Avoiding the storms at Albufera de Valencia
6th October 2022 It had been some time since Paul, a retired farmer from the UK, had contacted me to arrange a day’s birding at Albufera so it was a pleasure to finally meet him. He was taking a break with family and friends in the city of Valencia and was keen to include a birding trip in his plans. The long, hot summer is finally coming to an end, and as always in early autumn, we´ve had a few storms lately. The forecast for the day of our trip included an amber warning for heavy rain, but knowing that such weather can be very localised, we opted to meet as planned. I collected Paul from his hotel under a grey sky, and as we made the short drive to Albufera, it did indeed rain quite heavily. However, as soon as we parked the car and got out, the rain stopped! Common Sandpiper Our first site – a small, protected wetland reserve gave us views of Dunlin, Little Stint, Little Ringed Plover, Kentish Plover, Black Winged Stilt and Greater Flamingo. Wildfowl included Shelduck and Shoveler. This is a great time…