Bird Watching in Spain - Page 7 of 47 - Valencia Birding

Sometimes you just have to look under your nose!

Earlier in the week, I had a couple of hours free one morning. That didn´t give me the time to drive to my local wetland or to get to the mountains, but it did give me the time to take another look at a canal that flows past the nearby agricultural town of Alboraya into the Mediterranean. The surroundings are not particularly attractive, one side is bordered by an industrial estate, but the other side is farmland, largely vegetable fields. At the end of the canal, one reaches the beach, where a tiny estuary is formed. So, within the distance of only a few kilometres, the habitat changes dramatically, and all his right next to the city of Valencia. Traditional farmland on the northern city limits of Valencia I began my walk along the footpath, which was busy with walkers and cyclists, all of them oblivious to the fact the only a few metres away from them was a pair of Purple Swamphens, indeed with a chick which one of the parents was feeding. It was almost a surreal moment to see this incredible creature successfully breeding practically next door…

Swallows and House Martins Desperately Need Our Help

What are Swallows and House Martins? Swallows and House Martins are long-distance migrants which generally spend the winter months in Africa before returning to Europe each year to breed. The distance these birds cover on their migration is truly incredible – often more than 25,000km per year! Once they arrive in Europe in the early Spring, they have a race against the clock to raise their young before they have to make the momentous journey back to Africa in the autumn. These beautiful little creatures form part of the very fabric of our summers, and have lived right beside us in our towns and villages for centuries. Not only do they delight us with their chattering and aerobatic flight, swooping in the air as they feed on insects and spiders, dashing low over lakes to take a drink, they actually help us by controlling potential plagues of insects, upon which they feed. It is estimated that a single Swallow will eat over 800 insects per day!! Think about that for a minute! A Barn Swallow collecting mud for nest building Where do they nest? These tiny birds who have such…

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…

Wetlands of Alicante

The autonomous region of the “Comunidad Valenciana” comprises three provinces – Castellon, Valencia and Alicante. In terms of a birding destination, perhaps the best known is that of Valencia, especially for its huge wetland site of Albufera. However, the province of Alicante contains some fascinating habitats, including some excellent wetland reserves where a great deal of critically important conservation work takes place. Over the years, I´ve enjoyed many trips to this region with clients and friends, so was looking forward to spending last Friday there. The wetlands of Alicante, with its mountainous interior in the background Together with friends Itzy and Bea, I began the day at a coastal saltpan where we saw huge numbers of Greater Flamingo, large gatherings of Great Crested Grebe and Northern Shoveler as well as Audouin´s Gull and Slender-billed Gull. That was all within the first five minutes! We wanted to devote most of our time to the vast wetlands that have played such an important role in the conservation of Marbled Teal and Red-knobbed Coot. This area also provides wintering grounds for Spotted Eagle, which migrate from north east Europe. Their return is always…

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…