Bespoke Guided Bird Watching Trips & Holidays from Valencia & Alicante (Eastern Spain) for Individuals, Couples and Small Groups.
Established in 2011, we´re based in the autonomous region of La Comunidad Valenciana, Spain, one of Europe´s top birding destinations. We design and provide tailor-made guided bird watching day-trips, breaks and holidays for individuals, couples and small groups. Based in both the historical town of Xativa and the coastal town of Dénia, this allows us to cover both the Valencia and Alicante regions. This flexibility offers the possibility to visit an incredibly diverse range of habitats and excellent birding sites, many of which are virtually unknown!
We cater for all levels of bird enthusiasts from complete beginner to expert, and provide trips for individuals, couples, families and small groups. Our local knowledge ensures that our clients can maximise their time in Spain by depending on us to take them to the best sites whilst providing top levels of care and attention.
Thanks to the support of our clients, and the kind reviews that have been posted on Trip Advisor, we are proud holders of the Trip Advisor Certificate of Excellence. You can read our clients´reviews here.
Our objective is simple…to provide a value-for-money service that is exactly tailored to the wishes, requirements and priorities of our clients, focussing firmly on delivering the best levels of service. Our approach is what makes us different…
Our business model is unlike that of most professional bird watching companies. We provide our services on an extremely flexible basis, working closely with our clients to design their ideal trip or holiday. We have a range of single-day trips, but frequently work with our clients to design bespoke breaks and holidays, ranging from 2-day to 8-day packages. We never mix groups – all our trips and holidays are exclusively for the individual, couple or group that make the reservation, and we never add others to the trip.
Blue Rock Thrush
Our pricing structure is competitive, great value and fair…Here at Valencia Birding, we wish to make our guided bird watching trips available to all. Therefore, our pricing structure is thoughtfully and carefully designed to assure maximum value across all group sizes. We clearly understand that some clients will be traveling alone, whilst others will be part of a group. Therefore we have endeavoured to structure our pricing to provide superb value for smaller groups, couples or even individuals whilst still offering fair and competitive rates for larger groups. Contact us to discuss options and we´d be very happy to quote specific rates (without obligation).
A professional bird watching guide, David Warrington was born in Sheffield, England and began his fascination with birds as a child in the Peak District National Park. He moved to Spain in 2006 and was amazed by the natural diversity of the Valencia region, a huge influence in his decision to establish Valencia Birding in 2011.
David is also a founding member of the Association of Birding Guides of the Valencian Community, and regularly works as a consultant to promote sustainable nature tourism.
Having established Valencia Birding back in 2011, I’ve had the pleasure of meeting an array of lovely people along the way, many of whom have become firm friends. Jan and Rab from the UK spend a considerable amount of time on the Costa Blanca and have been loyal friends and supporters of Valencia Birding since the early years. Together we’ve travelled through the regons wetlands, mountains, steppe and forests and have shared many special birding moments together. Earler this month I was delighted to get together with them again. Firstly, we spent a morning together, walking around Oliva Pego Marsh, where we had great views of Booted Eagle, Marsh Harrier and huge flocks of Glossy Ibis before I gave a brief talk on the Osprey reintroduction project there, a venture that I’m honoured to be involved in. We then strolled alongside the river to a cafe bar where we enjoyed a late breakfast together. Marsh Harrier It was a week or so later when we set out together again on a 2-day trip around some of Alicante’s southern wetlands and coastal sites. Our first stop was at a small reserve…
6th & 7th March 2024 I recently provided a 2-day birding trip for a couple from Lewes in the UK. They had spent a few days in the city of Valencia, before moving to the historical town of Xativa, from where we arranged our birding. They had previously been on birding trips in Spain, but never in this region, so we began with a day at Albufera. Rice fields of Albufera The rice fields were in the process of being drained, prior to being ploughed and levelled in readiness for sowing of seed, so it was important that we knew which areas still held some water. We visited a couple of spots in the northern area of the park where highlights included good views of Bluethroat. We headed to another area of shallow water where we enjoyed views of an array of shorebirds including Snipe, Ringed Plover, Little Ringed Plover and Little Stint, which were together with good numbers of White Wagtails and Meadow Pipits. Little Ringed Plover After lunch, we visited a salt lagoon where we watched more wading birds, this time Greenshank, Redshank and Green Sandpiper. Gulls of…
I recently spent a very special day with two great clients from Scotland. Brian and Maria were staying close to Alicante on a short break, and wanted to include a day’s birding. The day was especially important as it was Brian’s birthday and he’d asked if it would be possible to see three specific species. He’s a very experienced and well travelled birder, and was eager to see White Headed Duck, Red Knobbed Coot and Greater Spotted Eagle. One of Alicante’s many coastal wetland sites. We spent the day at one of Alicante’s many wetland sites, which always provide excellent birding, and began with a walk around one of the reserves. The sightings began however before we even got out of the car, with an Iberian Green Woodpecker that flew in front of us into a stand of trees. Iberian Grey Shrike. As we strolled between reed beds and lagoons, the surrounding scrub held Black Redstart, Sardinian Warbler, Chiffchaff and Stonechat. Crag Martins were feeding on the wing, and a couple of Barn Swallows flew by, my first of the year. A nearby bare tree provided a perch for an…
I’ve spent the past two days out in the field with clients, both at the wetland site of Albufera de Valencia. I was honoured to spend these days with two lovely couples, from Sweden and the UK respectively. Flooded rice fields and big, blue skies provide typical Albufera winter scenes Greater Flamingos At this time of year, the majority of the rice fields are flooded, and many of them contain huge gatherings of Glossy Ibis, Cattle Egrets, Little Egrets, Lapwings and mixed flocks of gulls, namely Lesser Black Backed, Black Headed and Yellow Legged. Perhaps the most striking of these spectacles however, are the Flamingos which gather in their thousands! Marsh Harrier We also enjoyed great views of some of the area’s wintering species, including Water Pipit, Meadow Pipit, Bluethroat, Crag Martin and Marsh Harrier. The latter is present in small numbers throughout the breeding season too, but the population rockets in winter, when central and northern European birds move south to spend the cooler months here. Slender Billed Gull A stroll along the beach gave us views of Crested Lark, Stonechat, Sardinian Warbler and Black Redstart in the scrub…
It was great to begin the New Year with a trip to Albufera with Sally and Pete, a couple of clients who have a home in this region and wanted to explore the lesser known corners of this huge wetland. We met close to their base in the village of Pego and made the comfortable journey to the south side of the park where we began the day amongst the rice fields. When the fields are recently ploughed and partially flooded, they are riven with shallow gullies and therefore need to be closely scanned to reveal the smaller birds that are present. Our first stop indeed gave us views of plenty of Meadow Pipits and White Wagtails that were feeding, and closer attention revealed a small flock of Snipe. Further away, we scoped a large mixed group of Golden Plover and Lapwing. Distant shot of a Golden Plover with Lapwing (taken through scope with mobile) As we returned to the car and drove along more tracks, a large bird to our distant left side caught our attention. We stopped to wait for it to fly closer, which indeed it did,…
