Mountains, Vultures and Alpine Accentors!

Valencia Birding

Last Friday I enjoyed a fabulous day in the mountains of Valencia with Wendy McNeill, hoping to spend some time closely watching Griffon Vultures as well as looking for Alpine Accentors which are winter visitors to the peaks of our region. The day dawned bright with clear blue skies and almost no wind, so just to be out in the field was a pleasure. We began with a brief walk past some semi-ruined farm buildings where we found a male Black Redstart feeding on insects on the roof of an old barn. The crags behind the farm gave views of Black Wheatear and as we continued our walk through some woods, we saw Blackcap, Chiffchaff, Sardinian Warbler and Serin. As we moved on towards the higher crags, a Kestrel came to rest in a tree in front of us. Kestrel We drove further into the mountains, before choosing a viewing point from where to scan the cliffs where in the breeding season, there is a sizeable colony of Griffon Vultures. As we arrived, it was fairly quiet, but within just a few minutes, more and more vultures flew in, many…

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The Lives of Griffon Vultures.

Griffon Vultures – Magnificent Birds of the Spanish Mountains Often misunderstood, or at least badly portrayed! Spain is home to around 17,000 pairs of Griffon Vultures. That sounds like quite a lot, but the sobering thought is that this figure accounts for approximately 75% of the World´s population. The wingspan of an adult bird is almost 3 metres, and they can live for over 30 years. They are often seen as “flying planks” high in the blue skies of Southern Europe. But what of the lives of these mystical creatures? “Vultures!” is often a phrase, an insult indeed for someone who preys on the vulnerable, the weak, for their own easily gotten gains. No wonder then, that this carries over to the image of these most noble of birds. I beg to plead in their defence! Firstly, on a “personal” basis, they are monogamous, usually pairing for life. As these photos show, they breed on mountain crags, building their nests from sticks. The lay a single egg, which is incubated for 50-60 days. Four months after hatching, the chick is fledged and can fly, but usually needs further care and…

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A Birding Break from Valencia.

I recently provided a 2-day trip for Gordon and Heather from the UK. They are very experienced birders who we met at the British Bird Fair last year.  They had planned a trip in their motorhome and wanted to include two days of birding with us when they were in the Valencia region.  We agreed on a day in the mountains and a day on the steppe. First, to the mountains… After I collected them at their campsite beside the beach we made the relaxed drive to our first stop in a quarry surrounded by natural crags too.  Our targets were Blue Rock Thrush, Black Wheater, Rock Sparrow and Bonelli’s Eagle. We did succeed with most of them except for the eagle. We decided to keep going and try again on the way back. Then, after a drive up to a high peak, followed by a short walk, we arrived on the summit of a 1,000m mountain.  Here, our goal was Alpine Accentor.  Sadly, they were nowhere to be seen, so we continued with our planned route, agreeing to return to the peak in the afternoon.  When we did, they…

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Birding trip to the mountains of Valencia

Recently, I was delighted to provide a birding trip to the mountains of Valencia for a client from Scotland who now lives in Honduras.  After a few days of stormy weather we were happy to see blue skies and sunshine. After a short drive into the highland interior of the Valencia region, we stopped for a coffee break before heading into the mountains where we spotted the first Griffon Vultures, one of the target species for the day.  We also had nice views of Barn Swallow, House Martins and Common Swift. We then had views of another target bird – the Short-toed Eagle.  Just few meters ahead of us we spotted a pair of Black Redstarts that were breeding in a ruined farm building, also the call of Sardinian Warblers caught our attention. We continued our way to the source of the river, one of the best spots to observe dippers in the Valencia region.  We also had a good view of a Great Spotted Woodpecker and Golden Oriole and we were entertained by a Blue Tit constantly visiting its nest. A little further in the valley, we stopped to listen…

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Mountain birding trip in early spring

A few days ago, I was delighted to provide a mountain birding trip for two of clients from Scotland. They were experienced birders and after few days visiting Valencia City, they wanted a day out in the mountains to discover the birdlife of the area. After I collected them from their hotel, we drove less than an hour to this beautiful mountain area. On the way, we had to speed down to enjoy a flock of Glossy Ibis and a pair of Short-toed Eagles displaying. Ones in the area, our first stop a family of Serins catch our attention, suddenly the first Griffon Vultures started to show up with the background’s call of Sardinian Warbler. In the Second stop, the distinctive call of the frogs didn’t take our concentration on spotting the majestic Egyphtian Vultures, we were extremely luck to see them mating and displaying. Further on the gorge, we had nice views of Firecrest and Crag Martins flying everywhere. It took us some time to arrive to the Griffon Vultures’ colony, an amazing spot at the end of the gorge where also Peregrine Falcon and Egyphtian Vulture use for…

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Birding in the mountains of Valencia

Day 3 of Charles´4-day birding trip to Valencia took us to the inland mountains of the province of Alicante.    Birding in the mountains of Valencia doesn´t usually yield an extremely long species list, but with a little effort it can provide views of some very special species that thrive in the rocky peaks of the region. After the easy drive from the city, we stopped for a morning coffee in a small town, allowing sufficient time for the morning mist to clear from the peaks and valleys.  We were already at a height of 600 metres, and the mist cover had brought the temperatures down to around 6 degrees C. However, the sun soon began to break through, allowing us to begin the short walk through a dramatic rocky gorge.  The first species that we spotted included one of the day´s targets – the Blue Rock Thrush.  Although the male is much brigher blue in the breeding season, even in it´s winter plumage it´s still a striking bird. We then spent a little time trying to get good views of the often illusive Sardinian Warbler, but were suddenly interupted…

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