Valencia Birding - Guided Bird Watching in Spain Valencia Birding Blog

Easter Birding in Valencia

On Easter Saturday, Yanina and I arranged a day of guided bird watching to the Valencian Coastal Wetlands. At Easter Birding in Valencia is especially rewarding as many of the summer visitors are returning to their breeding grounds in our local wetland reserves. We gathered in central Valencia before making the short journey to the reserve that we´d selected for today´s trip. After a morning coffee, looking out across the calm waters of the Mediterranean, we began our walk along a coastal dune system. The first lagoon gave good views of waterfowl including Pochard, Red-crested Pochard and Little Grebe. As we walked further into the reserve, the second lagoon provided a spectacular sight of seven male White-headed Ducks, one of Europe´s rarest and arguably most attractive ducks. We also had great views of Flamingo, Purple Heron, Glossy Ibis and Marsh Harrier. We then took in an area of coastal scrub, and were treated to views of Wheatear, Stonechat, Whinchat, Sub-alpine Warbler and Spotless Starling. We also had a good view of Audouin´s Gull and the beautiful Collared Pratincole. After a picnic lunch on a pebble beach, we headed inland to an area…

Bird watching in restricted & protected areas of Valencia

As professional and licensed bird watching guides, we clearly work along guidelines and codes of practice to ensure that ethics are applied, and to minimise environmental impact. A special priviledge that we enjoy is that of access to restricted and protected areas of many nature reserves throughout the Valencian region. Last week, I had the pleasure of providing a bespoke birding trip to one of these highly protected areas, a “green filter” reserve within the Albufera de Valencia Natural Park. My client for the day was Oscar, a very experienced birder from Bilbao. We were warmly welcomed by the reserve manager, who outlined the recent sightings. We were very fortunate in that there had been sightings of a rarity – the Citrine Wagtail, so of course Oscar was very eager to see this unusual visitor. He was also keen to see the many wading birds that frequent this wetland reserve. So, we spent the morning very quietly exploring the reserve, and enjoying the spectacular bird life on display. Our patience eventually paid off, and rewarded us with great views of the Citrine Wagtail! The timing of our visit also coincided…

Birding and Nature Photography Trip

Yesterday I provided a birding and nature photography trip for a client from Italy. It was his second trip to Valencia and he wanted to photograph some of the fabulous bird species of the Albufera de Valencia Natural Park. I collected him from his hotel in the city of Valencia where he´s spending a week´s holiday with his family. As he´s a keen wildlife photographer, he´d contacted Valencia Birding to arrange a day trip which would be close to the city whilst visiting some of the areas natural spaces. At this time of the year, the bird life in l´Albufera is distributed in different areas of the park, depending on which rice fields have been ploughed, thus influencing food availability. So, our first stop was in the western part of the Natural Park, where we found an amazing sight – over 2,000 flamingos, plus thousands of gulls, egrets, herons and glossy ibis. After this wonderful spectacle, we visited a protected reserve area with a magnificent biodiversity. Species included Snipe, Black-tailed Godwit and Greenshank. Next stop was in the Devesa forest, a natural native Mediterranean pine forest. We watched and photographed…

Guided wildlife and bird watching in Valencia

Last Saturday I was delighted to spend a wonderful day with two great clients from New York, USA. There were on a journey through the Costa del Sol, Spain and wanted a day of guided wildlife and bird watching in Valencia. It was a sunny and windless day, ideal for exploring the different eco-systems of the Albufera de Valencia Natural Park. Not only keen birders, they were also particularly interested in ecology and natural history in general. I designed a trip with this in mind, hoping to provide a bespoke day. I focussed on the history and ecology of the area, and also gave an insight into the ongoing efforts to promote conservation and specifically to improve the water quality of the Albufera. We enjoyed many of the classic and wintering species of l´Albufera in particular herons, egrets and ibis that are resident in the park. We enjoyed a fabulous day and were fortunate enough to see more than 40 species, including: Marsh Harrier, Common Buzzard, Booted Eagle, Kestrel, Glossy Ibis, Grey Heron, Great Egret, Little Egret, Cattle Egret, Purple Swamphen, Moorhen, Coot, Little Grebe, Back-necked Grebe, Great-Crested Grebe, Common Snipe, Black-winged…

Spring 2015 Bulletin

Birding at Albufera de Valencia and the Valencian Coastal Wetlands These two trips prove to be our most popular birding sites and we´ve had the pleasure of showing these amazing spaces and their rich bird life to clients from throughout the World. As they´re both such popular trips, we´re delighted to be able to improve them both even further.We´ve recently been granted special authorization to enter some wonderful restricted areas that are out of bounds for the general public. This provides our clients with the opportunity to enjoy some very special natural spaces that would otherwise be impossible to visit. For the Albufera de Valencia trip, we can now also offer a new and exciting additional element which is a trip in a traditional Albufera boat. These trips are exclusively for our clients, are allow us to pass quietly by some great areas of wetland and to enjoy a different perspective. New Venues – Mountain Ranges of Valencia & The Lakes and Highlands of Inland Spain The “Mountain Ranges of Valencia” trip is ideal for those who want enjoy a short walk in the mountains amongst stunning…

David & Yanina Complete Guiding Qualification

I´m delighted to report that Yanina and I recently completed and passed a course for professional bird watching guides. The course was delivered by the SEO (Sociedad Española de Ornitologia) and included a 40 hour on-line module followed by a 2 day course which we attended together in Valencia. As well as some useful resources, the course provided a great forum for debate on sustainable tourism and environmentally-friendly best practice. It´s always good to keep up to date on latest thinking, and to share ideas and we both felt that the time invested in the course was well spent and of great value.