Bird watching holidays Spain - Page 7 of 24 - Valencia Birding

A little patience brings great views of Alpine Accentors

During the last few days of 2020, I had to dedicate some time to getting in the olive harvest. Usually we invite a few friends around to help and it turns into a social event, but this time, because of Covid, we had to do it on our own. This meant that the usual 2 day task turned into a 4 day task, which limited my available days for birding. So, it was even greater enthusiasm that I headed to the mountains not so far from our house in the highland interior of Alicante with my friend Bea. She had never managed to get a view of Alpine Accentor, so this was our obvious target for the day. This tough yet very pretty little bird is one of my favourite winter visitors to our region, so for me, it´s always a delight to see them. I somehow find a special attachment to these birds, probably having spent a great deal of my life in the mountains, and each winter I await their return with anticipation. The highland interior of rural Alicante The previous days had been very cold in this…

Mountains, Vultures and Alpine Accentors!

Last Friday I enjoyed a fabulous day in the mountains of Valencia with Wendy McNeill, hoping to spend some time closely watching Griffon Vultures as well as looking for Alpine Accentors which are winter visitors to the peaks of our region. The day dawned bright with clear blue skies and almost no wind, so just to be out in the field was a pleasure. We began with a brief walk past some semi-ruined farm buildings where we found a male Black Redstart feeding on insects on the roof of an old barn. The crags behind the farm gave views of Black Wheatear and as we continued our walk through some woods, we saw Blackcap, Chiffchaff, Sardinian Warbler and Serin. As we moved on towards the higher crags, a Kestrel came to rest in a tree in front of us. Kestrel We drove further into the mountains, before choosing a viewing point from where to scan the cliffs where in the breeding season, there is a sizeable colony of Griffon Vultures. As we arrived, it was fairly quiet, but within just a few minutes, more and more vultures flew in, many…

An autumn day at Albufera de Valencia

Autumn is always an interesting time at the vast wetland site of Albufera de Valencia. The rice fields are steadily being flooded after the recent harvesting and of course post-nuptual migration is underway, especially exciting here as the region is right on a major flyway (its network of coastal wetlands serving as crucial feeding grounds). Last week I enjoyed a day out with Jeff and Dee, experienced global birders but first timers to our region, so they were keen to see what bird life it holds. Audouin´s Gull was top of their target species. Accordingly, we began the day at a small coastal lagoon, separated from the sea by an extensive dune system. Upon arriving, there was a gull on the water not far from us, but once in the binoculars, we found it to be a Slender Billed. A Sandwich Tern was also diving for fish and huge flocks of Common Starlings were wheeling around above the forest. The Common Starling is a winter visitor to this region, and can often be seen with the resident Spotless Starling. Slender Billed Gull Great Crested Grebes were also out on the…

An Autumn Day on the Steppe

Last Friday morning dawned into a beautiful bright autumn day, a little breezy, but dry with no rain forecast. Perhaps a perfect day to venture up onto the high steppe region that lies around 90 minutes drive west of Valencia. So, together with Maria Jose and Itziar of Magic&Nature, that´s exactly what I did. Following the lockdown in the Spring and then the scorching summer heat up there, this was the first time in months that I´d visited this area and it certainly felt good to be back. Firstly, we called into my favourite bar to say hi to the owner and to grab a quick coffee before we headed out onto the fields. Almost as soon as we stopped at the first viewpoint, we saw a Red Kite and a Buzzard. Crested Larks were calling from the scrub close to us and large flocks of Linnets were flitting around. Onwards we pressed, to check out some old farm buildings that usually hold Rock Sparrow. We were in luck and enjoyed great views of these pretty yet tough little birds. It was time to scan the fields with the scope,…

Migration Medley!

“Bluethroat!” Followed closely by… “Squacco Heron!” “Barn Swallow!” “Teal!” All birds that one could expect to see at different times of year here in Valencia, but the wonderful thing about birding during the autumn migration period is the fabulous overlap that occurs. This is exactly what I enjoyed this last week as I spent a morning at my local coastal wetland. After a long spell of hot weather, I was relieved to wake to a cloudy morning with no wind, so headed down to the coast to see what was around. Bluethroat As soon as I began my walk, I heard and then caught a glimpse of a Cetti´s Warbler. Whilst trying to get a better view of this illusive creature, I heard a few Common Reed Warblers calling to each other. As I watched and waited, I saw a group of nine of them, feeding in the reeds and working their way through the reserve. Common Reed Warbler is a summer visitor and breeds each year at this site, but during the morning I saw over thirty birds, all presumably on passage. All the time I was on site,…

Autumn 2020 Bulletin

Dear all, I´d like to begin this Bulletin by sending my sincere and best wishes to you all. 2020 has provided trying times for us all, and I hope that you are all well and that you continue to remain safe and healthy. The lockdown that we all endured only served to reinforce the importance and uplifting effects of having birds around us. Like many, in the early days of the pandemic, I was confined to birding from our balcony for many weeks, and later only in the immediate neighbourhood, before being finally granted the permission to travel further. On that note, I´d like to extend my thanks to all who wrote during this time to share details of their bird sightings. This helped to bring positivity and to underline the fact that we´re all in this together! My local birding experience revealed a few surprises, including the number of raptors that passed over the city of Valencia on Spring migration, including Marsh Harriers, Short Toed Eagles and Lesser Kestrel. I found a pair of Whitethroats that were nesting right next to our apartment, and saw huge numbers of Zitting Cisticolas…