Birding at Albufera de Valencia during migration time.

Earlier this month, I was delighted to provide a day of guided birding in Valencia for a family group who have been such regular clients that they´ve become firm friends.  Such days are always special, so I´d been looking forward to seeing John, Amanda and Spencer since they booked the trip earlier in the year. Birding at Albufera de Valencia during migration time is always fascinating as there´s usually a surprise sighting, and the species diversity is fabulous.  We arrived at our first stopping point within a protected reserve area and spent a short time in a hide watching Glossy Ibis, Black Tailed Godwit, Marsh Harrier and some recently arrived Teals. The next hide gave views of Little Stint, Wood Sandpiper, Dunlin and a juvenile Shelduck.  As we left the reserve, we had views of Long Tailed Tits and Zitting Cisticola.  Before moving to the next spot, we stopped briefly for a morning coffee and to buy a few things for the picnic lunch.  Fully stocked and refreshed, we then stopped by a coastal lagoon where we sat in the shade and scanned the surroundings. We were delighted to see…

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ValenciaBirding.es

We´re delighted to announce the launch of our Spanish birding website www.ValenciaBirding.es! ¡Ya tenemos nuestra página web de birding en Castellano! Si quieres consultarla, entra en www.ValenciaBirding.es Best wishes & saludos, Dave & Yanina.

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Valencia´s Coastal Wetlands in Spring.

Bird watching holidays Spain

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,…

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Birding & Reserve Management at Albufera de Valencia.

We were recently contacted by a client who wanted to arrange a day trip for her family.  Two people were keen bird watchers whilst the other two were interested in nature in general, but not specifically birds.  So, our task was to design a day that would suit all. Our day began with a stop at one of the park´s visitor centres, where we enjoyed views of Shelduck with young, Avocet and Mediterranean Gull.  A short stroll through a wooded area gave sightings of Spotted Flycatcher, Sardinian Warbler and Long Tailed Tit. Our next stop was at one of the park´s green filter reserves where we were to enjoy a short walk followed by a presentation of the history, functionality and habitats of the site.  Our walk beside the lagoons gave us views of Greater Flamingo, Cetti´s Warbler, Glossy Ibis and a Turtle Dove.  We heard a Savi´s Warbler calling from a nearby reed bed and also had great views of Purple Heron, Night Heron, Black Winged Stilt and Little Bittern. Once at the visitor centre, with the help of the staff there we learned of the green filter technology and how…

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Guided bird watching trip to the Valencian wetlands

A few days ago I was delighted to provide a birding trip to the Valencian wetlands for Richard and Jackeline Fortey. It was a big honour for me to be guiding one of the best known paleontologists of these times. The day was extremely windy, but despite that we managed to have a great day birding in the wetlands. After I collected them from their hotel in Valencia City, we drove straight to a reserve area beside the sea. In the first brackish lagoon it was nice to see a Night Heron roosting in a tree, Audouin’s Gulls flying over our heads followed by Little, Common and Sandwich Terns. Although the wind didn’t make the day easy for us, we were determined to enjoy it as much as we could. So after a walk we arrived at the main hot spot of the reserve area… the seabirds and waders’ colony.  Our efforts were finally rewarded with great views of Collared Pratincoles, Mediterranean Gulls, Little Terns, Avocets and Black-winged Stilts. It was an amazing experience seeing all those species struggling against the wind to find food for their mates and chicks….

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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,…

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