indeed it did, before coming to land in a field. Although it was fairly distant, we were delighted to realise that it was a Black Stork.
Black Stork
We continued to drive north across the rice fields, some of which held huge flocks of Black-headed Gulls, Glossy Ibis and Cattle Egrets, with a few Lesser Black-backed Gulls and Yellow-legged Gulls amongst them. Our next stop was at a small reserve area where we saw Purple Swamphen, Little Grebe, Shelduck and Marsh Harrier (both male and female).
A little later, we were scanning through a large gathering of Glossy Ibis when Sally spotted a Sacred Ibis that has present in the park for quite some time.
Sacred Ibis amongst Glossy Ibis and various gulls
We had lunch in a picnic area before continuing our day, eventually bringing it to an end at a coastal lagoon that held Dunlin, Greenshank, Great Crested Grebe and Slender-billed Gull. Despite being quite breezy, the skies gave us views of a Booted Eagle and small flocks of Crag Martins, a species that vertically migrates from its mountain breeding environment to spend the winters at sea level.
Slender-billed Gull
We strolled back to the car, and started to make our return journey. It felt great to begin the New Year with this trip, and it had been a pleasure for me to get to know Sally and Pete. I very much look forward to seeing them again soon.
Our species list for the day included…
Little Egret, Cattle Egret, Great Egret, Booted Eagle, Grey Heron, Black Headed Gull, Lesser Black Backed Gull, Yellow Legged Gull, Lapwing, Golden Plover, Snipe, White Wagtail, Serin, Black Stork, Kestrel, Marsh Harrier, Mallard, Coot, Purple Swamphen, Little Grebe, Glossy Ibis, Shelduck, Sacred Ibis, Meadow Pipit, Crag Martin, Dunlin, Great Crested Grebe, Shelduck, Slender Billed Gull, Stonechat, Greenshank.
Written by Dave Warrington.
Valencia Birding.