birdwatching in valencia - Page 15 of 29 - Valencia Birding

3 Day Birding Break

February of this year proved to be a very busy month, with many clients from Northern Europe having organised winter birding trips with us. The combination of a little sunshine, some fascinating winter visitors and the anticipation of early spring migrants can make late February a very attractive time to visit the Valencia region. One of our trips was provided for the Ornithological Society of Northern Ireland. We had designed a 3 day trip that took in diverse habitat including steppe, coastal wetlands and the Natural Park of Albufera de Valencia. They had spent a few nights at the beautifully converted farmhouse of L´Alqueria del Pilar in the village of Banyeres de Mariola in inland Alicante. On our first day, from there we made the easy journey up to the highland steppe of Castilla de la Mancha. Day 1 – Steppe At over 900 metres above sea level, this can be a very cold region to explore in winter but with adequate clothing and planning it makes for a wonderful birding venue. One of our first species was the magnificent Great Bustard, specifically a group of over 20 males. We stopped…

Steppe birds of Spain

Earlier this week, Yanina and I were delighted to provide a day of guided birding for a couple of returning clients from UK. Dave and Kate booked a day with us last year, when they enjoyed the bird life of Albufera de Valencia. Their return trip was to enjoy the steppe birds of Spàin, so we´d arranged to visit Castilla de la Mancha. After the usual coffee stop and chat about the target species, we headed for the vast plains of this harsh but beautiful region. There was a cool wind blowing, but we´d come prepared for the cold so parked the car at a favourite vantage point and enjoyed views of Crested Lark, Skylark, Stonechat and Black Redstart. The first lagoon of the day gave great views of Water Pipit as well as wildfowl including Red Crested Pochard, Shoveler, Teal and Shelduck. We then visited another small body of water where we´d recently seen the very rare Red Crested Coot. After a little scanning of a small group of Common Coot, did did indeed find it again. The wind was now becoming quite cool so we headed back to…

Birding at Albufera de Valencia

The forth and final day of Charles´trip saw us birding at Albufera de Valencia. This internationally important wetland holds something of interest throughout the year, be it for its breeding habitats for summer visitors, its location as a stopping point for migrating birds or as a wintering ground for species that return each year from northern Europe and beyond. We started the day at a specially protected reserve area, where we visited a hide that looked onto a small lagoon. This gave views of Black Tailed Godwit, Spotted Redshank, Greenshank, Avocet and Black Winged Stilt. We then turned our attention to the wildfowl that over winter in Albufera in huge numbers. We enjoyed views of Shelduck, Pintail, Shoveler, Teal, Pochard and Red Crested Pochard. Charles was keen to see the famous egrets of Albufera so we then headed across the rice fields that provide critical feeding grounds for thousands of herons, egrets and waders. We parked by an irrigation channel and enjoyed close views of Little Egret, Cattle Egret and Great Egret. We had to push on as we´d been invited to attend a ringing session in another protected reserve,…

Birding holiday in Valencia

This is one of a series of 4 reports that cover a 4-day birding holiday in Valencia that we recently designed and provided for a client from London, UK. Charles, a young but experienced and knowledgable birder had contacted us earlier in the year to explore the possibilities of designing a bespoke birding break. Together, we designed a trip for him. He opted to stay in Valencia city, but we put together a plan that included guided birding trips to diverse habitats including steppe, forest, mountains, coast and wetlands. This report covers “Day 1” which was a day on the steppe and lagoons of Castilla de la Mancha. We left Valencia city centre at around 8am and in less than 90 minutes drive we were up on the steppe. The weather was perfect for birding if not unseasonably warm for December. After the usual coffee stop, our first birding spot was a relatively high vantage point overlooking the rolling fields and wide open space of this wonderful region. At over 900 metres in altitude, it can be a harsh place in which to live and work, but its bird life…

Bittern in Valencia

This video of a Bittern in Valencia was taken during a guided birding trip to Albufera de Valencia with clients of USA. It is fantastic to see this endangered species thriving here in this internationally important wetland.

White Stork in Albufera de Valencia

Here´s a brief clip of a White Stork in Albufera de Valencia. The spring and autumn migration periods are fascinating here as the site is located right on a major fly-way. Each year, some fascinating species drop in to rest and feed on their journeys to and from Africa…