Covid-19 and its effects on birding.
I´m writing this article simply as a humble reflection on how the Covid-19 situation has impacted on our world of birding, and how we can take just a few positive points from what is obviously a severe and terrible situation. Firstly, and above all else, we of course send out our love and best wishes to everyone, and wish you all the very best of luck at all levels as we progress through such unprecedented times. Lock-down The lock-down hit us here in Spain just over two weeks ago. At the time, I was with my family in our house…
A short “birding break” in Valencia.
I´ve often said and written that it´s a real privilege to welcome back returning clients, and last week was one of these special occasions. I´d first met Alexia from Sweden a couple of years ago when she booked a day´s birding with us. She subsequently returned a year later, this time in Spring and with her friend Lena, and we enjoyed a fabulous day in the mountains and a day at the wetlands. This was her third time with us, and she´d carefully designed a break to include a couple of days in the historical town of Xativa and a…
A Birding Break from Valencia.
I recently provided a 2-day trip for Gordon and Heather from the UK. They are very experienced birders who we met at the British Bird Fair last year. They had planned a trip in their motorhome and wanted to include two days of birding with us when they were in the Valencia region. We agreed on a day in the mountains and a day on the steppe. First, to the mountains… After I collected them at their campsite beside the beach we made the relaxed drive to our first stop in a quarry surrounded by natural crags too. Our targets…
2 Day guided birding break from Valencia
A few days ago I had the pleasure to provide a 2 day guided birding trip for Norman from the UK and Urszula from Poland. Last year, Norman had visited the Valencia Region Stand at Rutland Bird Fair and after that he contacted us to book a trip. During the Bird Show we had the opportunity to talk about the different habitats and bird species , so it was easy to send him a proposal for the areas and species he was looking for. We planned to do Albufera de Valencia and the Steppe and Inland lagoons, but unfortunately they…
Two fabulous trips to the steppe and the wetlands with Margaret from Canada.
Last week, we enjoyed some beautiful weather here in the Valencia region. Clear skies, no wind and temperatures hovering around 22 degrees. Perfect conditions for birding on the steppe, which is a high and vastly open area that in more wintry conditions can be challenging! So, for my first trip with Margaret, a very keen Canadian birder, the steppe was our destination. She was very eager to see Great Bustards above all, but we also added Black Bellied Sandgrouse, Calandra Lark and Rock Sparrow to our target list. Having collected her from her accommodation close to Valencia´s fascinating Central Market,…
A winter weekend birding break in Valencia.
Last weekend I was pleased to welcome back returning client Norman to Valencia. He had previously spent two days with us last Spring when we visited the coastal wetlands and the mountains. We´d kept in touch and he subsequently arranged a winter weekend birding break in Valencia. This time we opted to visit the steppe on day one and the huge wetland site of Albufera on day two. Day 1 I collected him from his hotel close to the stunning City of Arts & Science complex in Valencia, and we made the comfortable journey south west to the high plains. …