Valencia Birding - Page 25 of 27 - Valencia Birding

A Pre-Christmas Trip up onto the Steppe.

One of my important roles as a birding guide is to constantly visit my favoured sites as many times as possible throughout the year. This is essential in order to maintain and develop knowledge of an area and it´s changing characteristics and bird life throughout the seasons. That way, we ensure that our clients are taken to the sites that are “at their best” whenever their visit may take place. That today´s trip meant that I avoided having to go Christmas shopping only seemed to reinforce its value! Our destination was the vast upland Steppe of Castilla de la Mancha, some 90 minutes’ drive due west from our home base of La Drova. To make the most of the day we left home at 7am on a dark and windy morning. Having driven through a beautiful day-break we left the main road and headed out across the steppe. The morning provided a good omen from the outset as we immediately spotted a group of 23 Great Bustards strutting across the fields just 200 metres from the road. Having parked the van, we left the warm cab to be greeted by a…

An Afternoon at Albufera de Valencia

As we had business to attend to in Valencia today, the opportunity to spend a couple of hours looking what was around Albufera couldn´t be missed. We started at the main hide, where we were greeted by a group of school children on a day trip! Although not the quiet environment that we expected, it has to be remembered that this is where the future of conservation lies. We soon attracted a small group of kids who were curious to see what the telescope was and soon had a small queue forming to watch the Flamingoes that were resting at the far side of the lagoon. A few others were fascinated to see the beautifully coloured Teal through binoculars which at first glance to them, appeared to be just “boring brown ducks”! Once their teacher called time and moved them on and out of the hide, we settled down to see what else was around. As mentioned, Teal were present in good numbers. A group of 6 Black Winged Stilt did a good job of trying to conceal a lone Avocet amongst them. We spend a little time waiting and…

Bird Watching at Santa Pola & La Mata Alicante.

Bird Watching Alicante – Guided Bird Watching in Spain. Although a little further South than our usual haunts, as we had an appointment in Alicante in the morning, we decided to make the most of the day by taking a slight detour and spend the afternoon bird watching at Santa Pola and La Mata. The forecast for heavy rain thankfully proved to be pessimistic. Although we expected to be watching from the van, we were fortunate enough to be greeted with patchy cloud and sunny spells. We scanned the lagoons at Santa Pola first, where we enjoyed views of hundreds of Greater Flamingoes and Yellow Legged Gulls. Scoping across the water revealed Sandwich Tern, Shelduck and Avocet, all in good numbers. A few Little Ringed Plovers scurried along the shallow banks whilst a Marsh Harrier passed low over the reedbeds. As we explored the reedbeds a little more, we had good views of Black Redstart, Zitting Cisticola and a male Cirl Bunting. As we made our way back to the van a pair of Turnstones ran out of the vegitation on the shoreline. A final scan gave us views of…

Diary of Bird Life in the La Drova Valley

Here is a brief summary of what goes on in “our valley”. Together with fellow birder Ian, we regularly watch our patch and from now on will use this blog to post brief records of what happens. Full species list can be seen on the specific post. January 25th Things are a little more lively this morning. The Meadow Pipit has become a regular garden visitor of late, as are a pair of Chiffchaffs. It´s only 1015am and in the garden we´ve already had a pair of Blackcap, a family of Long Tailed Tits, Great Tits, Spotless Starlings, a Sardinian Warbler and a female Crossbill on the bird bath. January 12th This morning, a pair of Meadow Pipits have joined the Chiffchaffs that regularly feed on my lawn. Another new garden visitor for this week has been a Coal Tit. Still no sign of Siskins though which is strange… December 9th Following a slightly unsettled spell of weather, normality has been restored and we´re now enjoying some beautiful winter sunshine. This week has seen the first of this year´s early morning frost and the nights are beginning to feel a little chilly, although…

Species List for La Drova & Barx Valley

As a point of reference, general information and interest, here is the species list for the valley in which we are situated. Species are listed alphabetically and include residents, summer visitors, winter visitors and birds seen occasionally or on passage. Alpine Swift, Barn Swallow, Black Redstart, Blackcap, Blue Rock Thrush, Blue Tit, Booted Eagle, Chaffinch, Cirl Bunting, Coal Tit, Common Chiffchaff, Common Cuckoo, Common Hoopoe, Common Kestrel, Common Magpie, Common Nightingale, Common Raven, Common Stonechat, Common Swift, Corn Bunting, Crested Tit, Dartford Warbler, Dunnock, Eurasian Blackbird, Eurasian Buzzard, Eurasian Collared Dove, Eurasian Crag Martin, Eurasian Golden Oriole, Eurasian Griffon Vulture, Eurasian Jay, Eurasian Siskin, Eurasian Sparrowhawk, European Bee-eater, European Goldfinch, European Greenfinch, European Robin, European Serin, European Starling, Firecrest, Golden Eagle, Great Grey Shrike, Great Tit, Green Woodpecker, Grey Heron, Grey Wagtail, Hawfinch, House Sparrow, La Drova, Long-tailed Tit, Meadow Pipit, Melodious Warbler, Northern House Martin, Northern Wryneck, Peregrine Falcon, Pied Flycatcher, Red Crossbill, Red-billed Chough, Red-legged Partridge, Red-rumped Swallow, Redwing, Rock Dove, Rufous-tailed Robin, Sardinian Warbler, Short-toed Treecreeper, Song Thrush, Spain, Species list, Spotless Starling, Spotted Flycatcher, Tawny Owl, Western Rock Bunting, Whinchat, White Wagtail, Whitethroat, Woodchat Shrike, Woodpigeon,…

Valencian Coastal Wetlands – 8th September 2011

The summer continued into September with cloudless blue skies and another beautifully warm day. Even before we left the vehicle, we enjoyed magnificent views of over 20 White Storks passing through. We set off to explore the wetlands, stopping off at the favourite points along the way. The warm sunny day only added to the relaxed pace of the day but our efforts were truly rewarded with a species list of 42. September can be a little strange as the summer visitors have started to disappear and many winter visitors have not yet arrived. However, the trip proved to be superb, providing some of the best views of Spoonbill that we´d ever had. The Greater Flamingoes, still in stunning breeding plumage were as ever spectacular. Other highlights of the day included a Glossy Ibis, Avocets, Little Ringed Plover, Kentish Plover, Marsh Harrier, Purple Gallinule, Marbled Duck and a Curlew Sandpiper. At one point our patience was rewarded with one of those extra special birding moments when we had a Marbled Duck and a Purple Gallinule in the same bino view! Other favourites of the day included hundreds of passing Bee Eaters, an Iberian…