birding in Alicante - Page 10 of 22 - Valencia Birding

Migration time at the wetlands of Valencia!

This time of year is always really exciting, as the spring migration is getting underway, so new arrivals are always popping up – be they summer visitors or birds on passage. There are still a few winter visitors hanging around too, which always add to the enjoyment of birding here in March. Audouin’s Gull Last week, I had the pleasure of meeting Suzanne, a very well travelled and keen American birder, and of spending a day exploring one of Valencia’s many coastal wetlands with her. We made the short trip from the city and were soon on the beach, watching Audouin’s Gulls, a passing Hoopoe and a Black Redstart. As we strolled up the coast, watching over a lagoon we had views of Shoveler, Gadwall, Common Pochard, Red Crested Pochard, Teal and a Garganey. Cetti’s Warblers were calling from all around us, and squabbling with each other for territory. A Kingfisher made a brief appearance, and Reed Buntings and Zitting Cisticolas were plentiful. Zitting Cisticola We made a stop at an observatory, again overlooking a lagoon, and set up the scope. This gave us great views of White Headed Duck…

3-Day Birding Trip from Xativa.

I’ve just come to the end of a 3-day birding trip with some extremely long-standing clients of Valencia Birding. It was even more special as this was the first time that I’d seen Rab & Jan since before the Covid pandemic, so it was even more special to be with these friends again. They have travelled extensively with me throughout the region, and this time opted to make the beautiful and historical town of Xativa their base for our trip. Day 1 – Alicante Wetlands We of course had a plan for our three days, but some sudden and fast moving wet weather fronts that were sweeping across the Iberian peninsula meant that we had to be flexible and dynamic in our choice of birding sites in order to maximise quality. For that reason, on our first day we visited a small wetland reserve close to Alicante. Having driven through some heavy rain, as we neared the coast, the skies cleared slightly and the rain stopped. We visited a couple of hides, happy to have a roof over our heads given the recent weather, and enjoyed some great views of…

A sunny February day on the steppe.

The steppe zone that´s located to the south west of the region is an area of extremely high, open plains that in winter can be subject to gale-force winds and sub-zero temperatures. However, last Friday was an exceptional day, with clear blue skies, virtually no wind and temperatures touching 20 degrees C! The birding trip had been arranged by a local lady for her husband John, as a Christmas present, and after a chat on the phone, we’d decided on the steppe. The day began as usual with a coffee stop in a small farming village before we headed across the fields in search of birds. Our first stop, a vantage point with huge views, saw large flocks of Linnets, a few Crested Larks and a Spotless Starling that posed nicely for a photo. Spotless Starling We then moved to an old farm whose outbuildings provide nesting spots for colonies of sparrows. We actually saw three species – House Sparrow, Tree Sparrow and Rock Sparrow, including a leucistic House Sparrow that was almost uniformly white. Buzzards were circling above us in the warming air, and Corn Buntings were calling from…

Masses of Gulls & Glossy Ibis at Albufera de Valencia

As is often said, “a picture paints a thousand words”. But in this case, it’s a video that I hope portrays the sheer spectacle that I experienced at the huge wetland site of Albufera de Valencia yesterday morning. At this time of year, the flooded rice fields are drained and ploughed in readiness for the planting phase. This results in the earth and mud being churned up, revealing a rich food source for thousands of ibis, gulls and egrets. It’s hard to express what the sight of such vast numbers of birds is actually like – even still photos don’t really do justice. This is why I chose to shoot this short video and share it with you. On this occasion, the majority of gulls were Black-headed, although in amongst them there was a Common Gull too! But the Starling-like murmurations of Glossy Ibis are the key spectacle. I hope you enjoy it!

New Year Birding in Valencia

Valencia Birding kicked-off 2022 with our first clients of the year on 2nd January – Magdalena and Erik from Austria. They were on a short break in Valencia and wanted to include a birding trip in their plans. We opted to visit the wetlands close to the city, as a way of making the most of the relatively short days this month. After a short drive from the city, we began the walk along the beach, stopping to watch Audouin’s Gull, Chiffchaff, Serin, Kingfisher and what was my first bird of 2022 the previous day – Black Redstart! Black Redstart Whilst watching Marsh Harriers gliding low over the reeds, another raptor flew into view, albeit much higher – an Osprey, a bird which we’ve seen quite a lot of recently. We scanned over a lagoon where Shovelers were gathered in large numbers, and also found Teal, Purple Swamphen, Little Grebe and Yellow-legged Gull. We then chose to concentrate on an area of scrub that has been holding good numbers of passerines in recent weeks. Today was no exception ans we were soon watching Serin, Goldfinch, Greenfinch, Chaffinch, Reed Bunting, Tree…

Christmas Eve Birding in Alicante

What a better way to get Christmas underway than by birding with friends Jolien and Silvia in the wetlands of Alicante?! Just under an hour´s drive from our home in the mountains, the system of coastal wetlands is a birder´s paradise at any time of year, and today´s trip gave us some excellent sightings. After a quick morning coffee in a small village, we walked into the first reserve and scanned across a small lagoon. Shoveler and Teal were on the water in good numbers, and the shoreline held Snipe, Black-winged Stilt, Common Sandpiper, Glossy Ibis and Purple Swamphen. Crag Martins were feeding overhead and a Sardinian Warbler called from the bushes. A small flock (or “clattering”) of Jackdaws passed over, followed closely by a Booted Eagle. A Dutch birder asked what the raptor was, and then doubtfully asked if we knew the name in Dutch – Jolien was on hand to help thanks to her Flemish heritage! We then turned our attention to a group of Terns. Most of them were Whiskered Terns but closer attention revealed a White-winged Tern too. White-winged Tern with Whiskered Terns There then followed…