bird watching costa blanca - Page 8 of 14 - Valencia Birding

Fabulous News – Greater Flamingo Breeds Successfully in Alicante.

A combination of factors have combined to provide the ideal conditions for Greater Flamingo to breed successfully at one of Alicante´s salt marshes for the first time in 37 years! This site is one that we usually include in our multi-day birding breaks and is very reliable for Greater Flamingo, but the news that they have been able to successfully breed there is delightful. More about the factors that have provided such ideal conditions… In January of this year, the region suffered from huge storms with incredibly high rainfall. Following this, early Spring in Alicante was also much wetter than usual. This resulted in the water levels at all wetland sites increasing, but as this sudden increase was due to rainfall, it also reduced the salinity of the water. The reduction in salinity then resulted in a huge increase in the population of the brine shrimp Artemia salina, the principal food of Greater Flamingo. The birds also enjoyed a period of relative calm, firstly as there were far fewer humans around because of the Corona Virus lockdown, and secondly because predators such as foxes could not get close to the…

The Lives of Griffon Vultures.

Griffon Vultures – Magnificent Birds of the Spanish Mountains Often misunderstood, or at least badly portrayed! Spain is home to around 17,000 pairs of Griffon Vultures. That sounds like quite a lot, but the sobering thought is that this figure accounts for approximately 75% of the World´s population. The wingspan of an adult bird is almost 3 metres, and they can live for over 30 years. They are often seen as “flying planks” high in the blue skies of Southern Europe. But what of the lives of these mystical creatures? “Vultures!” is often a phrase, an insult indeed for someone who preys on the vulnerable, the weak, for their own easily gotten gains. No wonder then, that this carries over to the image of these most noble of birds. I beg to plead in their defence! Firstly, on a “personal” basis, they are monogamous, usually pairing for life. As these photos show, they breed on mountain crags, building their nests from sticks. The lay a single egg, which is incubated for 50-60 days. Four months after hatching, the chick is fledged and can fly, but usually needs further care and…

First time out for seven weeks!

For the past seven weeks, my birding has been confined to what I can see from the balcony. Although, as detailed in previous articles, this has often revealed a few surprises, it´s obviously been very limited. I also have to say that I don´t feel too comfortable standing there with a pair of binoculars in case it causes unease or discomfort amongst the neighbours. However, a few days ago, whilst reading in the living room, a bird song caught my attention. After searching through the trees that fill the square below the balcony, I found it – a Willow Warbler! When it was announced last week that we could eventually go out once per day within specific hours and within 1km of home, I decided to dedicate some time to something that I´ve been meaning to do for a while, and to look closer at the birdlife that´s right on my doorstep. This revealed more than a few surprises. We´re fortunate enough to live in a very friendly neighbourhood on the north-eastern edge of the city of Valencia, which whilst being only 7 minute´s Metro ride away from the city…

Autumn 2019 Newsletter.

Reflection. Following the summer holiday period, Autumn is always a time of reflection, thinking back over the year so far whilst at the same time looking ahead at what remains, particularly with migration in mind. We still have a few late summer visitors here, but in general the autumn migration is well underway. This week has seen huge mixed flocks of Swifts, Martins and Swallows passing through the region but what has been more noticeable has been the sheer numbers of Bee Eaters on the move this week and last. Waders are currently the big draw though, especially at our numerous coastal wetland sites. Recent sightings have included Terek Sandpiper. Looking back at the Spring of this year, we are delighted to say that Valencia Birding enjoyed its best ever period (in terms of number of clients) since we began back in 2011. In challenging times such as these, it´s fabulous to see such positive trends and we´re exceptionally grateful to all whose support has helped us to make this possible. The “star” species are too numerous to comprehensively list here but they have to include the returning Elegant Terns,…

4 Day Birding Trip around Alicante.

Just before our summer break, I was delighted to design and provide a 4 day birding trip around Alicante for two clients from the UK. Robin and Simon are both experienced and very well travelled birders. Robin was on a quest to see all the European bird species and prior to the trip, he had less than 30 species left to see!! His key priorities were Red-knobbed Coot, White Headed Duck and Red-necked Nightjar, but we also added Iberian Green Woodpecker (Picus sharpei) to that. Their flight arrived in Alicante in the afternoon, so once I´d met them there, we made the most of the few hours that we had by exploring the local salt marshes and coastal lagoons. We enjoyed good views of plenty of Greater Flamingoes, Little Tern, Whiskered Tern and Audouin´s Gull. We then moved to a hide overlooking a scrape from where we spotted a Kentish Plover on a nest. The large colony of Slender Billed Gulls also gave us great views. Although we´d only had a few hours, we´d made a good start. We drove to their hotel in central Alicante which was only a…

3 Day Birding Holiday

Last week, Yanina and I provided a 3 day birding holiday for returning clients and friends from the UK. Rab and Jan have been on numerous trips with us over the past years and this time they were accompanied by their friend Pete from my home town of Sheffield. Our main objective was to provide as much diversity as possible in the three days that we had together. So on day 1, I collected them from their holiday home in Javia and we drove south to visit the salt pans of Alicante. Here we were focussing on gulls, and soon had the two key species – Audouin´s and Slender Billed as well as Yellow Legged. After a morning coffee, we headed to one of the region´s premium wetland sites where we began by searching for Bluethroat. Eventually, our patience was rewarded and we enjoyed great views of this ever popular little bird. Having spent a little time watching Little Ringed Plover and Purple Swamphen, we then turned our attention to one of the region´s conservation success stories, the Red-knobbed Coot, and were treated to some excellent views. A visit to…