Valencia Birding - Guided Bird Watching in Spain Valencia Birding Blog

Enjoying migration time at Albufera.

21st October 2022. I’ve spent many days over the past weeks at Albufera, and have been fortunate enough to do so with some wonderful people from all over the world. Today’s trip was for two very experienced birders from Denmark, who had chosen to include a day’s birding into their short break in Valencia. The day of our trip was quite warm for the time of the year, but with light cloud cover and no wind. We began to see an overlap of summer visitors, winter visitors, passage migrants and resident species as soon as we began – namely Collared Pratincole, Black Tailed Godwit, Dunlin and Black Winged Stilts respectively. Black Winged Stilts resting and preening Teal added to the wintering birds, and a Kingfisher came to perch before us, giving excellent views. Raptors then began to show, firstly a female Marsh Harrier gliding low over the reeds, soon followed by a pale morph Booted Eagle circling high above the reserve. Kingfisher We moved on to our next stop where we enjoyed views of Black Necked Grebe, now in winter plumage, Greenshank, Audouin’s Gull and Great Crested Grebe. Seemingly to…

A day at Albufera with a wetlands expert from the USA.

I recently had the privilege to meet and provide a trip to Albufera de Valencia for Patricia from the USA, who is a leading expert in the wetlands scientific research sector. Despite her huge knowledge and experience, her humility and enthusiasm for all that we saw made the day very special. Our first reserve visit gave us shorebirds that included Black Winged Stilt, Black Tailed Godwit, Collared Pratincole, Ruff and Common Sandpiper. A Kingfisher came to perch quite close by, and stayed there for a good few minutes, allowing for excellent views. Kingfisher After a morning coffee stop in a local village, we moved on to a coastal lagoon where we enjoyed watching Little Stint, Dunlin, Ringed Plover, Kentish Plover and Greater Flamingo. Dunlin After lunch, we drove across the rice fields which held Marsh Harrier, Buzzard, Glossy Ibis, Cattle Egret, Little Egret and Great Egret. Taking into account Patricia’s specialist knowledge, I built in a visit to the fabulous green-filter reserve, Tancat de la Pipa, where I could outline the developments that have taken place in the effort to improve water quality within the reserve, thereby enhancing habitat and…

Another productive autumn day at Albufera de Valencia

7th October 2022 At this time of year, our wetlands are particularly interesting as many migrants, especially shorebirds, are passing through the region on their voyage from Europe to Africa. Today’s trip was for Mary from New Mexico, who was visiting Valencia with a friend and was keen to fit in a day’s birding whilst here. It was another grey day, as storm fronts had been moving through for a few days, but we succeeded in staying dry throughout the trip, despite being surrounded by sharp, localised showers. Marbled Teal Our first spot, at a reserve area, gave us a couple of very welcome surprises – Marbled Teal and a Collared Pratincole (October is relatively late for both, although Marbled Teal can often be seen in the south of the region). As we were sitting in the hide, a Kingfisher made a brief appearance, perching beautifully in front of us for a minute or so, before flying off into the reeds. Kingfisher Careful scanning then revealed a Teal, probably recently arrived as this is a winter visitor here, a Grey Plover and a Common Sandpiper. The next hide gave views…

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…

An Early Autumn Day at Albufera de Valencia

Last weekend I provided a day trip to Albufera de Valencia for two lovely and very interesting people from Scotland, who also have a home in the Valencia Region of Spain. The trip was bought by Red for his wife Lorna´s birthday and had been planned for a while. The timing was designed such that the heat of the summer should be behind us and the early autumn migration should provide us with some interesting sightings. Having collected them from Valencia´s very elegant “Valencia Nord” railway station, from where we made the short journey to Albufera, we began the day in a hide from which we saw Greater Flamingo, Avocet, Black Winged Stilt and Common Sandpiper. As we were about to leave, a Green Sandpiper flew into view too. A good start to the trip! Greater Flamingo We strolled through the reserve, listening to Sardinian Warbler and Cett’s Warlber and arrived at the next hide which gave us excellent views of Black Tailed Godwit, Ruff and Shelduck. Lorna and Red were interested to learn more about how this huge wetland was formed, so we returned via the visitor centre where…

2-Day Birding Trip from Alicante

8th & 9th September 2022 Day 1 : Coastal Wetlands & Saltmarshes. After the summer break, our trips kicked-off again in early September. I tend not to offer many trips during the summer months as the heat can often have an impact on the quality of the trip, which of course, is of paramount importance. Erling, from Iceland, had previously contacted me to arrange a couple of day´s birding whilst he was on holiday with his family in the Alicante region. Erling, a professional entomologist from the Icelandic Institute of Natural History, is clearly a well-known figure in Icelandic birding circles and beyond, so it was a privilege to meet both him and his brother-in-law Gudni, and to spend these days together. For our first trip, we chose to visit the wetlands of Alicante. Armed with a list of target species, we made the journey from Alicante and soon arrived at our first reserve. Within just a few minutes, we were watching Purple Swamphen, one of the targets for the day, which got the trip off to a great start. Swifts, House Martins and Crag Martins were all feeding above…