birding holidays Spain - Valencia Birding - Guided Bird Watching in Spain

3-Day Birding Break from Xativa

Following the Christmas, New Year and Three Kings celebrations, it felt great to begin the first trip of 2025, especially so as it was for Tony, a client from the UK who I had met two years ago when we did a day trip from Alicante. We had spoken on the phone to design something bespoke for him, taking in 3 days in different habitats, whilst allowing him to enjoy a little time in the historic town of Xativa. Day 1 – Mountains Tony flew into Alicante airport the day before our 3 days together began, so that’s where I met him before taking the short journey up into the mountains. Having stopped for a coffee and to pick up a sandwich for him, we began our short walk up a peak, where the key target species included Alpine Accentor and Griffon Vulture. As we began to walk up through the pine forests, we enjoyed watching Red Squirrels chasing each other through the trees, as well as Coal Tit and Long Tailed Tit. We usually have to walk to the peak to see Alpine Accentor, but today, they were extremely…

A Return to Albufera After the Devastating Floods

21st December 2024 The huge wetland of Albufera lies directly between the towns that were devastated by the recent flooding and the Mediterranean Sea. Therefore, its northern and western sectors have suffered a serious environmental impact. Although there has been a huge clear-up operation, much remains to be done. Many rice fields still contain debris, wrecked cars and mud that was washed down the rivers and canals, and some nature reserve areas have suffered serious damage to their facilities and infrastructure. However, the southern and eastern areas have escaped the worst of the effects, and hold plenty of birds. The southern rice fields of Albufera As previously commented, Albufera has being the subject of environmental impact in the past, and has recovered. It will do so again, but only thanks to a relatively small group of dedicated souls. Walking throiugh the elegant city of Valencia, one could be forgiven for being under the impression that nothing has happened, but as for the towns that were hardest hit, the destruction is hard to describe in written word. The conditions that people continue to live under are something akin to a disaster…

Watching Albufera Grow During the Spring

Throughout the months of April and May of this year, I’ve spent a lot of time in the wetlands and rice fields of Albufera de Valencia, principally trips with clients from the UK, USA and Ireland. It’s been fascinating to see the changes that take place during the spring, especially in terms of habitat and environment. In April, the rice fields were dry, so held very few birds, so we focussed more on the wetland reserve areas. During May, the rice farmers began to flood their fields and sow the rice, instantly attracting large gatherings of Glossy Ibis, Greater Flamingo, Little , Great and Cattle Egrets. Glossy Ibis In terms of bird movement, our trips in April still gave us sightings of a few later passage migrants, including Oystercatcher, Little Stint, Grey Plover and Curlew Sandpiper. However, as the month progressed, colonies of breeding birds began to form, the largest of which included Sandwich Tern, Common Tern, Gull Billed Tern, Mediterranean Gull, Black Headed Gull and Audouin’s Gull, the latter choosing as usual to nest away from other gull and tern species. Sandwich Terns, Common Terns and Slender Billed Gulls…

A Special Day at One of Valencia’s Coastal Wetlands

April 2024 Some days, everything just seems to come together – nice weather, lovely people, newly arrived summer visitors and some interesting passage migrants. I was fortunate enough to enjoy one such day a couple of weeks ago with Roy from England. A keen birder, he was visiting Valencia and had previously contacted me to arrange a day’s birding. Roy, photographing Glossy Ibis on a shallow lagoon We met at a convenient spot and then headed to the coastal wetlands. This is usually a fabulous location in spring, but today’s visit seemed to turn up something special at almost every stage of the day. The first lagoon gave us views of Purple Swamphen, Red Crested Pochard, Great Reed Warbler and Whiskered Tern. A little patience and scanning was rewarded with sightings of White Headed Duck, Little Bittern and Purple Heron. Spot the Whimbrel! As we strolled along the pebble beach, a Whimbrel flew into view, then landed way off in front of us, blending in extremely well with its surroundings! A few Audouin’s Gulls glided along the beach too, but our next objective was to get some quality views of…

Two days of wetland birding in Valencia and Alicante

6th & 7th March 2024 I recently provided a 2-day birding trip for a couple from Lewes in the UK. They had spent a few days in the city of Valencia, before moving to the historical town of Xativa, from where we arranged our birding. They had previously been on birding trips in Spain, but never in this region, so we began with a day at Albufera. Rice fields of Albufera The rice fields were in the process of being drained, prior to being ploughed and levelled in readiness for sowing of seed, so it was important that we knew which areas still held some water. We visited a couple of spots in the northern area of the park where highlights included good views of Bluethroat. We headed to another area of shallow water where we enjoyed views of an array of shorebirds including Snipe, Ringed Plover, Little Ringed Plover and Little Stint, which were together with good numbers of White Wagtails and Meadow Pipits. Little Ringed Plover After lunch, we visited a salt lagoon where we watched more wading birds, this time Greenshank, Redshank and Green Sandpiper. Gulls of…

Birding at the Wetlands of Alicante

I recently spent a very special day with two great clients from Scotland. Brian and Maria were staying close to Alicante on a short break, and wanted to include a day’s birding. The day was especially important as it was Brian’s birthday and he’d asked if it would be possible to see three specific species. He’s a very experienced and well travelled birder, and was eager to see White Headed Duck, Red Knobbed Coot and Greater Spotted Eagle. One of Alicante’s many coastal wetland sites. We spent the day at one of Alicante’s many wetland sites, which always provide excellent birding, and began with a walk around one of the reserves. The sightings began however before we even got out of the car, with an Iberian Green Woodpecker that flew in front of us into a stand of trees. Iberian Grey Shrike. As we strolled between reed beds and lagoons, the surrounding scrub held Black Redstart, Sardinian Warbler, Chiffchaff and Stonechat. Crag Martins were feeding on the wing, and a couple of Barn Swallows flew by, my first of the year. A nearby bare tree provided a perch for an…