Trip Reports

One of our key operating principles, and something that we never compromise on is that we always endeavour to tailor every trip exactly to the needs, interests and wishes of the client.  It was therefore a great pleasure to provide a day of guided birding for a small group of clients from USA, who wanted to focus on bird watching, but who also wanted to learn something of the local conservation efforts, the local traditions and culture and to see the habiats and eco-systems of Albufera de Valencia. After the short drive from their hotel in the city centre of…

Last week, Yanina and I teamed up to provide a day of guided birding at the wetlands of Valencia for a very experienced couple of birders from the Netherlands.  They wanted to combine a short break in this magical Mediterranean city with a day of birding in the local costal marshes and lagoons. After the short drive from the city centre, and a morning coffee stop by the beach, we began to explore the coastal lagoons and surrounding reed beds.  As one of the clients was a very knowledgable bird photographer, we concentrated our efforts on a relatively small area…

Last week, we provided a guided birding trip for a couple from Yorkshire, UK.  They were keen nature lovers and were very interested to see the steppe birds of Spain whilst they were on holiday in Valencia.     Having collected them from their hotel in the city, we made the journey inland and up onto the high plateau of Castilla de la Mancha.  After a morning coffee stop and a briefing on the species that we were likely to see, we headed across the rolling plains where had great views of Crested Lark and Calandra Lark. The first lagoon…

One of the most enjoyable aspects of being a birding guide is meeting some truly nice people, and spending time in fabulous surroundings, combining the bird life with great company.  This certainly proved to be the case last week when I was fortunate enough to provide a day of guided birding at Albufera de Valencia for a family from Belgium. All experienced ornithologists, they were on holiday in Valencia and were keen to see the areas bird life and habitats. We began our day at one of my favourite reserves, and were immediately treated to views of a pair of…

Today I had pleasure of providing a birding trip to Albufera de Valencia Natural Park for a client from England. She is a keen birder who loves to travel and discover new species. She wanted to explore the wetland bird species near the city of Valencia where she was staying on a business trip. After I collected her from her apartment, we went to a protected reserve and “green filter” area of Albufera de Valencia which is an amazing hotspot for birding at this time of the year when rice fields are dry.  At such times, most of the birdlife…

On Easter Saturday, Yanina and I arranged a day of guided bird watching to the Valencian Coastal Wetlands.  At Easter Birding in Valencia is especially rewarding as many of the summer visitors are returning to their breeding grounds in our local wetland reserves. We gathered in central Valencia before making the short journey to the reserve that we´d selected for today´s trip.  After a morning coffee, looking out across the calm waters of the Mediterranean, we began our walk along a coastal dune system.  The first lagoon gave good views of waterfowl including Pochard, Red-crested Pochard and Little Grebe. As we…