4-Day Birding and Photography Trip from Valencia.

We recently had the pleasure to design and deliver a 4-day birding and photography trip from Valencia for a returning client from Cambridge, UK. Stephen is a keen wildlife photographer and one of his goals for the first day of the trip was to photograph a Firecrest. So, we began the day by driving into the mountain forests that are situated very close to Valencia.  Even though we were focussed on finding Firecrest, we were very fortunate to get great views of a Short Toed Eagle that passed right over us.  Finally after a little patience we got the reward with shots. On day 2, we spent the day on the high steppe, where we enjoyed some fabulous views of Stone Curlew, Great Bustard, Lesser Kestrel and many more interesting species of this unique habitat. On the third day, we spent the day in one of the most important wetlands of Spain, l’Albufera de Valencia Natural Park.  Autumn is an excellent time to see huge numbers of waders, including this beautiful Whimbrel. The fourth day saw us back in Albufera, this time at one of the park´s protected green filter reserves.  As…

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Birding trip to Albufera de Valencia for returning clients

Last week I was delighted to organise a birding trip to Albufera de Valencia Natural Park for returning clients Worth and Janet.  Both keen birders, they wanted to see this well-known wetland and its birdlife. Throughout the day, we visited several restricteded reserve areas, where we enjoyed amazing views of a Booted Eagle, huge numbers of waders, plus Flamingos, Glossy Ibis, Whiskered Terns and Kingfisher. After a short picnic lunch, we drove to the next stop by a field which usually provides a surprise sighting.  Today we had views of Hoopoe, Crested Lark and Serin. In the last stop we were delighted by a Grey Plover, Red Knot, Kentish Plover and a Subalpine Warbler. It had been a fantastic day with some very special birds, and great company. Hopefully we can welcome Worth and Janet back again soon! Species list: Marsh Harrier, Booted Eagle, Kestrel, Gadwall, Shelduck, Mallard, Teal, Shoveler, Great Cormorant, Flamingo, Glossy Ibis, Purple Swamphen, Moorhen, Coot, Grey Heron, Great Egret, Little Egret, Cattle Egret, Squacco Heron, Little Egret, Little Grebe, Great Crested Grebe, Collared Pratincole, Lapwing, Avocet, Black-winged Stilt, Spotted Redshank, Ruff, Ringed Plover, Little-ringed Plover, Kentish Plover,…

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The wetland reserves of Albufera de Valencia

This week, I was delighted to design and provide a trip for a couple of clients from UK.  Kelvin and Kate had previously travelled to Spain on bird watching trips but had never visited Valencia, so were very keen to see what the area has to offer.  As Kelvin is an employee of the RSPB, and is involved in work on reserves in the south of England, we designed the trip such that he could gain a detailed understanding of how some of our reserves operate. Having made the short journey from Valencia, we visited one of Albufera´s green-filter reserves.  Once inside this protected area, together with one of the reserve´s biologists we gave a presentation on the history, objectives and functionality of the reserve.  We focussed on the scientific aspects of the eco-systems and how they actually serve to improve the water quality of the area, providing excellent wetland habitat. We then went to one of the viewing stations, from which we had great views of an Osprey that had chosen to rest and feed on the reserve whilst on its migration route to Africa.  We also enjoyed watching Spoonbill,…

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Two Day Guided Birding Trip to the Wetlands of Valencia

We recently had the pleasure of providing a two day guided birding trip to the wetlands of Valencia for a couple of returnng clients from UK. Day one was a trip to Albufera de Valencia Natural Park. Having collected them from the train station in the city of Valencia we made the short journey to this well-known wetland. First stop was in the Devesa forest, where we visited a restricted spot inside the reserve where we had great views of Collared Pratincole, Turtle Dove, Little Tern, Red-crested Pochard and many more species. After a short walk in the forest we arrived at another hide where we watched a colony of Common Tern, Sandwich Tern and Slender-billed Gull.  Flamingoes were passing overhead and we also enjoyed lovely views of Black-tailed Godwit and Avocet. After a picnic lunch in the forest, we began driving through the rice paddies. The rice fields have been seeded and flooded recently and many different species feed in the water. We had amazing views of Whiskered Tern, Purple Heron, Squacco Heron, Glossy Ibis and Purple Swamphen. A fantastic day with lovely people, and a species list that included……

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6-Day Winter Bird Watching Holiday

The huge habitat diversity of the Valencia region of Spain allows us to provide a superb 6 day birding holiday.  In late February of this year, we were fortunate to deliver exactly that for Gourmet Birds, a well established specialist bird watching holiday provider from UK. We´d worked very closely with them to design a bespoke trip, taking in some of the region´s best birding venues and carefully selected accommodation to hopefully result in a memorable trip. Day 1 – Salt Marshes and Lagoons The group arrived relatively early into Alicante airport.  Therefore, without wanting to make the first day too long, we did choose to spend a few hours birding at a couple of the salt marshes that are situated within very easy reach of the airport. The usual Flamingoes were feeding on the salt marshes in huge numbers, providing a striking welcome to Spain for our guests!  As we strolled by the first lagoons, we also enjoyed views of Audouin´s Gull, Little Stint, Shelduck, Reed Bunting and Black Redstart.  We were also treated to views of three Spoonbills in flight. We then moved on to another site that…

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7 Day Guided Birding Trip – Day 3 (Wetlands of Alicante)

7 Day Guided Birding Trip – Day 3 (Wetlands of Alicante) The plan for our third day was to drive to the coast at the southern end of the province of Alicante and visit one of the region´s premium wetland reserves. After a drive of around one hour from Banyeres de Mariola, we arrived at the reserve. Although a little breezy, the weather was fine. After a brief chat with the reserve warden we looked out onto the first small lagoon where we were fortunate to see some of the Red Knobbed Coots that are part of a release programme. This extremely rare bird has its European stronghold along the Valencian coast and much work has been done to protect it. We then walked along a boardwalk across another lagoon where we had great views of Purple Swamphen (another conservation success story for Valencia). The first hide of the day gave views of Black Necked Grebe, Little Grebe and another very rare species, the Marbled Teal. Cetti´s Warbler were singing in the surrounding scrub and Stonechats and Sardinian Warbler were also seen. The next hide gave views of Green Sandpiper,…

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