House Martins - Page 3 of 7 - Valencia Birding - Guided Bird Watching in Spain

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. …

An autumn day at Albufera.

I´d been looking forward to welcoming back Stephen and Pennie since they´d booked yet another return trip to Valencia earlier this year. We´d previously enjoyed many happy days together so it was great to see them here again. Both keen birders, Stephen is also an experienced field photographer, and is very well travelled in pursuit of his hobby. We decided upon a return to Albufera de Valencia as this ever changing environment can differ greatly from month to month, plus Purple Swamphen was a key target bird for them both. We began at a small protected reserve area where we had views of Sardinian Warbler, Chiffchaff and Zitting Cisticola in the reeds. The lagoon held good numbers of Black Winged Stilts that were in a mixed flock with wintering Black Tailed Godwits. The highlight of this stop was the regular views of Booted Eagle and Marsh Harrier in flight, providing Stephen with the chance to get some fabulous shots. We also saw Dunlin, Ruff, Common Buzzard and Greater Flamingo. We fitted in a brief coffee break during which I was pleased to be shown some great photos from Stephen and…

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,…

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…

Two fantastic days with clients from Sweden.

When clients return it´s always a special feeling, and in mid May, Alexia from Sweden did exactly that. She´d previously visited Valencia and we did a trip to Albufera together. Not long after her return home she contacted us and we arranged a 2 day birding break in Valencia, which she was to combine with a cultural break in the city. This time she came with a friend, Lena. I was delighted to see Alexia again, and to meet Lena. Both very friendly and great company. On our first day we visited one of Valencia´s coastal wetlands. A walk along the beach gave views of Audouin´s Gull and Whiskered Tern. We had great views of Turtle Dove, a bird that appears to have done very well here this year. The lagoons held White Headed Duck, Little Ringed Plover, Great Egret and a solitary lingering Dunlin. We also enjoyed watching the Tern colony which comprised Common, Little and Sandwich. We were delighted also to see the Elegant Terns that apper to be returning to Valencia each year to breed. On the walk back to the car we stopped to enjoy amazing…

3 day Spring birding break.

In late April I was delighted to welcome back Justin from Sheffield. We did a trip last summer whilst he was on holiday with his family and had discussed the possibilities for a return visit. This time he travelled alone on a short break that we´d designed together, his trip being timed to enjoy the Spring migration. Day 1 Easter this year was a complete wash-out on much of the Mediterranean coast, and in the Valencia region it was the wettest in 74 years! The first day of Justin´s trip was timed to perfection as it was the first dry day after 5 days of torrential rain. We were hoping to see plenty of birds on the move, and indeed we did. It was as if the migration “plug” had suddenly being pulled and the flow of birds was spectacular. We spent the first day at one of the region´s wetlands, which itself is on a flyway. The skies were full of House Martins, Barn Swallows and Swifts heading north. The first lagoon gave great views of White Headed Duck, Red Crested Pochard, Whiskered Tern, Great Reed Warbler and Zitting…