Holidays - Alicante - Valencia - Bird Watching Tours

Birding at the wetlands with clients from the USA.

In early April I spent a great day birding at the wetlands with clients from the USA. Laura and Brad, from Arizona were on a tour of Spain and had built in a stay in Valencia that included a day of birding with us. As it was their first time in the region, I was eager to show them some of the classic species of Valencia. After a short drive and a morning coffee, we began our walk along the beach. Early Spring was quite cool by our standards, and the day had begun with a breeze blowing off the sea, making for a drastic contrast to Arizona! Migration was happening before our eyes with big numbers of Swifts, Barn Swallows, Sand Martins and House Martins passing through, the flocks often including a few Red Rumped Swallows. A Night Heron was sitting in the reeds and from deeper within we could hear Common Reed Warbler and Cetti´s Warbler. Before long, one of the day´s target birds appeared – a fly-past of Audouin´s Gull. This very elegant gull is doing very well along the Valencian coastline. The first lagoon held Black Winged…

Birding and Cultural Break in Valencia.

In late March we enjoyed spending three days with Caroline and Lorna from England. We´d met at Rutland Bird Fair the previous year and discussed how we could design a birding and cultural break in Valencia. Having exchanged a few emails, we decided upon a week´s package with 3 full days of birding and 4 free days to explore this beautiful city. In order to maximise diversity, we opted for a day on the steppe, a day at the wetlands and a trip to the mountains. Their first day of birding was with Yanina who took them up onto the steppe. We were all able to meet for a coffee in a farming village as I was with another client and happened to be in the same area that day. The weather was ideal, not too much wind and clear skies. Their first foray onto the high steppe gave views of Black Bellied Sandgrouse and Stone Curlew. Before long, they succeeded in finding the first Great Bustards of the day and a stop by some farm buildings also gave views of Rock Sparrow, Linnet and Black Redstart. The surrounding fields…

Birding and Photography in the Mountains of Valencia.

I was delighted when we received an email from Stephen and Pennie to say that they were returning to Valencia and wanted another day out with us. We´d previously enjoyed two trips to Albufera de Valencia, during which we´d discussed the bird life of the mountains, especially during Spring. Stephen is a well travelled bird photographer whilst Pennie enjoys bird watching very much, so we arranged a day of birding and photography in the mountains of Valencia. After a pleasant journey from the city into the highland interior of the region, we stopped briefly for a coffee in a village bar. As we were walking back to the car, Pennie spotted a raptor soaring above us. We grabbed the binoculars and camera and were soon enjoying views of a Booted Eagle…a good start to the day! Our first stop was to look around some ruined farm buildings. This is a good place to see Black Wheatear, Serin, and Blue Rock Thrush. Today we saw all three species, and Stephen was able to get some shots too. A short stroll by the river was very pleasant, with Griffon Vultures gliding overhead…

Birding and cultural break in Valencia

We recently provided 3 days of guided birding for a couple of clients from Leeds. Alli and Anne were not only lovely people but very experienced and well travelled naturalists. For this trip they wanted to combine birding with a cultural break in Valencia. We´d designed the birding element of their trip so that after they´d enjoyed the famous Fallas fiestas, they could recover from the party atmosphere in Valencia by spending some peaceful days birding in its rural surroundings! It was indeed a pleasure to meet mother and daughter Alli and Anne and to spend time with them. On day one, I took them up onto the steppe, and after a morning coffee we began scanning the fields. Our first birds of the trip were Crested Lark and Calandra Lark. Stopping by some farm buildings gave us views of Rock Sparrow, Linnets, Spotless Starlings and a passing Common Buzzard. Our exploration of the higher steppe eventually rewarded us with views of both Great Bustard and Black Bellied Sandgrouse plus a fairly brief view of Stone Curlew. We ended the day with views of Little Owl and Lesser Kestrel before…

A day on the steppe.

Last week, Yanina and I were privileged to provide a day of bird watching for Dominic Mitchell, founder and managing editor of Birdwatch Magazine and BirdGuides. He was in Valencia on a short break and wanted to include a day of birding. Having spoken about his target species, we decided upon a day on the steppe with a brief diversion at the end of the day to a coastal lagoon close to Albufera where we would look for Audouin´s Gull. We made the journey from central Valencia into the uplands of the interior where we made a brief stop at an area of scrub where Great Spotted Cuckoo had been seen during the previous days. Despite our efforts it didn´t show, but we did have views of Rock Sparrow, Crested Lark, Red Legged Partridge and Stonechat. After a coffee stop in a farming village, we stopped at a good vantage point to scan. Although quite a way off, we managed to see a small group of Great Bustards as well as a sizeable flock of Calandra Larks and a Thekla Lark. The next stop by an old farm gave views…

3 Day Birding Holiday

Last week, Yanina and I provided a 3 day birding holiday for returning clients and friends from the UK. Rab and Jan have been on numerous trips with us over the past years and this time they were accompanied by their friend Pete from my home town of Sheffield. Our main objective was to provide as much diversity as possible in the three days that we had together. So on day 1, I collected them from their holiday home in Javia and we drove south to visit the salt pans of Alicante. Here we were focussing on gulls, and soon had the two key species – Audouin´s and Slender Billed as well as Yellow Legged. After a morning coffee, we headed to one of the region´s premium wetland sites where we began by searching for Bluethroat. Eventually, our patience was rewarded and we enjoyed great views of this ever popular little bird. Having spent a little time watching Little Ringed Plover and Purple Swamphen, we then turned our attention to one of the region´s conservation success stories, the Red-knobbed Coot, and were treated to some excellent views. A visit to…