Bird Watching in Alicante Spain - Valencia Bird Watching

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. …

Yet another great day at Albufera.

Last week I was delighted to meet Albert, a scientist from Illinois, USA who had contacted us to arrange a day trip to the wetland site of Albufera de Valencia. He wasn´t an avid lister, but had a passion for birds and as this was his first birding trip to Spain, we chose to aim for quality views of the most “important” species. We began our trip at a reserve area where we had great views of a male Sardinian Warbler, Black Redstart and Marsh Harrier. We then moved to a different hide from where we watched Black Winged Stilt, Ruff, Teal and Crag Martins which were feeding in the air above us. Our walk back through the forest gave views of Long Tailed Tit and Firecrest. We then headed across the rice fields, generally exploring the park. This part of the trip included sightings of Little Egret, Cattle Egret, Great Egret, Glossy Ibis and a Green Sandpiper. After a coffee break, we drove further into the park and made a brief stop to explore a flooded area. From here we were really pleased to enjoy great views of a White…

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…

Autumn 2019 Newsletter.

Reflection. Following the summer holiday period, Autumn is always a time of reflection, thinking back over the year so far whilst at the same time looking ahead at what remains, particularly with migration in mind. We still have a few late summer visitors here, but in general the autumn migration is well underway. This week has seen huge mixed flocks of Swifts, Martins and Swallows passing through the region but what has been more noticeable has been the sheer numbers of Bee Eaters on the move this week and last. Waders are currently the big draw though, especially at our numerous coastal wetland sites. Recent sightings have included Terek Sandpiper. Looking back at the Spring of this year, we are delighted to say that Valencia Birding enjoyed its best ever period (in terms of number of clients) since we began back in 2011. In challenging times such as these, it´s fabulous to see such positive trends and we´re exceptionally grateful to all whose support has helped us to make this possible. The “star” species are too numerous to comprehensively list here but they have to include the returning Elegant Terns,…

A late summer´s day at the wetlands of Alicante.

As I tend to spend the hottest months of the year in the rural interior to the south of our region, we often provide trips towards the end of the summer to the extensive wetland systems of Alicante. In early September I was delighted to provide such a trip for Mark from UK. We met at the British Bird Fair in August and quickly arranged a date during Mark´s stay in our area. Recently retired from the RSPB, Mark is an experienced and knlowedgeable birder and a pleasure to be with. We met close to Alicante airport and made the short onward journey to the local salt marshes. Our first stop gave views of Greater Flamingo, Purple Swamphen and Squacco Heron. The reeds held Common Reed Warbler and a Kingfisher. We moved a little further into the marshes where we saw a couple of Turnstones, Gull-billed Tern, Little Tern, Slender-billed Gull, Audouin´s Gull and amongst the Common Swifts feeding overhead we were able to pick out a few Pallid Swifts. We then took a short drive across farmland towards the main reserve area of the day. This proved to be…

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…