Bird watching in the coastal wetlands - Valencia Birding

A Sunday in June at one of Valencia’s Coastal Wetlands

19th June 2022 Last Sunday I provided a birding trip to the wetlands of Valencia for Genevieve and Nick from the USA, who were spending a few days in Valencia. Most of Europe was enduring a heatwave, so we opted to begin the trip a little earlier than usual, and after enjoying a simple breakfast together, we began our walk along the beach. I was keen for them to see a number of specific species that are considered to be highlights of the region, and we were soon watching our first of them – Audouin’s Gull. Audouin´s Gull Barn Swallows and House Martins were feeding overhead in good numbers, and the air was filled with the flight call of Zitting Cisticola. Our first viewing platform gave us the opportunity to see Great Crested Grebe with young, Little Grebe, and another of our target birds, Purple Swamphen. Great Crested Grebe with young We spent a little more time at the viewing point, and soon saw Purple Heron, Little Bittern, Avocet, Glossy Ibis, Squacco Heron and Night Heron. We continued our walk along the coast, stopping at a few small lagoons to watch…

3 Day Birding Holiday

Last week, Yanina and I provided a 3 day birding holiday for returning clients and friends from the UK. Rab and Jan have been on numerous trips with us over the past years and this time they were accompanied by their friend Pete from my home town of Sheffield. Our main objective was to provide as much diversity as possible in the three days that we had together. So on day 1, I collected them from their holiday home in Javia and we drove south to visit the salt pans of Alicante. Here we were focussing on gulls, and soon had the two key species – Audouin´s and Slender Billed as well as Yellow Legged. After a morning coffee, we headed to one of the region´s premium wetland sites where we began by searching for Bluethroat. Eventually, our patience was rewarded and we enjoyed great views of this ever popular little bird. Having spent a little time watching Little Ringed Plover and Purple Swamphen, we then turned our attention to one of the region´s conservation success stories, the Red-knobbed Coot, and were treated to some excellent views. A visit to…

Birding and seawatching trip to Albufera of Valencia

I recently provided a birding trip to Albufera de Valencia for two clients from England who as experienced birders had travelled to Spain many times but never to the Valencia region. After I collected them from their accommodation in the city centre, we made the short journey to Albufera Natural Park where we stopped in the main pier of the Albufera lake to enjoy nice views of Sandwich Terns and Marsh Harriers. Our next stop was in the main reserve area of the park, and after a short visit to the information center we headed to the observatories in a restricted area where we were surprised by a juvenile Night Heron. We realized it was injured so I manage to catch it to take it to the recovery center. After this episode we continued birding in the reserve. From one of the observatories we had views of an Iberian Grey Shrike, Flamingos and Zitting Cisticola. Later from the observatory tower we enjoyed good views of thousands of Red-crested Pochard, Pintail and many waterfowl that winter in this area. Our next stop was planned to be in the Village of El…

Guided birding trip to Albufera de Valencia

Last week I had the pleasure to organise a birding trip to Albufera de Valencia for a family from London, UK. They are experienced birders who wanted to discover the birdlife in the Valencia region. For me was a special trip, as it´s always encouraging to be guiding teenagers. After I collected them from their hotel in Valencia city we drove straight to the main reserve area inside the Natural Park. First we visited the information centre, a good way to start understanding why it´s so important to protect this area and why birds are present at the different times of the year. Then after a short walk we arrived at the seabirds’ colony… from the observatory we enjoyed fantastic views of Common and Sandwich Terns, at the same time we were amazed for the sighting of four Elegants Tern established in the colony. Avocets and Black-winged Stilts were also with chicks, Flamingos and waterfowl sharing the same brackish lagoon, a good start to the day. Second stop was in a private reserve area in the middle of the rice paddies, where we hoped to see there Purple Heron and…

Guided bird watching trip to the Valencian wetlands

A few days ago I was delighted to provide a birding trip to the Valencian wetlands for Richard and Jackeline Fortey. It was a big honour for me to be guiding one of the best known paleontologists of these times. The day was extremely windy, but despite that we managed to have a great day birding in the wetlands. After I collected them from their hotel in Valencia City, we drove straight to a reserve area beside the sea. In the first brackish lagoon it was nice to see a Night Heron roosting in a tree, Audouin’s Gulls flying over our heads followed by Little, Common and Sandwich Terns. Although the wind didn’t make the day easy for us, we were determined to enjoy it as much as we could. So after a walk we arrived at the main hot spot of the reserve area… the seabirds and waders’ colony. Our efforts were finally rewarded with great views of Collared Pratincoles, Mediterranean Gulls, Little Terns, Avocets and Black-winged Stilts. It was an amazing experience seeing all those species struggling against the wind to find food for their mates and chicks….

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…