Bird watching holidays Spain - Page 15 of 24 - Valencia Birding

Birding the Valencian Coastal Wetlands in Spring.

A couple of weeks ago, I spent a very happy day with a great couple of clients from the UK. Michelle and David were spending a few days in the city of Valencia and were keen to include a day´s birding in their stay. They were happy for the trip to involve a walk, so we opted to visit the coastal wetlands of Valencia. Birding the coastal wetlands in Spring is a delight as all the summer visitors are here and there´s plenty of activity as birds jostle for nesting spaces, particularly the terns, gulls and Collared Pratincoles. After a short journey from the city we began the walk along the beach, watching over a series of coastal lagoons. Michelle spotted a small bird perched low in the branches of a tree, which on closer inspection was found to be a Spotted Flycatcher – a nice start to the day. A pair of Turtle Doves then flew over us. The song of Cetti´s Warbler and the call of Zitting Cisticola seemed to be everywhere. We spent a while watching over a lagoon which gave us fine views of Red Crested…

3 Day Birding Break in Valencia.

Over the weekend Yanina and I provided a 3 day birding break in Valencia for a group of four people from the UK. Like many of our clients, they wanted to combine a cultural stay in this enchanting city with guided birding to some very diverse habitats, all of which are within easy reach of the city. Day 1 – Albufera de Valencia. One day one, Yanina provided a trip to the Natural Park of Albufera de Valencia. This huge site comprises a freshwater lake, rice fields, reed beds, forests, dunes and a saltwater lagoon, so is extremely species rich. They spent the morning in a couple of special reserve areas where they particularly enjoyed watching a tern colony. Specific tern species included Little, Gull-billed, Caspian, Whiskered, Common and Sandwich. They also enjoyed great views of many waders, including Kentish Plover, Ringed Plover, Little Ringed Plover, Black-tailed Godwit, Ruff, Curlew Sandpiper, Dunlin, Little Stint, Green Sandpiper and Spotted Redshank. Almost all of our summer visitors are here by now, and it was great for them to see and hear some of the recently arrived passerines such as Pied Flycatcher, Spotted Flycatcher, Nightingale and Great Reed Warbler. The…

The mountains of Valencia in Spring.

Last week I was fortunate enough to enjoy a super day with a couple of new clients from UK. Valerie and Roger had only recently taken up bird watching but their knowledge is growing fast and they wanted to take their first guided trip. It would have been easy to take them to a wetland site where the species diversity is huge, but I didn´t want them to miss the “specialist” species that visit the mountains of Valencia in Spring. Most of the target species for this trip are summer visitors, and as Valerie and Roger may make a return trip in the autumn, it made sense to take the opportunity to spend a day in the mountains this month. After the drive from Valencia, and a brief coffee stop we parked the car and had a short walk alongside a river. This is one of the few sites in the area where Dipper breed, so we opted to sit still for a while, hoping that one would appear. A couple of very fast “fly pasts” confirmed their presence, but after ten more minutes, one came to rest, giving us…

Birding in Albufera.

Last Friday I provided a day of guided birding in Albufera de Valencia for a great client from the USA. Kevin was staying in Valencia and wanted to include some bird watching in his holiday. An experienced birder back in the States, he was very keen to discover the bird life that our region holds. As this was the first time he´d been birding in Spain, we focussed the day on enjoying quality views of some of the classic species, rather than trying to maximise the list. Our day began in a protected reserve area where we enjoyed views of Black Tailed Godwits (many now well into their breeding plumage), Avocet, Greater Flamingo and Black Winged Stilt. As we walked through the reserve, there was a constant stream of House Martins and Barn Swallows, all heading north on their migration. Just as we were saying what an exciting time this is, a much larger bird caught my eye – an Alpine Swift! After a short drive across the rice fields, where we stopped to watch Meadow Pipit, Marsh Harrier and Cattle Egret, we entered another restricted reserve area. A pair…

2 day winter birding break.

February continued to be a busy month with this fabulous 2 day winter birding break for a lovely couple who have become friends and loyal clients of Valencia Birding. Not only have they been out with us on numerous occassions, but they also made the effort to visit us at BirdFair in the UK last year. It was therefore a great pleasure to welcome back Jan and Rab. They were making one of their regular visits to Spain and once more had chosen to incorporate a birding trip into their plans. After previous discussion, they had opted to make Banyeres de Mariola their base for two nights, being well placed for some of the regions best sites. On day one we met for morning coffee in a small town in the Alicante province, after which we made the short journey to the starting point of our mountain bird trip. We had originally planned to do a much longer mountain walk but the recent cold spell had left many of the north facing mountain trails covered in ice, so we chose a shorter route that should give us most of the…

4 Day Birding Break in Alicante and Valencia

The recent weeks have been especially fulfilling as we´ve been fortunate enough to welcome back many returning clients and friends. Alastair and Christine had previously spent a few days birding with us and this time they were looking for a 4 day birding break in Alicante and Valencia. They had enjoyed visiting the cultural sites in Alicante including the castle, museums, roman sites and art galleries and wanted to follow this with 4 days of birding and later a few days in the historical centre of Valencia…a great combination! On day one I collected them from their hotel in Alicante and we made the short drive to one of the region´s inland sierras. The previous week had seen temperatures plummet and a little snowfall but despite being cold, today had dawned bright and with very little wind. They were keen to see Alpine Accentors, a very popular bird for clients who visit in winter. Having stopped for a morning coffee and to collect sandwiches, we started our walk. We made our way up through a forest where we saw Coal Tits and Long Tailed Tits. A Mistle Thrush swooped up…