April 2024
Some days, everything just seems to come together – nice weather, lovely people, newly arrived summer visitors and some interesting passage migrants. I was fortunate enough to enjoy one such day a couple of weeks ago with Roy from England. A keen birder, he was visiting Valencia and had previously contacted me to arrange a day’s birding.
Roy, photographing Glossy Ibis on a shallow lagoon
We met at a convenient spot and then headed to the coastal wetlands. This is usually a fabulous location in spring, but today’s visit seemed to turn up something special at almost every stage of the day. The first lagoon gave us views of Purple Swamphen, Red Crested Pochard, Great Reed Warbler and Whiskered Tern. A little patience and scanning was rewarded with sightings of White Headed Duck, Little Bittern and Purple Heron.
Spot the Whimbrel!
As we strolled along the pebble beach, a Whimbrel flew into view, then landed way off in front of us, blending in extremely well with its surroundings! A few Audouin’s Gulls glided along the beach too, but our next objective was to get some quality views of Collared Pratincole, a bird that Roy was eager to see. As always, avoiding the risk of disturbance was paramount, and we eventually succeeded in getting some great views without disturbing this unique and extremely attractive bird.
Collared Pratincole amongst spring flowers
We then spent a little time in a hide overlooking a couple of lagoons. Mediterranean Gulls and Common Terns were around in good numbers, together with Avocet and Black Winged Stilt. We were also delighted to see Marbled Teal and Ferruginous Duck on the water, the latter constantly diving which made photographing him a challenge!
Ferruginous Duck
We continued our walk and spent an extremely productive half hour watching over a shallow lagoon which was full of waders. These included Little Ringed Plover, Wood Sandpiper, Curlew Sandpiper, Ruff, Redshank, Snipe, and a vagrant that had spent a few days there, a Lesser Yellowlegs. A small flock of Little Terns also came to rest, and a Savvi’s Warbler could be heard singing in the reed beds.
Curlew Sandpiper
We moved on, really pleased with our sightings so far, and stopped for lunch in another hide, from where we had lovely views of a female Pied Flycatcher, Zitting Cisticola, Tree Sparrows and a small flock of passing Sand Martins.
Pied Flycatcher
After lunch, we continued our walk, opting to explore the interior of the reserve, which comprises pastureland, some open woodland and a few more small lagoons. At one spot, we heard the high pitched call of Penduline Tit, and after a little searching, managed to find them in some trees by the shore of the lagoon. We also saw a Whinchat before turning our eyes to the skies and had great views of a Short Toed Eagle.
Short Toed Eagle
The final stopping point was beside a lake that was borded on one side by a small wooded area. A Nightingale was singing from some low bushes, and after a little time spent searching, we eventually located it, partially hidden but a relatively good view. The lagoon held a few Greater Flamingos and Northern Shovelers, but it was a Garganey that caught our attention as it swam out into open water in front of us.
Garganey
The day was brought to a very fitting end with some good views of a Spoonbill that was feeding around an area of reeds, but eventually came out into the lagoon to show itself much better. It had been a pleasure for me to meet Roy, to spend the day with him and to share this very special corner of Valencia, and to enjoy some fabulous views of some wonderful birds together.
Spoonbill
Our list for the day included…
Barn Swallow, House Martin, Swift, Collared Dove, Grey Heron, Little Egret, Moorhen, Glossy Ibis, Greater Flamingo, Red Crested Pochard, Mallard, Purple Swamphen, Coot, Whiskered Tern, Great Egret, Great Reed Warbler, Black Headed Gull, Little Tern, Little Bittern, Great Crested Grebe, Common Pochard, White Headed Duck, Gadwall, Purple Heron, Little Grebe, Marsh Harrier, Spoonbill, Whimbrel, Audouin’s Gull, Mediterranean Gull, Black Winged Stilt, Common Tern, Collared Pratincole, Ferruginous Duck, Shoveler, Tree Sparrow, Marbled Teal, Avocet, Little Ringed Plover, Wood Sandpiper, Curlew Sandpiper, Lesser Yellowlegs, Ruff, Redshank, Little Tern, Yellow Wagtail, Snipe, Common Sandpiper, Pied Flycatcher, Cormorant, Zitting Cisticola, Sand Martin, Green Sandpiper, Penduline Tit, Whinchat, Short Toed Eagle, Magpie, Nightingale, Garganey, Goldfinch.
Written by Dave Warrington.
Valencia Birding.