Trip Reports

  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…

I´m delighted to report that Yanina and I recently completed and passed a course for professional bird watching guides.  The course was delivered by the SEO (Sociedad Española de Ornitologia) and included a 40 hour on-line module followed by a 2 day course which we attended together in Valencia. As well as some useful resources, the course provided a great forum for debate on sustainable tourism and environmentally-friendly best practice. It´s always good to keep up to date on latest thinking, and to share ideas and we both felt that the time invested in the course was well spent and…

Last Sunday I was delighted to provide a day of guided birding in the mountains of Valencia for a pair of returning clients from England. Last year, we provided a trip to the Valencian Coastal Wetlands for them and they had such a great time that they promised to return for more guided birding.  This year, they opted for a trip to the mountains of Valencia. Having collected them from their hotel in the centre of Valencia, we made the short drive to the Sierra Calderona Natural Park.  An area of forested mountains in excess of 600 meters above sea level.…

Yesterday I was delighted to provide a day of guided bird watching in Albufera de Valencia for a client from Madrid.   She´s a keen nature lover, especially interested in birdlife and she wanted to visit Valencia and to discover its biodiversity. I arranged a bespoke trip for her to Albufera de Valencia, where we visited many protected reserve areas. First stop was in the marshes and rice fields where we were amazed by the sheer size of the gatherings of egrets and herons.  Next stop was in a reserve area that is a sightseeing hotspot for diverse ducks species.…

Last week, Yanina and I provided a guided trip especially designed for a group of beginners from Valencia.  They were keen to explore the bird life of Albufera de Valencia and to discover the eco-systems of the park.  Rather than maximise the species list, they had asked to focus on key ID characteristics of some the most emblematic species of the area. We began the trip in one of the parks protected reserves, where we were fortunate to see a good range of wildfowl including Shoveler, Teal, Shelduck, Red Crested Pochard and Pintail. A very special sight was a huge…

Yesterday I had the pleasure of providing a trip for 2 clients from Holland.  Both knowledgable naturalists, they are also involved in the project Natura 2000 Network in their home country.  They were here on holiday and were very keen to see the nature and wildlife of Valencia. We spent the morning at one of Valencia´s coastal wetlands which is a protected area and is also included in the Natura 2000 Network. It was very interesting to compare how conservation and politics are extremely different depending on the European country´s regulation and how controls are developed and implemented. The bird…