10-Day Bird Photography Trip

Birding in Alicante

May 2022 Thanks to the kind support and recommendations of some previous clients from Singapore, I was contacted early this year by Sudip, who was interested in a 10-day bird photography trip in the Valencia Region. After some considerable email exchanges, his priorities and target species became clear, and work began on designing the perfect plan. As he wanted a combination of field and hide photography, ten days gave us the time and opportunity to deliver a twin-centre holiday. Accordingly, the first half of the trip was spent in the province of Alicante, using the beautiful and historical village of Biar as his base. (I stayed in my home in the mountains very close-by). Sudip really appreciates good food too, so I chose an authentic guest house where there is also a high quality restaurant serving local dishes at reasonable prices. For the second half of the trip, we moved to Valencia, where Sudip stayed in a small hotel in the heart of the historical quarter. Biar, in the highland interior of Alicante As the trip was focussed firmly on high quality photography, this report deals with the key species…

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Birding and field photography trip to Albufera de Valencia

A few weeks ago, I had the pleasure to design a special trip for a couple from Belgium. Both are enthusiastic birders and Anne also is a photographer, who wanted a day of birding and field photography. Albufera de Valencia was the best choice to combine birding with bird photography. At this time of the year most of the rice paddies are being ploughed which provides the perfect scenery with plenty of Glossy Ibis, Egrets, Herons, Gulls and Waders feeding in the fields. After I collected them from a meeting point in Valencia City, we made a short journey to Albufera Natural Park where we stopped in the main pier of Albufera lake to photograph and enjoy great views of Sandwich Terns, Yellow-legged Gulls, Black-headed Gulls and Lesser Black-backed Gulls. Our next stop was at the main reserve of the park, we headed to the observatories looking onto the brackish lagoons with plenty of Black-winged Stilt, Black-tailed Godwit and other waterfowl. We were enjoying fantastic views of all these birds when we witnessed the highlight of the day… a Booted Eagle´s failed attempt to take a Black-winged Stilt. The eagle…

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