Bird watching Albufera de Valencia - Page 23 of 24 - Valencia Birding

Bird Watching at Albufera de Valencia.

Last week I had the pleasure of taking a great group of clients to my favourite birding venue…Albufera de Valencia. The group leader had been on previous trips with me and has since become a friend and loyal supporter of Valencia Birding. We began our journey in Gandia, and travelled up through the rice fields to a very special nature reserve at the heart of the natural park. Walking through the reserve, we enjoyed views of some superb classic Albufera species, including Avocet, Flamingo, Little Bittern, Purple Heron, Whiskered Tern, Great Reed Warbler and Black Winged Stilt. Thanks to the reserve staff, we enjoyed a light hearted but very informative presentation on the natural history and cultural history of the area, focussing on the rice growing cycle and how that influences the habitat and bird life. After a picnic lunch by one of the canals, we chartered a boat trip on the Albufera lake with our regular boatman El Torrenti, focussing on the quieter corners where the reeds provide home to Purple Swamphen, Little Grebe and Night Heron. We also had good views of Gull-Billed Tern, Sandwich Tern, Little Tern…

Guided Bird Watching in Valencia.

On Friday 22nd March, we provided a day of guided bird watching for a great couple of clients from the Netherlands who were on vacation here in Spain. Both keen nature lovers, they were eager to see the diverse bird life that the Valencian coastal wetlands holds, especially at this time of year when summer migrants are beginning to arrive. Our first stop was at a protected reserve within the natural park of Albufera de Valencia. We had excellent views of Purple Swamphen, Glossy Ibis, Avocet, Greater Flamingo and a small flock of passing Spoonbill. Recently arrived summer visitors included Redstart,Reed Warbler and Purple Heron. Wildfowl included Gadwall, Red Crested Pochard, Shoveler and Pochard. The visit was completed by a fascinating presentation by the reserve staff on the ecology and natural history of the area. After a picnic lunch we moved slightly further north where we watched over a couple of coastal lagoons. We enjoyed good views of Little Ringed Plover, Kentish Plover, a Wheatear and recently arrived Whiskered Terns. House Martins, Swallows and Swifts were passing through overhead in good numbers. The day was brought to a spectacular end…

Guided Bird Watching at Albufera de Valencia.

On Wednesday 13th February, we had the pleasure of providing a leisurely day of guided birding for a couple from our local area together with their friends who were visiting from the UK. We chose to explore the lakes, lagoons and rice fields of Albufera de Valencia, a coastal wetland of international importance. Our first stop was by a small, sheltered lake and as soon as we got out of the van we were treated to a spectacular sight – a flock of over 500 Greater Flamingoes in flight, the pink, crimson and black of their plumage contrasting beautifully with the deep blue of the winter sky. The lake held Pintail, Red Crested Pochard, and Shoveler whilst the trees around the shore were alive with Chiffchaffs and Robins. A Booted Eagle passed low overhead, soon followed by a Marsh Harrier. As Albufera de Valencia is the place of origin of the world famous Paella, we enjoyed a relaxed hour or so in a traditional rice restaurant before setting out across the rice fields. Gulls included Audouin´s, Lesser Black Backed, Yellow Legged and Black Headed. Further scanning revealed Greenshank, Great Egret…

Guided Bird Watching in Eastern Spain.

Last week, we provided two days of guided birding for a group of 4 clients from UK. To enjoy the diversity of habitat and bird life that this area offers, they had opted for a day at the Coastal Wetlands and a day on the Steppe and Lagoons in the interior of Eastern Spain. All well travelled nature lovers, the group was an absolute delight…knowledgeable and very good humoured. Owing to some unusually windy weather conditions we proposed a slight amendment to the itinerary for the first day, and following a short journey from their hotel, we were at the first birding site. Scanning across some rice fields near Valencia, we enjoyed good views of Cattle Egret, Audouin´s Gull and Reed Bunting. The resident Spotless Starlings had been joined by sizeable flocks of wintering Common Starling, a regular visitor to the Valencia area. The second site was a sheltered lake close to the coast where we had views of wildfowl including Pintail, Pochard, Red Crested Pochard, Shoveler and Teal. We also had great views of numerous Marsh Harriers (including a female that was lunching on a Teal!). Other species included…

Bird Watching at Albufera de Valencia

On Tuesday 8th January, together with two local birders, I enjoyed a leisurely day in the Natural Park of Albufera de Valencia. We began our day by generally exploring some of the rice fields on the west side of the park. The usual Little Egrets, Cattle Egrets and Grey Herons were in abundance in amongst which were a five Great Egrets. A female Marsh Harrier passed low over the stubble, flushing out a Snipe. A pair of Stonechats were flitting around the edges of a field and an Iberian Grey Shrike spent a few minutes on an overhead cable close by. Then seemingly from nowhere, a Booted Eagle appeared. It passed by very low before catching a thermal and rising into the air until it was nothing more than a dot. It circled over the fields then made yet another low pass, the winter sunlight catching its contrasting colours beautifully. We moved further north on to another favourite spot where we enjoyed superb views of over 100 Glossy Ibis. We remained in this spot for a good while, and our patience was rewarded with views of Bluethroat, Meadow Pipit and…

Guided Birding in Valencia

On Sunday 21st October, I spent a very enjoyable day with some great clients from Kidderminster, UK. Stella and Richard are both keen nature lovers and in recent years have been particularly interested in birds. They were keen to explore the Valencian wetlands and to see the classic species of this diverse area. We started our day at one of the reserves within the natural park of Albufera de Valencia where we began by scanning the lake for wildfowl. We soon had good views of Red Crested Pochard, Shelduck and Teal. We also had great views of both male and female Marsh Harriers, a species that seems to be doing increasingly well in this area. We then moved on to another site within Albufera where we were very fortunate to see the endangered Red Crested Coot. We also had good views of Purple Swamphen, and Iberian Grey Shrike. The reed beds held many recently arrived Chiffchaffs plus Fan-Tailed Warbler and Cetti´s Warbler. We also had brief views of Kingfisher and Black Redstart. After a coffee stop, the next site of the day was a coastal lagoon where we enjoyed great…