Bird Watching in Valencia - Page 43 of 65 - Valencia Birding

7 Day Guided Birding Trip – Day 2 (Mountains & High Forest)

Day 2 – Mountains & High Forest. Following yesterday´s long day and many hours of travelling for our clients, we designed the second day such that there would be very little time spent in the car. Within a very short drive of Banyeres de Mariola are some wonderful high forested hills and rocky peaks. They were to be our chosen habitats for today. At over 1000 metres above sea level, the high forests of the region have beautifully clean air and provide habitat for some very special birds. Strangely enough, in this area you´re more likely to see a Crested Tit than a Blue Tit! We began our walk up through a steep forested area, stopping to watch Great Tit, Coal Tit, Crested Tit and indeed a Blue Tit. A Hawfinch flew past, giving brief but clear views. Our walk took us past an area where there´s usually a pair of Bonelli´s Eagle but unfortunately we didn´t see them this time. We did however enjoy views of Siskin, Serin and Short Toed Treecreeper. We then drove across the valley to a spectacular rocky gorge where we parked the van and…

Spring has arrived in Valencia!

Early this week we had a great day of guided birding with a lovely couple from UK. They were taking a break in Valencia and wanted to see the diverse bird life of this superb area. As the spring migration is now well and truly underway, we visited one of our favourite coastal wetlands, a site that offers crucial resting and feeding grounds for thousands of migratory birds. This time of year is always very exciting as new species are arriving daily. Today was no exception. Some of the most interesting resident species included Penduline Tit, Booted Eagle, Purple Swamphen and Audouin´s Gull. We were lucky to enjoy good views of a favourite winter visitor that´s still here…the Bluethroat. However, maybe the surprises of the day were the new arrivals and the birds on passage. These included Red Rumped Swallow, Whinchat, Reed Warbler, Sub Alpine Warbler and Pied Flycatcher. Barn Swallows and House Martins were also constantly passing through in huge numbers It´s such a pleasure to share days like these with our clients and to show them some of the amazing bird life of Valencia. The species list for…

3 Day Birding Break

February of this year proved to be a very busy month, with many clients from Northern Europe having organised winter birding trips with us. The combination of a little sunshine, some fascinating winter visitors and the anticipation of early spring migrants can make late February a very attractive time to visit the Valencia region. One of our trips was provided for the Ornithological Society of Northern Ireland. We had designed a 3 day trip that took in diverse habitat including steppe, coastal wetlands and the Natural Park of Albufera de Valencia. They had spent a few nights at the beautifully converted farmhouse of L´Alqueria del Pilar in the village of Banyeres de Mariola in inland Alicante. On our first day, from there we made the easy journey up to the highland steppe of Castilla de la Mancha. Day 1 – Steppe At over 900 metres above sea level, this can be a very cold region to explore in winter but with adequate clothing and planning it makes for a wonderful birding venue. One of our first species was the magnificent Great Bustard, specifically a group of over 20 males. We stopped…

Birding and nature photography trip

Last week I provided a birding and nature photography trip for a family from Maine, USA. They were visiting Valencia for the first time and they also wanted to discover the nature and birdlife close to Valencia and photograph some of the fabulous bird species of the Albufera de Valencia Natural Park. At this time of the year, the bird life in l´Albufera is distributed in different areas of the park, depending on which rice fields have been ploughed, thus influencing food availability. So, our first stop was in the western part of the Natural Park, where we found an amazing sight – over 2,000 flamingos, plus thousands of gulls, egrets, herons and glossy ibis. After this wonderful spectacle, we kept driving through the rice paddies where we found a magnificent biodiversity with spectacular species such as Little Stint, Black-tailed Godwit and Peregrine Falcon. Next stop was in a high road that has great views to a ravine where we enjoyed fantastic views of Purple Swamphens and Marsh Harriers. Next stop was in the Devesa forest, a natural native Mediterranean pine forest. We watched and photographed many passerines…

Steppe birds of Spain

Earlier this week, Yanina and I were delighted to provide a day of guided birding for a couple of returning clients from UK. Dave and Kate booked a day with us last year, when they enjoyed the bird life of Albufera de Valencia. Their return trip was to enjoy the steppe birds of Spàin, so we´d arranged to visit Castilla de la Mancha. After the usual coffee stop and chat about the target species, we headed for the vast plains of this harsh but beautiful region. There was a cool wind blowing, but we´d come prepared for the cold so parked the car at a favourite vantage point and enjoyed views of Crested Lark, Skylark, Stonechat and Black Redstart. The first lagoon of the day gave great views of Water Pipit as well as wildfowl including Red Crested Pochard, Shoveler, Teal and Shelduck. We then visited another small body of water where we´d recently seen the very rare Red Crested Coot. After a little scanning of a small group of Common Coot, did did indeed find it again. The wind was now becoming quite cool so we headed back to…

Birding at Albufera de Valencia

The forth and final day of Charles´trip saw us birding at Albufera de Valencia. This internationally important wetland holds something of interest throughout the year, be it for its breeding habitats for summer visitors, its location as a stopping point for migrating birds or as a wintering ground for species that return each year from northern Europe and beyond. We started the day at a specially protected reserve area, where we visited a hide that looked onto a small lagoon. This gave views of Black Tailed Godwit, Spotted Redshank, Greenshank, Avocet and Black Winged Stilt. We then turned our attention to the wildfowl that over winter in Albufera in huge numbers. We enjoyed views of Shelduck, Pintail, Shoveler, Teal, Pochard and Red Crested Pochard. Charles was keen to see the famous egrets of Albufera so we then headed across the rice fields that provide critical feeding grounds for thousands of herons, egrets and waders. We parked by an irrigation channel and enjoyed close views of Little Egret, Cattle Egret and Great Egret. We had to push on as we´d been invited to attend a ringing session in another protected reserve,…