bird watching trips Spain - Page 7 of 21 - Valencia Birding

Valencia´s Coastal Wetlands in Spring.

Last week I was delighted to provide a guided birding trip for a couple from my home city of Sheffield! Both keen birders, they were on holiday here and wanted to spend a day enjoying Valencia´s coastal wetlands in Spring. Having collected them from the city centre, we made the short journey to one of the area´s coastal nature reserves where we began the day with a walk along the beach, looking at both the sea and a series of coastal lagoons. Our first stop gave us views of Common Reed Warbler, Little Grebe, Glossy Ibis and Zitting Cisticola. We then spent a little time carefully scanning a lagoon that held White Headed Duck, Greater Flamingo and Black Winged Stilt. The surrounding reed beds gave sightings of Great Reed Warbler and Little Bittern. We continued our walk along the coast, watching Little Terns and Collared Pratincoles passing overhead before stopping to get good views of Audouin´s Gull. Our next stop was at a hide from where we observed a tern colony. Most of the Little Terns and Sandwich Terns were still incubating but the Common Terns almost all had chicks,…

2-Day Birding Trip from Valencia.

We recently provided a 2-day birding trip from Valencia for a group of three experienced bird watchers from the USA and UK. They were on a wider tour of Spain and wanted to discover the habitats and bird life of our region. On day 1, Yanina provided a trip to the huge wetland site of Albufera de Valencia, whilst on the second day, I took them up into the mountainous interior. Day 1 – Albufera de Valencia. The first stop was in a reserve area that is home to a breeding colony of Terns. Here, they had views of Common Tern, Sandwich Tern, Whiskered Tern and the very special Elegant Tern. Pallid Swift were also seen feeding in flight above the reserve whilst Sardinian Warbler and Cetti´s Warbler were very active in the undergrowth. After a brief stop to collect sandwiches, they moved on to another restricted reserve area which is one of the park´s birding hotspots. Here they enjoyed great views of Gull Billed Terns. Waders included Black Tailed Godwits, Wood Sandpiper and Temminck´s Stint. After lunch they moved to a coastal lagoon where they saw Slender Billed Gull,…

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…

The mountains of Valencia in Spring.

Last week I was fortunate enough to enjoy a super day with a couple of new clients from UK. Valerie and Roger had only recently taken up bird watching but their knowledge is growing fast and they wanted to take their first guided trip. It would have been easy to take them to a wetland site where the species diversity is huge, but I didn´t want them to miss the “specialist” species that visit the mountains of Valencia in Spring. Most of the target species for this trip are summer visitors, and as Valerie and Roger may make a return trip in the autumn, it made sense to take the opportunity to spend a day in the mountains this month. After the drive from Valencia, and a brief coffee stop we parked the car and had a short walk alongside a river. This is one of the few sites in the area where Dipper breed, so we opted to sit still for a while, hoping that one would appear. A couple of very fast “fly pasts” confirmed their presence, but after ten more minutes, one came to rest, giving us…

4 Day Birding Break in Alicante and Valencia

The recent weeks have been especially fulfilling as we´ve been fortunate enough to welcome back many returning clients and friends. Alastair and Christine had previously spent a few days birding with us and this time they were looking for a 4 day birding break in Alicante and Valencia. They had enjoyed visiting the cultural sites in Alicante including the castle, museums, roman sites and art galleries and wanted to follow this with 4 days of birding and later a few days in the historical centre of Valencia…a great combination! On day one I collected them from their hotel in Alicante and we made the short drive to one of the region´s inland sierras. The previous week had seen temperatures plummet and a little snowfall but despite being cold, today had dawned bright and with very little wind. They were keen to see Alpine Accentors, a very popular bird for clients who visit in winter. Having stopped for a morning coffee and to collect sandwiches, we started our walk. We made our way up through a forest where we saw Coal Tits and Long Tailed Tits. A Mistle Thrush swooped up…

3-Day Winter Birding Break

We recently put together a 3-day winter birding break at relatively short notice for a lovely couple from the Netherlands who wanted to escape the cold grey skies of northern Europe and enjoy some winter sunshine here in Valencia. They chose to stay at the Adhoc Monumental Hotel in the historical quarter of Valencia, and to go birding with us to the mountains, steppe and the wetland site of Albufera de Valencia. I collected them from Valencia airport in the evening and took them to their hotel, discussing the details of the birding trips on the way. Both Gill and Albert were experienced birders and clearly very enthusiastic, so we were looking forward very much to providing the trips for them. On day 1, I met them at their hotel and we made the journey of just over an hour to one of the inland sierras of the region. Today wasn´t about maximising species, it was about just a few specialist mountain birds- including the Alpine Accentor. This characterful little bird breeds in the Pyrenees and Alps but flies to the Valencia region in winter where it tends to stay…