Bird watching holidays Spain - Page 20 of 23 - Valencia Birding

5-Day Birding Holiday

We recently provided a 5-day birding holiday for a group of RSPB members from Northern Ireland. It was made more special by the fact that the leader of the group had previously attended a trip with us and had recommended us to her local group. We´d worked with Pat to design a tailor-made trip, focussing on habitat diversity, a few special target species and authentic and traditional accommodation. As such, we put together a 2-centre break. They arrived at Alicante airport on an evening flight from Belfast, where we were waiting to welcome them. After their arrival we made the easy journey up into the rural interior of Alicante Province and to their guest house for the first half of the trip, L´Alqueria del Pilar, a converted farmhouse in the village of Banyeres de Mariola. After a good night´s rest and a leisurely start we began our first day : Day 1 – Mountains The first day was designed to include very little travelling, and a walk in the mountains of the Sierra de Mariola Natural Park. The plan for the morning was a circular walk of some 5kms, through high…

Winter birding at Albufera de Valencia

Yesterday, I enjoyed a fabulous day of birding at Albufera de Valencia with returning clients from the Netherlands. Although chilly and quite breezy, we enjoyed a truly wonderful day. As we only had one day, we aimed to maximise habitat diversity, taking in coastal scrub, dunes, beach, sea, rice fields, reed beds and fresh water lagoons. The day began at a reserve area where we scanned the main Albufera lake for wildfowl. We enjoyed views of Pintail, Teal, Pochard, Red Crested Pochard, Shoveler and Wigeon. We moved on to watch a smaller lagoon where we saw Black Tailed Godwit, Black Winged Stilt, Ruff and the spectacular Booted Eagle. This raptor has in recent years become a resident of the Valencia region and can often be seen in Albufera and other coastal wetland sites. Our next stop was an area of coastal scrub and grassland where we had good views of Meadow Pipit, Red Legged Partridge, Black Redstart and Sardinian Warbler. A short time spent sea watching gave views of Gannet, Razorbill, and Yellow Legged Gull whilst on the beach we enjoyed watching a small flock of Sanderling feeding by the…

January 2017 Bulletin

Another bird-packed year has passed, filled with many happy memories of special times spent with lovely people in beautiful locations, watching amazing birds. As we look forward to another new year, we´d like to begin as always by thanking you all for your support during 2016 and by wishing you a very happy 2017. General News Our day trips have continued to prove very popular, and this year we´ve been delighted to see an increase in teenagers and young people that we´ve guided. We´re very much aware that the future of birding and conservation lies in their hands, so we´re always gratified when we see such interest. Our proximity to some incredibly diverse habitat is a constant benefit to us, and we look forward to another year of guiding our clients through some of Europe´s best wetlands, salt marshes, highland forest, mountains and steppe. A point worthy of note here is that after a lengthy period of dry weather during much of the year, our region saw some incredibly high rainfall during December 2016. Although this caused some practical problems in the immediate term, it has served to boost the…

A superb day at Albufera de Valencia.

A couple of weeks ago, just before the much needed rain storms that we´re currently enjoying, I provided a trip to Albufera de Valencia for a couple of regular clients. As they are frequent clients, we opted to spend the morning in just one reserve area and focus on what we could see there. The day began with a treat as hundreds of Greater Flamingoes passed low overhead, providing a real spectacle. They were soon followed by a Buzzard and then a small group of Booted Eagles, both pale and dark phase. The lagoons held Purple Swamphens in good numbers, as well as Glossy Ibis and Great Egret. Despite it being late November, we also watched a few Barn Swallows feeding with House Martins over the water. The reeds contained Zitting Cisticola, Reed Bunting, Kingfisher and Chiffchaff. Then as we were approaching the edge of another lagoon, we were delighted to enjoy great views of a Bittern, perhaps the highlight of the day! After lunch by a small canal where we had views of Little Bittern, we moved to the south side of the park, where we´d heard of reports of…

Birding from Alicante

I recently designed and provided a 2-day bird photography trip for a client from Norway. Svein was staying in the south of our region and wanted to organise a couple of days birding from Alicante. We opted for a day at the area´s premium wetland reserve followed by a day on the steppe. That way he would see two completely different habitats. One day 1 we met up and drove to the wetlands where we started the day with a walk through the reserve. The day began with views of Little Grebe, Little Stint, Dunlin, Avocet and Greater Flamingo. We had good views of Glossy Ibis in flight, then of Booted Eagle passing overhead. Although we weren´t able to get quality photos, we were very fortunate to enjoy views of one of the over-wintering Spotted Eagles, a huge raptor that migrates from Eastern Europe each year. After a picnic lunch by a small lake where we enjoyed views of Wood Sandpiper, Red Knobbed Coot and Purple Swamphen, we took a short walk during which we had great views of a Black Stork. We then visited a couple of hides from…

2 Day Birding Trip in the Wetlands of Valencia

Last week Dave and I had the pleasure of providing a 2-day trip for a couple of clients who have returned to Valencia each year to go birding with us. We´ve since become firm friends and have enjoyed some great trips together. This time they had planned an autumn trip and wanted to see the wetlands of this fabulous region. Day 1 – Albufera de Valencia Natural Park Having collected Jan and Ossie from central Valencia, we drove to Albufera to one of the park´s restricted reserve areas. Whilst driving through the harvested rice paddies, we had great views of Glossy Ibis, Great Egret and Southern Grey Shrike, indeed a good start to the day. Once in the reserve, we stopped to scan over a small lagoon and enjoyed views of Snipe, Little Stint, Wood Sandpiper and Purple Swamphen. The next lagoon and its surroundings gave views of Bluethroat, Spoonbill, Kingfisher, Reed Bunting and Redshank. After lunch, we visited another reserve where we enjoyed watching wildfowl, including Red-Crested Pochard, Pintail, Gadwall, Shelduck and Shoveler. The species list for the day included : Mallard, Shoveler, Red-crested Pochard, Common Pochard, Shelduck, Teal, Great-crested Grebe,…