The forth and final day of Charles´trip saw us birding at Albufera de Valencia. This internationally important wetland holds something of interest throughout the year, be it for its breeding habitats for summer visitors, its location as a stopping point for migrating birds or as a wintering ground for species that return each year from northern Europe and beyond.
The ever changing habitats of Albufera de Valencia provides some superb birding opportunities
We started the day at a specially protected reserve area, where we visited a hide that looked onto a small lagoon. This gave views of Black Tailed Godwit, Spotted Redshank, Greenshank, Avocet and Black Winged Stilt.
We then turned our attention to the wildfowl that over winter in Albufera in huge numbers. We enjoyed views of Shelduck, Pintail, Shoveler, Teal, Pochard and Red Crested Pochard.
Charles was keen to see the famous egrets of Albufera so we then headed across the rice fields that provide critical feeding grounds for thousands of herons, egrets and waders. We parked by an irrigation channel and enjoyed close views of Little Egret, Cattle Egret and Great Egret.
Great Egret
We had to push on as we´d been invited to attend a ringing session in another protected reserve, and Charles was interested to see how the ornithologists record the age and sex of the birds that they ring. We sat at the ringing station whilst they recorded the details then released a Reed Bunting, Greenfinch and a Robin.
Ringing station
We then walked through the reserve, stopping to watch Flamingo, Fan Tailed Warbler, Great Crested Grebe and Marsh Harrier. After a quick lunch, we then headed towards the south side of the park, hoping for Glossy Ibis. 2015 was a record year for Glossy Ibis in Albufera, with a population of almost 4,000 birds. It didn´t take long before we found the first flock, feeding in a semi-flooded rice field.
The next hour was spent visiting some current “hotspots” amongst the rice fields, some of which were being ploughed. We were blessed to have good views of a beautiful Merlin although the highlight had to be some amazing views of a Bittern.
We were only a couple of days away from the shortest day of the year, and we were keen for Charles to see some of his remaining target species. So, we headed for another small reserve where we know the water quality is very good. This of course has a huge effect on its biodiversity, including its bird life. We immediately saw a juvenile Night Heron, then a little more effort was rewarded with good views of Bluethroat.
Bluethroat
The final stop of the day was the beach, in particular a protected area that in spring provides breeding grounds for Collared Pratincole. In winter we were never going to see this extremely pretty shore bird, but we did enjoy views of Dunlin, Grey Plover and Kentish Plover.
We also managed to get quality views of Sardinian Warbler in the coastal scrub.
It had been a real pleasure for both Yanina and I to design and provide this break for Charles. We´d had a great time, visited some extremely diverse habitats and seen over 100 species.
It was time to say goodbye, for Charles to fly back to London and for us all to make those last minute preparations for Christmas. It had been a wonderful way to bring the year to an end
The day´s species list included…
Black Winged Stilt, Black Tailed Godwit, Spotted Redshank, Greater Flamingo, Greenshank, Avocet, Kentish Plover, Grey Plover, Dunlin, Common Sandpiper, Green Sandpiper, Night Heron, Grey Heron, Little Egret, Cattle Egret, Great Egret, Glossy Ibis, Great Crested Grebe, Little Grebe, Black Headed Gull, Reed Bunting, Chaffinch, Greenfinch, Spotless Starling, Common Starling, White Wagtail, Grey Wagtail, Robin, Bluethroat, Sardinian Warbler, Sparrowhawk ,Marsh Harrier, Merlin, Mallard, Shelduck, Teal, Red Crested Pochard, Pochard, Pintail, Shoveler.