Birding Trips Spain - Page 2 of 2 - Valencia Birding

Birding the Wetlands of Valencia

Last week, I provided a day of guided bird watching for a client from UK. Phil is an experienced and knowledgeable birder and wanted to see the diversity of the birdlife that exists here in Valencia. We decided upon a specific wetland area as right now there are colonies of breeding species that provide some super opportunities for observation, all without the risk of disturbance. We met close to Valencia and made the short journey to the coastal site where we began the day by exploring a few coastal saltwater lagoons. Here we had good views of White Headed Duck, Red Crested Pochard, Little Bittern and Audouin´s Gull. The reed beds held Reed Warbler, Great Reed Warbler and Fan-tailed Warbler. We walked on to another lagoon where we had superb views of Whiskered Tern, Little Tern, Common Tern and Sandwich Tern. We were also fortunate to see a local rarity, an Elegant Tern. Collared Pratincoles were also breeding in the vicinity, and gave great views both on the ground and in flight. A walk through pastureland provided views of Cattle Egret, Stonechat, Hoopoe, Little Owl and Tree Sparrow. Marsh…

Bird Photography in Valencia

Last week, I had the pleasure of providing a birding break in Valencia for a client from Cambridge, England. Stephen is an experienced wildlife photographer and a keen birder and wanted to focus on bird photography in Valencia. He was visiting Valencia and wanted to discover the habitats and bird life of this extremely diverse region and to capture this on film. I planned a 2 day trip for him. One to the mountains and other to the wetlands. On day 1, I collected him from his hotel and after an hour´s drive we stopped for a morning coffee and a talk about the species that we were hoping to see. As soon we parked, Griffon Vultures appeared in abundance. Hundreds of House Martins were passing through on migration. Whilst we were walking through the mountain gorge, we enjoyed great views of Sub-alpine Warbler, Sardinian Warbler and Common Whitethroat. At the end of the walk, we were finally rewarded with views of Black Redstart and a brief view of Blue Rock Thrush. Lizards and spiders also formed part of the photographic interest. It had been a great day in…

Half Day Trip to the Mountains of Valencia

On Tuesday, I took two local British birders on a half-day trip to the mountains of Valencia. Before we set off on the short walk, we stopped for a coffee and were entertained by a pair of Short Toed Treecreepers and a group of Long Tailed Tits in the pine trees by the road. We parked the van and set off into a beautiful rocky gorge. Within just a few minutes, we spotted a Black Wheatear, a special bird for today as it was a “life tick” for both of my guests. It sat around long enough for a few photos although it was quite a long way off. It was soon joined by at least 6 Black Redstarts and similar numbers of Blackcaps. As we made our way up the valley we were treated to stunning views of Griffon Vultures. It´s always incredible to see how such a huge bird can soar on the thermals seemingly without any effort whatsoever. We were fortunate enough to find a few at rest on the high cliffs so were able to get a few photographs. Whilst we were scanning the cliffs for…