Bird Watching in Spain - Page 20 of 47 - Valencia Birding

Birding in the Valencian wetlands in Spring

A few days ago, I provided a day of guided bird watching for two clients from Ireland. The trip was a gift from their daughter Ann Claire. Her dad is an experienced and knowledgeable birder and wanted to see the diversity of the birdlife that exists here in Valencia. We decided upon a specific wetland area as right now there are colonies of breeding species that provide some super opportunities for observation, all without the risk of disturbance. After a short drive to the reserve, the first stop was in an observatory platform where we enjoyed lovely views of Red-crested Pochard, Whiskered Tern, Coots feeding their chicks and a magnificent Great Reed Warbler. We walked on to another lagoon where we had superb views of Whiskered Tern, Little Tern, Common Tern and Sandwich Tern. We were also fortunate to see a Shag and two Black-necked Grebes, unusual for this time of the year in this reserve… Collared Pratincoles and Little Terns were also breeding in the vicinity, and gave great views both on the ground and in flight. After a picnic lunch we a headed inland, despite the warm weather,…

Bird watching in Valencia in the breeding season

Last week I had the pleasure to provide a bird watching trip for two experienced birders from the UK. They were visiting Valencia City and they wanted a day off to explore the birdlife of this area. It was their first birding trip in our region so I decided to take them to a coastal wetland which provides a large variety of species and a significant breeding colony. This trip involves some walking beside the sea and salt marshes lagoons. In the first stop we enjoyed nice views of White-headed Duck, Red-crested Pochard, Great Reed Warbler and Little Bittern. Whiskered Terns were flying overhead. We kept walking by the beach up to the next hide, which at this time of the year is the hotspot of the reserve because it´s home to breeding colony of species such as Collared Pratincole, Sandwich Tern, Little Tern, Common Tern, Black-winged Stilt and others. You could spend a full day just in this spot! It was also interesting having a male White-headed Duck feeding very close to us. After a picnic lunch, we headed inland, hoping to see Purple Heron, Purple Swamphen and Hoopoe. We were…

7-Day Bird Watching Trip for the Northern Ireland Ornithologists´Club.

Early this month we were privileged to have designed and provided a tailor-made 7-day trip for a fabulous group of birders from the Northern Ireland Ornithologists´Club. This was the forth trip that we´ve provided for members of this club, and we´re always delighted to welcome them back to Valencia. We´d previously designed a plan that would hopefully maximise habitat and species diversity specific to this time of the year. Their flight arrived late into Alicante airport so we collected the group and drove to the village of Banyeres de Mariola where the guesthouse Alqueria del Pilar would be their base for the next 4 nights. Day 1 – Coastal Salt Marshes. Our first day was to be spent exploring the coastal saltmarshes of the Alicante province, which at this time of year hold some very interesting species. After a drive of just under an hour we arrived at our first spot, and stopped to enjoy great views of Slender Billed Gull, Little Tern and Turnstone. We also saw White Winged Black Tern, Whiskered Tern and a huge group of Great Crested Grebe. We then turned our attention to waders, and enjoyed…

Birding during migration time in Valencia.

We feel very fortunate this year to have already welcomed back many returning clients, and today was such a day. Rab and Jan had spent a couple of days with us last year and had returned this year with a friend to discover the bird life of one of our wetland reserves. They drove up from the Costa Blanca and met us close to Valencia, from where we made the short drive to the reserve. After a morning coffee by the beach, looking out onto a very calm Mediterranean, we began our walk through the reserve. This was to be a day when we could see migration in progress! It´s always a very special time of year as we can see late departing winter visitors, arrivals of summer visitors and passage migrants that often stop at our wetlands to feed before moving further north. The day began with sightings of Audouin´s Gull, Blackcap, Zitting Cisticola, Yellow Wagtail (both the iberiae and cinereocapilla sub-species) and Sardinian Warbler. We then enjoyed watching wildfowl including Tufted Duck, Red Crested Pochard, Shoveler and Gadwall. As we were quietly looking over an area of reed…

Spotted Crake in Valencia

The spring migration period is fascinating here in Valencia. There are currently so many fabulous species arriving for the breeding season or just passing through on their journey north. This week we´re seeing Purple Heron, Collared Pratincole, Reed Warbler, Alpine Swift, Red Rumped Swallow all arriving at our local sites. Passage migrants seen this week include Osprey, Garganey and this beautiful Spotted Crake. …and here´s a brief video clip of the same bird : [wpdevart_youtube]cVlA3Hx58go[/wpdevart_youtube]

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…