Birding in Alicante - Bird Watching in Alicante Guided Tours

A late summer´s day at the wetlands of Alicante.

As I tend to spend the hottest months of the year in the rural interior to the south of our region, we often provide trips towards the end of the summer to the extensive wetland systems of Alicante. In early September I was delighted to provide such a trip for Mark from UK. We met at the British Bird Fair in August and quickly arranged a date during Mark´s stay in our area. Recently retired from the RSPB, Mark is an experienced and knlowedgeable birder and a pleasure to be with. We met close to Alicante airport and made the short onward journey to the local salt marshes. Our first stop gave views of Greater Flamingo, Purple Swamphen and Squacco Heron. The reeds held Common Reed Warbler and a Kingfisher. We moved a little further into the marshes where we saw a couple of Turnstones, Gull-billed Tern, Little Tern, Slender-billed Gull, Audouin´s Gull and amongst the Common Swifts feeding overhead we were able to pick out a few Pallid Swifts. We then took a short drive across farmland towards the main reserve area of the day. This proved to be…

3 Day Birding Holiday

Last week, Yanina and I provided a 3 day birding holiday for returning clients and friends from the UK. Rab and Jan have been on numerous trips with us over the past years and this time they were accompanied by their friend Pete from my home town of Sheffield. Our main objective was to provide as much diversity as possible in the three days that we had together. So on day 1, I collected them from their holiday home in Javia and we drove south to visit the salt pans of Alicante. Here we were focussing on gulls, and soon had the two key species – Audouin´s and Slender Billed as well as Yellow Legged. After a morning coffee, we headed to one of the region´s premium wetland sites where we began by searching for Bluethroat. Eventually, our patience was rewarded and we enjoyed great views of this ever popular little bird. Having spent a little time watching Little Ringed Plover and Purple Swamphen, we then turned our attention to one of the region´s conservation success stories, the Red-knobbed Coot, and were treated to some excellent views. A visit to…

Winter Birding in the Mountains of Valencia.

Yesterday, I was delighted to kick-off the new year at Valencia Birding with a trip for a fantastic couple of clients from Germany. Olaf and Marina are experienced and well travelled birders and had requested a day of winter birding in the mountains of Valencia as part of their new year break. The weather forecast was perfect – cool but sunny and with little or no wind. After a comfortable journey from their apartment in Valencia, we arrived at our destination and once fuelled with coffee we began our walk. The first twenty minutes of the route that lead up through semi-open mountain forest was fairly quiet, but after that we were soon enjoying great views of Crested Tit, Coal Tit and Long-tailed Tit. As we approached the high point of the route, we paused to check out some movement in a pine tree and were rewarded with views of Firecrest. A few more minutes walking took us to the summit of a rocky peak where we were hoping to see Alpine Accentors, one of the day´s key target species. A little searching revealed two birds, feeding on a rocky…

2 day winter birding break.

February continued to be a busy month with this fabulous 2 day winter birding break for a lovely couple who have become friends and loyal clients of Valencia Birding. Not only have they been out with us on numerous occassions, but they also made the effort to visit us at BirdFair in the UK last year. It was therefore a great pleasure to welcome back Jan and Rab. They were making one of their regular visits to Spain and once more had chosen to incorporate a birding trip into their plans. After previous discussion, they had opted to make Banyeres de Mariola their base for two nights, being well placed for some of the regions best sites. On day one we met for morning coffee in a small town in the Alicante province, after which we made the short journey to the starting point of our mountain bird trip. We had originally planned to do a much longer mountain walk but the recent cold spell had left many of the north facing mountain trails covered in ice, so we chose a shorter route that should give us most of the…

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…

Summer Bird Watching in Valencia

This week I had the pleasure of guiding two experienced birders from Denmark. Although high summer is not the best time of year, it´s very interesting in terms of viewing Mediterranean breeding species. Our clients were also keen on bird life photography, so after I collected them from their hotel in Cullera we drove a short distance through the rice paddies to a field where Collared Pratincoles were breeding. From a safe distance, as not to disturb them, we enjoyed great views and were able to get some nice photographs of these stunning birds. Meanwhile Gull-billed Terns where feeding in the rice paddies. We enjoyed fantastic views of them in flight. Glossy Ibis were also around in good numbers. Next stop was in a reserve area which is carefully managed to provide habitat for sea birds, waders and waterfowl. Thanks to that we enjoyed amazing views of four Marbled Ducks and one duckling. We also saw Greater Flamingo, Whimbrel, Avocets, Black-winged Stilt and many more waders. The most interesting sighting of the day was of an Elegant Tern. Our next stop was in another reserve area. A little patience was…