Linnet - Page 3 of 4 - Valencia Birding - Guided Bird Watching in Spain

7-Day Bird Watching Trip for the Northern Ireland Ornithologists´Club.

Early this month we were privileged to have designed and provided a tailor-made 7-day trip for a fabulous group of birders from the Northern Ireland Ornithologists´Club. This was the forth trip that we´ve provided for members of this club, and we´re always delighted to welcome them back to Valencia. We´d previously designed a plan that would hopefully maximise habitat and species diversity specific to this time of the year. Their flight arrived late into Alicante airport so we collected the group and drove to the village of Banyeres de Mariola where the guesthouse Alqueria del Pilar would be their base for the next 4 nights. Day 1 – Coastal Salt Marshes. Our first day was to be spent exploring the coastal saltmarshes of the Alicante province, which at this time of year hold some very interesting species. After a drive of just under an hour we arrived at our first spot, and stopped to enjoy great views of Slender Billed Gull, Little Tern and Turnstone. We also saw White Winged Black Tern, Whiskered Tern and a huge group of Great Crested Grebe. We then turned our attention to waders, and enjoyed…

Guided birding trip to the wetlands of Valencia

Last week, I had the pleasure of providing a guided birding trip to the wetlands of Valencia for a very experienced birder from the UK. She wanted to combine a short break in this magical Mediterranean city with a day of birding in the local coastal marshes and lagoons. After the short drive from the city centre, before we began to explore the coastal lagoons and surrounding reed beds, we stopped in a farming area where we spotted two lovely Hoopoes, a Little Owl and a Barn Owl. Once inside of the reserve, one of the highlights of the first lagoon were three Night Herons resting in a tree. After a short walk to the next lagoon we enjoyed seeing the extremely rare White-headed Duck. We also had good views of Little Bittern and Great Reed Warbler. As we headed along the coast, we were treated to some superb views of the fascinating Collared Pratincole. The coastal scrub also held Stonechat, Wheatear and Crested Lark. The next lagoon gave good views of Little Tern plus waders including Ringed Plover, Kentish Plover and Black-winged Stilt. After lunch on the pebble beach,…

6-Day Winter Bird Watching Holiday

The huge habitat diversity of the Valencia region of Spain allows us to provide a superb 6 day birding holiday. In late February of this year, we were fortunate to deliver exactly that for Gourmet Birds, a well established specialist bird watching holiday provider from UK. We´d worked very closely with them to design a bespoke trip, taking in some of the region´s best birding venues and carefully selected accommodation to hopefully result in a memorable trip. Day 1 – Salt Marshes and Lagoons The group arrived relatively early into Alicante airport. Therefore, without wanting to make the first day too long, we did choose to spend a few hours birding at a couple of the salt marshes that are situated within very easy reach of the airport. The usual Flamingoes were feeding on the salt marshes in huge numbers, providing a striking welcome to Spain for our guests! As we strolled by the first lagoons, we also enjoyed views of Audouin´s Gull, Little Stint, Shelduck, Reed Bunting and Black Redstart. We were also treated to views of three Spoonbills in flight. We then moved on to another site that…

7 Day Guided Birding Trip – Day 2 (Mountains & High Forest)

Day 2 – Mountains & High Forest. Following yesterday´s long day and many hours of travelling for our clients, we designed the second day such that there would be very little time spent in the car. Within a very short drive of Banyeres de Mariola are some wonderful high forested hills and rocky peaks. They were to be our chosen habitats for today. At over 1000 metres above sea level, the high forests of the region have beautifully clean air and provide habitat for some very special birds. Strangely enough, in this area you´re more likely to see a Crested Tit than a Blue Tit! We began our walk up through a steep forested area, stopping to watch Great Tit, Coal Tit, Crested Tit and indeed a Blue Tit. A Hawfinch flew past, giving brief but clear views. Our walk took us past an area where there´s usually a pair of Bonelli´s Eagle but unfortunately we didn´t see them this time. We did however enjoy views of Siskin, Serin and Short Toed Treecreeper. We then drove across the valley to a spectacular rocky gorge where we parked the van and…

January 2016 Bulletin

Introduction We´d like to begin this bulletin as usual by wishing everyone a very happy and safe New Year. We hope that 2015 was a good birding year for you all and that 2016 will bring even more pleasures. Although the time has passed extremely quickly, it´s now a year since Yanina joined Valencia Birding, and together we´ve made huge progress. We´d like to briefly review what´s been a great year for us and to provide you with an update of our news and developments. To help us to maximize the levels of service and experience that our clients enjoy, we´ve made some additional investments this year. This includes a recent new vehicle, as well as some upgrades to binoculars and cameras. As always, in 2015 we had the pleasure of meeting some great clients from all over the World, and have enjoyed some superb birding trips together. We´ve also been especially privileged to welcome back many returning clients, some for their third return visit. Trip Advisor Our clients are absolutely central to all that we do, and whilst we´re on that subject, we´d like to extend a heart-felt thanks…

Spring 2015 Bulletin

Birding at Albufera de Valencia and the Valencian Coastal Wetlands These two trips prove to be our most popular birding sites and we´ve had the pleasure of showing these amazing spaces and their rich bird life to clients from throughout the World. As they´re both such popular trips, we´re delighted to be able to improve them both even further.We´ve recently been granted special authorization to enter some wonderful restricted areas that are out of bounds for the general public. This provides our clients with the opportunity to enjoy some very special natural spaces that would otherwise be impossible to visit. For the Albufera de Valencia trip, we can now also offer a new and exciting additional element which is a trip in a traditional Albufera boat. These trips are exclusively for our clients, are allow us to pass quietly by some great areas of wetland and to enjoy a different perspective. New Venues – Mountain Ranges of Valencia & The Lakes and Highlands of Inland Spain The “Mountain Ranges of Valencia” trip is ideal for those who want enjoy a short walk in the mountains amongst stunning…