birdwatching in valencia - Page 9 of 29 - Valencia Birding

A winter weekend birding break in Valencia.

Last weekend I was pleased to welcome back returning client Norman to Valencia. He had previously spent two days with us last Spring when we visited the coastal wetlands and the mountains. We´d kept in touch and he subsequently arranged a winter weekend birding break in Valencia. This time we opted to visit the steppe on day one and the huge wetland site of Albufera on day two. Day 1 I collected him from his hotel close to the stunning City of Arts & Science complex in Valencia, and we made the comfortable journey south west to the high plains. Before starting our birding, we enjoyed a coffee break in a farming village where we discussed the target species of the day. We were blessed with blue skies, very mild temperatures and more importantly, no wind, and our first brief stop by a flooded field gave views of a Snipe, Lapwings and a Reed Bunting. We then moved to a vantage point where we set up the scope and began to look closely at the surrounding fields. Crested Larks were moving around on the ground very close to us, a…

A birding trip to the steppe

A few days ago, I enjoyed a great trip with Greg (Dalí) and Katherine from Australia. They have been living in Sidney all their life and when they retired from work, had decided to experience two years living in Spain. A part of visiting many cities and great places all over Spain, they are keen on discover all the birds life around Valencia where they are based. They were particularly keen to see Great Bustard as they´d never seen them before. We also added Flamingoes to the list of target species as Katherine suggested. After a comfortable drive from Valencia, we all agreed to have a coffee before we began our birding! We did so and then started by making a couple of stops to scan the vast fields. Our first stop gave good views of Crested Lark and the target of the day… Great Bustards, not far from a flock of Black-bellied Sandgrouse – another lifer for them! We continued driving and we had to stop 3 times to enjoy more flocks of Great Bustards, as this was the key species of the day, I was hopeful of getting better…

Winter Press Trip.

The week before Christmas, I spent four fabulous days with three of the UK´s leading writers from the birding world – Dominic Mitchell, David Chandler and David Callahan. With the support of the Tourism Department of the Valencian Comminity, Turespaña, Hotel Gran Playa Santa Pola and the Tourism Departments of the provinces of Castellon and Valencia, we designed and organised this press trip to showcase the value and attraction of the Valencia region as a winter birding destination. With additional input from Carolina Garcia (Reigos Levante), Pau Lucio (Bird Watching Spain) and Virgilio Beltran (Actio Birding), we put together a trip that took us to all three provinces and a huge diversity of habitats. Each day had its priority species, most of which were winter visitors to the area although some special resident species were included too. On the first day, we only had a few hours as the flight arrived in Alicante in the early afternoon. Therefore we headed straight for the saltpans of Santa Pola. Here we soon began to list a good number of species, the highlights including Spoonbill, Purple Swamphen, Audouin´s Gull, Greater Flamingo and Osprey. …

An autumn day at Albufera.

I´d been looking forward to welcoming back Stephen and Pennie since they´d booked yet another return trip to Valencia earlier this year. We´d previously enjoyed many happy days together so it was great to see them here again. Both keen birders, Stephen is also an experienced field photographer, and is very well travelled in pursuit of his hobby. We decided upon a return to Albufera de Valencia as this ever changing environment can differ greatly from month to month, plus Purple Swamphen was a key target bird for them both. We began at a small protected reserve area where we had views of Sardinian Warbler, Chiffchaff and Zitting Cisticola in the reeds. The lagoon held good numbers of Black Winged Stilts that were in a mixed flock with wintering Black Tailed Godwits. The highlight of this stop was the regular views of Booted Eagle and Marsh Harrier in flight, providing Stephen with the chance to get some fabulous shots. We also saw Dunlin, Ruff, Common Buzzard and Greater Flamingo. We fitted in a brief coffee break during which I was pleased to be shown some great photos from Stephen and…

A day on the steppe.

Last week, I enjoyed a great trip with Ville from Finland. A very experienced birder and professional biologist, he was in Valencia for a conference and had extended his stay to include a day on the steppe. He was particularly keen to see Great Bustard as he´d never seen it before. We also added White Headed Duck to the list of target species as this would also be a “lifer” for him. Having made the comfortable drive from Valencia, I was happy to discover that Ville was keen to have a coffee before we began our birding! We did so and then started by making a couple of stops to scan the vast fields. Our first stop gave good views of Crested Lark and Iberian Grey Shrike. Some old farm buildings provided sightings of Rock Sparrow, Tree Sparrow, Corn Bunting and Spotless Starling. We then stopped by a small lagoon to watch Gadwall, Shoveler, Black Necked Grebe and a few Lapwings. Then, as we scanned the surrounding fields again, we were delighted to see Great Bustard! There were 4 males quite some way off, but with the scope we could…

4 Day Birding Trip around Alicante.

Just before our summer break, I was delighted to design and provide a 4 day birding trip around Alicante for two clients from the UK. Robin and Simon are both experienced and very well travelled birders. Robin was on a quest to see all the European bird species and prior to the trip, he had less than 30 species left to see!! His key priorities were Red-knobbed Coot, White Headed Duck and Red-necked Nightjar, but we also added Iberian Green Woodpecker (Picus sharpei) to that. Their flight arrived in Alicante in the afternoon, so once I´d met them there, we made the most of the few hours that we had by exploring the local salt marshes and coastal lagoons. We enjoyed good views of plenty of Greater Flamingoes, Little Tern, Whiskered Tern and Audouin´s Gull. We then moved to a hide overlooking a scrape from where we spotted a Kentish Plover on a nest. The large colony of Slender Billed Gulls also gave us great views. Although we´d only had a few hours, we´d made a good start. We drove to their hotel in central Alicante which was only a…