Latest Birding News and Sightings - Bird Watching in Spain

Bird watching in restricted & protected areas of Valencia

As professional and licensed bird watching guides, we clearly work along guidelines and codes of practice to ensure that ethics are applied, and to minimise environmental impact. A special priviledge that we enjoy is that of access to restricted and protected areas of many nature reserves throughout the Valencian region. Last week, I had the pleasure of providing a bespoke birding trip to one of these highly protected areas, a “green filter” reserve within the Albufera de Valencia Natural Park. My client for the day was Oscar, a very experienced birder from Bilbao. We were warmly welcomed by the reserve manager, who outlined the recent sightings. We were very fortunate in that there had been sightings of a rarity – the Citrine Wagtail, so of course Oscar was very eager to see this unusual visitor. He was also keen to see the many wading birds that frequent this wetland reserve. So, we spent the morning very quietly exploring the reserve, and enjoying the spectacular bird life on display. Our patience eventually paid off, and rewarded us with great views of the Citrine Wagtail! The timing of our visit also coincided…

Birding and Nature Photography Trip

Yesterday I provided a birding and nature photography trip for a client from Italy. It was his second trip to Valencia and he wanted to photograph some of the fabulous bird species of the Albufera de Valencia Natural Park. I collected him from his hotel in the city of Valencia where he´s spending a week´s holiday with his family. As he´s a keen wildlife photographer, he´d contacted Valencia Birding to arrange a day trip which would be close to the city whilst visiting some of the areas natural spaces. At this time of the year, the bird life in l´Albufera is distributed in different areas of the park, depending on which rice fields have been ploughed, thus influencing food availability. So, our first stop was in the western part of the Natural Park, where we found an amazing sight – over 2,000 flamingos, plus thousands of gulls, egrets, herons and glossy ibis. After this wonderful spectacle, we visited a protected reserve area with a magnificent biodiversity. Species included Snipe, Black-tailed Godwit and Greenshank. Next stop was in the Devesa forest, a natural native Mediterranean pine forest. We watched and photographed…

Spring 2015 Bulletin

Birding at Albufera de Valencia and the Valencian Coastal Wetlands These two trips prove to be our most popular birding sites and we´ve had the pleasure of showing these amazing spaces and their rich bird life to clients from throughout the World. As they´re both such popular trips, we´re delighted to be able to improve them both even further.We´ve recently been granted special authorization to enter some wonderful restricted areas that are out of bounds for the general public. This provides our clients with the opportunity to enjoy some very special natural spaces that would otherwise be impossible to visit. For the Albufera de Valencia trip, we can now also offer a new and exciting additional element which is a trip in a traditional Albufera boat. These trips are exclusively for our clients, are allow us to pass quietly by some great areas of wetland and to enjoy a different perspective. New Venues – Mountain Ranges of Valencia & The Lakes and Highlands of Inland Spain The “Mountain Ranges of Valencia” trip is ideal for those who want enjoy a short walk in the mountains amongst stunning…

David & Yanina Complete Guiding Qualification

I´m delighted to report that Yanina and I recently completed and passed a course for professional bird watching guides. The course was delivered by the SEO (Sociedad Española de Ornitologia) and included a 40 hour on-line module followed by a 2 day course which we attended together in Valencia. As well as some useful resources, the course provided a great forum for debate on sustainable tourism and environmentally-friendly best practice. It´s always good to keep up to date on latest thinking, and to share ideas and we both felt that the time invested in the course was well spent and of great value.

Birding in the mountains of Valencia

Last Sunday I was delighted to provide a day of guided birding in the mountains of Valencia for a pair of returning clients from England. Last year, we provided a trip to the Valencian Coastal Wetlands for them and they had such a great time that they promised to return for more guided birding. This year, they opted for a trip to the mountains of Valencia. Having collected them from their hotel in the centre of Valencia, we made the short drive to the Sierra Calderona Natural Park. An area of forested mountains in excess of 600 meters above sea level. Although sunny, it was quite a windy day. However, we were fortunate enough to enjoy views of a pair of resident Bonelli´s Eagles. After a short walk up to a spectacular viewing point, we were rewarded with views of a Peregrine Falcon. Passerines were also in plentiful supply, including Great Tit, Crested Tit, Coal Tit, Greenfinch, Chaffinch, Goldfinch, Serin, Robin, Black Redstart, Firecrest, Blue Rock Thrush, Dunnock, White Wagtail and Crag Martin. It had been an exciting day, made all the more special because of the company of such lovely…

Bird watching in Albufera de Valencia

Yesterday I was delighted to provide a day of guided bird watching in Albufera de Valencia for a client from Madrid. She´s a keen nature lover, especially interested in birdlife and she wanted to visit Valencia and to discover its biodiversity. I arranged a bespoke trip for her to Albufera de Valencia, where we visited many protected reserve areas. First stop was in the marshes and rice fields where we were amazed by the sheer size of the gatherings of egrets and herons. Next stop was in a reserve area that is a sightseeing hotspot for diverse ducks species. Also from the same observatory we saw how a Marsh Harrier and a Booted Eagle were trying to hunt Black-winged Stilts. What a sight! We then walked through an area of coastal Mediterranean forest, taking in dune systems and unspoilt beaches. We managed to visit a huge variety of habitats, all within the Albufera de Valencia Natural Park, and enjoyed a wonderfully diverse range of species. List of bird species: Marsh Harrier, Booted Eagle, Common Kestrel, Grey Heron, Great Egret, Little Egret, Cattle Egret, Glossy Ibis, Common Crane, Mallard, Northern…