bird watching trips Valencia - Page 12 of 21 - Valencia Birding

A stormy day in Albufera de Valencia

Last Sunday, Yanina and I were pleased to provide a day of guided birding for a client from UK. Thomas was spending the weekend in Valencia and had arranged a trip with us. Despite it being a stormy day in Albufera de Valencia, we managed to adapt the trip to miss almost all of the heavy rain that fell that day! Having collected Thomas from his hotel in central Valencia, we made the short trip to Albufera, where we began the day in a protected reserve. We were welcomed by the explosive song of Cetti´s Warbler, and with a little patience we soon had views of this elusive little bird. The reed beds also gave views of Great Reed Warbler, Willow Warbler (we were fortunate as they are at the point of departure for their autumn migration) and Fan-tailed Warbler. A juvenile Night Heron passed overhead. The first lagoon gave good views of Marsh Harrier, Little Grebe, Garganey, and eventually a Green Sandpiper. As we walked through the reserve, we were treated to views of huge flocks of Glossy Ibis, well in excess of 100 birds. We then spent a…

Guided bird watching at Albufera de Valencia

Last Friday I had pleasure of providing a day of guided bird watching at Albufera de Valencia for two clients from Poland. As nature lovers and experienced birders, they are members of a bird protection organisation, and they wanted to discover the species of Valencia and its wetlands. After I collected them from their hotel, we went to a reserve and restricted area where we spent most of the morning. At this time of the year this reserve is magnificent, and we enjoyed great views of a colony of Common and Sandwich Terns. We also enjoyed seeing the very rare Mabled Duck with 5 ducklings, together with a large group of Greater Flamingo, right in front of the hide. The second stop was in the forest, where Wren, Serin, Spotted Flycatcher, Sardinian Warbler and Firecrest welcomed us. To end the trip we went to the rice paddies. Now the fields have been planted, Glossy Ibis, Herons and Egrets where everywhere. We also enjoyed the display of the Hoopoe and finally one of the day´s highlights – the Purple Swamphen. It had been a classic Albufera day, with a species list that…

Steppe Birds of Spain

Last week, we provided a guided birding trip for a couple from Yorkshire, UK. They were keen nature lovers and were very interested to see the steppe birds of Spain whilst they were on holiday in Valencia. Having collected them from their hotel in the city, we made the journey inland and up onto the high plateau of Castilla de la Mancha. After a morning coffee stop and a briefing on the species that we were likely to see, we headed across the rolling plains where had great views of Crested Lark and Calandra Lark. The first lagoon of the day held Common Tern, Whiskered Tern and Gull-billed Tern and Greater Flamingo. We enjoyed some typical sounds of summer, including the song of Skylark and Corn Bunting. We spent the rest of the morning at another great spot, a lagoon fringed with reed beds. Here we had wildfowl including Shelduck, Gadwall and Red-crested Pochard. We also enjoyed two especially colourful species, the Hoopoe and Bee Eater. Before we headed up onto the higher steppe, we made a brief stop at a small lake where we had views of…

Birding trip to Albufera de Valencia Natural Park

Today I had pleasure of providing a birding trip to Albufera de Valencia Natural Park for a client from England. She is a keen birder who loves to travel and discover new species. She wanted to explore the wetland bird species near the city of Valencia where she was staying on a business trip. After I collected her from her apartment, we went to a protected reserve and “green filter” area of Albufera de Valencia which is an amazing hotspot for birding at this time of the year when rice fields are dry. At such times, most of the birdlife remains inside these very special places. We had a long but relaxing walk through the reserve and when we arrived at the management centre, we were delighted to discover that the reserve staff were ringing birds. It was a fascinating experience for Jo to see the ringing and recording process. After a morning in the wetlands, we spent the rest of the day at the Devesa Forest where we found many woodland species were alreay well into their breeding cycle. We´d enjoyed the day very much, with a species list…

Easter Birding in Valencia

On Easter Saturday, Yanina and I arranged a day of guided bird watching to the Valencian Coastal Wetlands. At Easter Birding in Valencia is especially rewarding as many of the summer visitors are returning to their breeding grounds in our local wetland reserves. We gathered in central Valencia before making the short journey to the reserve that we´d selected for today´s trip. After a morning coffee, looking out across the calm waters of the Mediterranean, we began our walk along a coastal dune system. The first lagoon gave good views of waterfowl including Pochard, Red-crested Pochard and Little Grebe. As we walked further into the reserve, the second lagoon provided a spectacular sight of seven male White-headed Ducks, one of Europe´s rarest and arguably most attractive ducks. We also had great views of Flamingo, Purple Heron, Glossy Ibis and Marsh Harrier. We then took in an area of coastal scrub, and were treated to views of Wheatear, Stonechat, Whinchat, Sub-alpine Warbler and Spotless Starling. We also had a good view of Audouin´s Gull and the beautiful Collared Pratincole. After a picnic lunch on a pebble beach, we headed inland to an area…

Birding and Nature Photography Trip

Yesterday I provided a birding and nature photography trip for a client from Italy. It was his second trip to Valencia and he wanted to photograph some of the fabulous bird species of the Albufera de Valencia Natural Park. I collected him from his hotel in the city of Valencia where he´s spending a week´s holiday with his family. As he´s a keen wildlife photographer, he´d contacted Valencia Birding to arrange a day trip which would be close to the city whilst visiting some of the areas natural spaces. At this time of the year, the bird life in l´Albufera is distributed in different areas of the park, depending on which rice fields have been ploughed, thus influencing food availability. So, our first stop was in the western part of the Natural Park, where we found an amazing sight – over 2,000 flamingos, plus thousands of gulls, egrets, herons and glossy ibis. After this wonderful spectacle, we visited a protected reserve area with a magnificent biodiversity. Species included Snipe, Black-tailed Godwit and Greenshank. Next stop was in the Devesa forest, a natural native Mediterranean pine forest. We watched and photographed…