bird watching trips Valencia - Page 35 of 40 - Valencia Birding

Guided Bird Watching in Eastern Spain.

Last week, we provided two days of guided birding for a group of 4 clients from UK. To enjoy the diversity of habitat and bird life that this area offers, they had opted for a day at the Coastal Wetlands and a day on the Steppe and Lagoons in the interior of Eastern Spain. All well travelled nature lovers, the group was an absolute delight…knowledgeable and very good humoured. Owing to some unusually windy weather conditions we proposed a slight amendment to the itinerary for the first day, and following a short journey from their hotel, we were at the first birding site. Scanning across some rice fields near Valencia, we enjoyed good views of Cattle Egret, Audouin´s Gull and Reed Bunting. The resident Spotless Starlings had been joined by sizeable flocks of wintering Common Starling, a regular visitor to the Valencia area. The second site was a sheltered lake close to the coast where we had views of wildfowl including Pintail, Pochard, Red Crested Pochard, Shoveler and Teal. We also had great views of numerous Marsh Harriers (including a female that was lunching on a Teal!). Other species included…

Great Bustards & Cranes.

On Friday 1st February, we provided a day of guided bird watching to the steppe and lagoons of Castilla de la Mancha in Eastern Spain for a couple from UK. Andrew and June were well travelled birders and had visited Spain many times. Their target species for this trip was the magnificent Great Bustard. We travelled from their hotel in the beautiful town of Xativa, heading up onto the high steppe. Although there was a strong wind blowing across the plains, the light quality was excellent. After a brief coffee stop in a farming village, we set out in the van across the fields. We were exceptionally fortunate as not only did we come across a group of over 30 Great Bustards within the first 10 minutes, but some of the males were beginning their spectacular display. The quality of the light coupled with the pristine condition of their plumage made for a wonderful spectacle. It was a real pleasure to be able to observe this sight, and although they were a little too far away to capture any quality photographs, we had great views through the scope. We then…

Bird Watching at Albufera de Valencia

On Tuesday 8th January, together with two local birders, I enjoyed a leisurely day in the Natural Park of Albufera de Valencia. We began our day by generally exploring some of the rice fields on the west side of the park. The usual Little Egrets, Cattle Egrets and Grey Herons were in abundance in amongst which were a five Great Egrets. A female Marsh Harrier passed low over the stubble, flushing out a Snipe. A pair of Stonechats were flitting around the edges of a field and an Iberian Grey Shrike spent a few minutes on an overhead cable close by. Then seemingly from nowhere, a Booted Eagle appeared. It passed by very low before catching a thermal and rising into the air until it was nothing more than a dot. It circled over the fields then made yet another low pass, the winter sunlight catching its contrasting colours beautifully. We moved further north on to another favourite spot where we enjoyed superb views of over 100 Glossy Ibis. We remained in this spot for a good while, and our patience was rewarded with views of Bluethroat, Meadow Pipit and…

A Christmas Birding Trip to the Steppe & Lagoons of Eastern Spain

On 22nd December, we provided a guided bird watching trip to the steppe and lagoons for a client from the Netherlands. Norbert, a very well travelled and experienced birder was holidaying in the Valencia area and was keen to see the bird life that this superb region has to offer. The morning had dawned bright and clear but as we climbed up onto the steppe, it became quite cloudy with a little light drizzle in the air. After a coffee in a local farming village, we set out across the fields towards the day´s first lagoon. Something caught our eye way off to the left so we stopped to take a closer look…indeed, it was a pair of Great Bustards – one of the day´s target species. After a few minutes they took flight, remarkably elegantly for such huge birds. The first lagoon gave good views of Shoveler, Shelduck, Greater Flamingo, Golden Plover and Teal. Although quite far off, we also had views of a Merlin. The nearby telephone cables were occupied by a large flock of Corn Buntings whilst flocks of Serin were flitting around the trees at the…

Another amazing day at the Valencian Coastal Wetlands!

On 4th December, we arranged a trip to the Valencian Coastal Wetlands for a group of 8 local birders. After the obligatory morning coffee, we parked the van near the beach. The day got off to a fantastic start the moment we got out of the van with immediate views of a Kingfisher perched on a reed overhanging a small canal. Things then turned from the sublime to the ridiculous as a bright green bird flew by…one that we identified as a budgerigar!! After some discussion about whether we could include it on the list, we headed to the first lagoon. A chiffchaff, the first of many for the day was flitting around, soon to be joined by a Black Redstart. The lagoon held Shoveler and Teal and the surrounding reed beds were being patrolled by a Marsh Harrier. A stroll up the coast gave good views of Stonechat, Northern Wheatear, Hoopoe and Reed Bunting. Then another oddity…an unusual bird and one that we had clear views of for a good 10 minutes. The firm consensus of opinion within the group was that we were looking at a Desert Wheatear,…

Guided Birding in Valencia

On Sunday 21st October, I spent a very enjoyable day with some great clients from Kidderminster, UK. Stella and Richard are both keen nature lovers and in recent years have been particularly interested in birds. They were keen to explore the Valencian wetlands and to see the classic species of this diverse area. We started our day at one of the reserves within the natural park of Albufera de Valencia where we began by scanning the lake for wildfowl. We soon had good views of Red Crested Pochard, Shelduck and Teal. We also had great views of both male and female Marsh Harriers, a species that seems to be doing increasingly well in this area. We then moved on to another site within Albufera where we were very fortunate to see the endangered Red Crested Coot. We also had good views of Purple Swamphen, and Iberian Grey Shrike. The reed beds held many recently arrived Chiffchaffs plus Fan-Tailed Warbler and Cetti´s Warbler. We also had brief views of Kingfisher and Black Redstart. After a coffee stop, the next site of the day was a coastal lagoon where we enjoyed great…