Spring has arrived in Valencia!
Early this week we had a great day of guided birding with a lovely couple from UK. They were taking a break in Valencia and wanted to see the diverse bird life of this superb area. As the spring migration is now well and truly underway, we visited one of our favourite coastal wetlands, a site that offers crucial resting and feeding grounds for thousands of migratory birds. This time of year is always very exciting as new species are arriving daily. Today was no exception. Some of the most interesting resident species included Penduline Tit, Booted Eagle, Purple Swamphen…
3 Day Birding Break
February of this year proved to be a very busy month, with many clients from Northern Europe having organised winter birding trips with us. The combination of a little sunshine, some fascinating winter visitors and the anticipation of early spring migrants can make late February a very attractive time to visit the Valencia region. One of our trips was provided for the Ornithological Society of Northern Ireland. We had designed a 3 day trip that took in diverse habitat including steppe, coastal wetlands and the Natural Park of Albufera de Valencia. They had spent a few nights at the beautifully…
Birding and nature photography trip
Last week I provided a birding and nature photography trip for a family from Maine, USA. They were visiting Valencia for the first time and they also wanted to discover the nature and birdlife close to Valencia and photograph some of the fabulous bird species of the Albufera de Valencia Natural Park. At this time of the year, the bird life in l´Albufera is distributed in different areas of the park, depending on which rice fields have been ploughed, thus influencing food availability. So, our first stop was in the western part of the Natural Park, where we found an…
Steppe birds of Spain
Earlier this week, Yanina and I were delighted to provide a day of guided birding for a couple of returning clients from UK. Dave and Kate booked a day with us last year, when they enjoyed the bird life of Albufera de Valencia. Their return trip was to enjoy the steppe birds of Spàin, so we´d arranged to visit Castilla de la Mancha. After the usual coffee stop and chat about the target species, we headed for the vast plains of this harsh but beautiful region. There was a cool wind blowing, but we´d come prepared for the cold so…
Birding at Albufera de Valencia
The forth and final day of Charles´trip saw us birding at Albufera de Valencia. This internationally important wetland holds something of interest throughout the year, be it for its breeding habitats for summer visitors, its location as a stopping point for migrating birds or as a wintering ground for species that return each year from northern Europe and beyond. We started the day at a specially protected reserve area, where we visited a hide that looked onto a small lagoon. This gave views of Black Tailed Godwit, Spotted Redshank, Greenshank, Avocet and Black Winged Stilt. We then turned our attention…
Birding in the mountains of Valencia
Day 3 of Charles´4-day birding trip to Valencia took us to the inland mountains of the province of Alicante. Birding in the mountains of Valencia doesn´t usually yield an extremely long species list, but with a little effort it can provide views of some very special species that thrive in the rocky peaks of the region. After the easy drive from the city, we stopped for a morning coffee in a small town, allowing sufficient time for the morning mist to clear from the peaks and valleys. We were already at a height of 600 metres, and the mist…