Trip Reports

7th October 2022 At this time of year, our wetlands are particularly interesting as many migrants, especially shorebirds, are passing through the region on their voyage from Europe to Africa. Today’s trip was for Mary from New Mexico, who was visiting Valencia with a friend and was keen to fit in a day’s birding whilst here. It was another grey day, as storm fronts had been moving through for a few days, but we succeeded in staying dry throughout the trip, despite being surrounded by sharp, localised showers. Marbled Teal Our first spot, at a reserve area, gave us a…

6th October 2022 It had been some time since Paul, a retired farmer from the UK, had contacted me to arrange a day’s birding at Albufera so it was a pleasure to finally meet him. He was taking a break with family and friends in the city of Valencia and was keen to include a birding trip in his plans. The long, hot summer is finally coming to an end, and as always in early autumn, we´ve had a few storms lately. The forecast for the day of our trip included an amber warning for heavy rain, but knowing that…

Last weekend I provided a day trip to Albufera de Valencia for two lovely and very interesting people from Scotland, who also have a home in the Valencia Region of Spain. The trip was bought by Red for his wife Lorna´s birthday and had been planned for a while. The timing was designed such that the heat of the summer should be behind us and the early autumn migration should provide us with some interesting sightings. Having collected them from Valencia´s very elegant “Valencia Nord” railway station, from where we made the short journey to Albufera, we began the day…

8th & 9th September 2022 Day 1 : Coastal Wetlands & Saltmarshes. After the summer break, our trips kicked-off again in early September. I tend not to offer many trips during the summer months as the heat can often have an impact on the quality of the trip, which of course, is of paramount importance. Erling, from Iceland, had previously contacted me to arrange a couple of day´s birding whilst he was on holiday with his family in the Alicante region. Erling, a professional entomologist from the Icelandic Institute of Natural History, is clearly a well-known figure in Icelandic birding…

July 2022 After the past two years of Covid restrictions and cancellations, and an extremely busy spring 2022 season, it was fabulous to see the Global Bird Fair swing into action at Rutland Showground in England. I had the privilege of attending not only as Valencia Birding, but in a support role for the Valencia Region Tourist Board and the Association of Birding Guides of the same region. For such a major fair, everything had been put together at extremely short notice, and Tim Appleton´s team had obviously done an excellent job of making it all work. As I always…

19th June 2022 Last Sunday I provided a birding trip to the wetlands of Valencia for Genevieve and Nick from the USA, who were spending a few days in Valencia. Most of Europe was enduring a heatwave, so we opted to begin the trip a little earlier than usual, and after enjoying a simple breakfast together, we began our walk along the beach. I was keen for them to see a number of specific species that are considered to be highlights of the region, and we were soon watching our first of them – Audouin’s Gull. Audouin´s Gull Barn Swallows and…