Guided Bird watching trip to the Steppe

A few days ago, I was delighted to provide a guided bird watching trip to the steppe area for an experience birder from England who was very interested to see the steppe birds of Spain whilst he was on holiday in Benidorm.                               Having collected him from his hotel in Valencia city, we made the journey inland and up onto the high plateau of Castilla de la Mancha.  After a morning coffee stop and a briefing on the species that we were likely to see, we headed across the rolling plains where had great views of Great Bustards, Crested Lark and Calandra Lark.                               The next stop was in a farm area where we enjoyed some typical species including Skylark, Rock Sparrow and Corn Bunting. Before we headed up onto the higher steppe, we made a brief stop to see Granes in flight, two pairs of Little Owls and Southern Iberian Shrikes. The high steppe eventually gave us views of one of…

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Birding from Alicante

I recently designed and provided a 2-day bird photography trip for a client from Norway.  Svein was staying in the south of our region and wanted to organise a couple of days birding from Alicante.  We opted for a day at the area´s premium wetland reserve followed by a day on the steppe.  That way he would see two completely different habitats. One day 1 we met up and drove to the wetlands where we started the day with a walk through the reserve. The day began with views of Little Grebe, Little Stint, Dunlin, Avocet and Greater Flamingo.  We had good views of Glossy Ibis in flight, then of Booted Eagle passing overhead. Although we weren´t able to get quality photos, we were very fortunate to enjoy views of one of the over-wintering Spotted Eagles, a huge raptor that migrates from Eastern Europe each year. After a picnic lunch by a small lake where we enjoyed views of Wood Sandpiper, Red Knobbed Coot and Purple Swamphen, we took a short walk during which we had great views of a Black Stork. We then visited a couple of hides from…

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2-Day Guided Birding Trip

We recently had the pleasure of designing and providing a 2-day guided birding trip for some clients from UK.  They were staying on the Costa Blanca and wanted two days with us, taking in two very different habitats. Day 1 – Albufera de Valencia. On day one, Yanina guided them through the fabulous wetland reserves of Albufera de Valencia.  This time of year is especially interesting as there are still some summer visitors around, such as the Little Bittern and Squacco Heron.  However, many wintering species, especially waders are already here, so the species list can be extensive. Indeed, the list of waders was excellent, including Curlew Sandpiper, Spotted Redshank, Little Stint, Wood Sandpiper, Little Ringed Plover and both Black-tailed and Bar-tailed Godwit. Wildfowl were also seen in good numbers, including Teal, Red Crested Pochard, Gadwall and Shelduck. The species list for the day included… Booted Eagle, Marsh Harrier, Kestrel, Flamingo, Glossy Ibis, Spoonbill, Purple Swamphen, Moorhen, Coot, Little Bittern, Squacco Heron, Great Egreat, Grey Heron, Cattle Egret, Little Egret, Great-crested Grebe, Black-necked Grebe, Little Grebe, Mallard, Teal, Shoveler, Red-crested Pochard,  Gadwall, Shelduck, Great Cormorant, Black-winged Stilt, Avocet, Ruff, Spotted…

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2-day birding trip from Valencia

During this summer, we had the pleasure of providing a 2-day birding trip for a couple of clients from Germany.  Kerstin had arranged the trip for her and her mother, and together we´d worked to design something that would maximise species diversity. Day one was spent at Albufera de Valencia, an internationally important wetland right next to the city of Valencia.  As well as visiting the rice fields of this vast Natural Park, we spent most of the day inside a couple of specially protected restricted reserves. Mid summer is not usually the best time for birding here in Valencia but today proved otherwise.  There were still plenty of summer visitors, including the beautifully graceful Collared Pratincole, but many winter visitors and passage migrants were also to be seen, White Stork being among them. Perhaps the highlight of the day was the long list of waders that we enjoyed, particularly Temminck´s Stint, Curlew Sandpiper, Kentish Plover and Green Sandpiper. Species list Albufera: Marsh Harrier, Booted Eagle, Kestrel, Mallard, Shoveller, Teal, Shelduck, Sandwich Tern, Whiskered Tern, Black-headed Gull, Lesser Black-backed Gull, White Stork, Flamingo, Glossy Ibis, Spoonbill, Grey Heron, Night Heron,…

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Trip Advisor Certificate of Excellence!

After a fabulous summer, we´d like to begin the “new season” with some great news.  Thanks to the support of our clients, Valencia Birding has been awarded the Trip Advisor Certificate of Excellence.  Sincere thanks to all those who made this happen.  We genuinely appreciate your support and time taken to post such kind reviews. Dave & Yanina.

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Birding on the Spanish Steppe

Last week, we were especially delighted to provide a trip for some returning clients from UK.  Amanda and her family had previously visited Albufera de Valencia with us and had returned for a day on the high steppe of Eastern Spain.  It was fabulous to see them again, especially having kept in touch in the meantime. We left Valencia and made the easy drive inland where we began the day with a coffee stop and discussion about the species that we were hoping for.  Our first stop by a small pond gave views of Shelduck, Tree Sparrow and Black Winged Stilt.  Although distant, we also saw Short Toed Eagle.  As we left this site, we were quite surprised to see a juvenile Mistle Thrush. We stopped by an old farm where we had good views of Corn Bunting, Rock Sparrow, Crested Lark and Stone Curlew.  The first lagoon of the day gave views of some interesting species including Whiskered Tern, Gull-billed Tern and Red Crested Pochard. Our lunch stop by a sizeable lake was very pleasant as we were able to sit in the shade and scan the water.  We enjoyed…

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