Rice paddies in l’Albufera are flooded at the end of the year. While birds gather in fields with standing water at certain seasons, it is the shallowest fields that hold most activity during this period. Classic l’Albufera wintering birds are back, making it a great setting for a friends meeting today. Although midday temperatures above 20 ºC are rather high for December — and mosquitos were still around — a cold, non-stopping west wind reminded us throughout the day that winter is around the corner.
Darío Gijón and I arrived early and briefly walked around Gola de Pujol, where we found several fishing great cormorants (Phalacrocorax carbo) and distant gannets (Morus bassanus) and Balearic-type mauretanicus Mediterranean shearwaters (Puffinus mauretanicus) passing by. We were surprised to see flocks of shelducks (Tadorna tadorna) and shovelers (Spatula clypeata) flying inland from the sea. The nearby Estany de Pujol held particularly good numbers of spotted redshank (Tringa erythropus) along with more typical numbers of greenshanks (Tringa nebularia), dunlins (Calidris alpina), black-necked grebe (Podiceps nigricollis), great crested grebes (Podiceps cristatus) and mallards (Anas platyrhynchos). Interestingly, part of the path network connecting l’Estany with the beach was flooded.
Once we met our friends Andrés, Ángela, David, Inma, Jaime and Roi, we all headed to Racó de l’Olla. The water level was surprisingly high in these lagoons too, which submerged the sandy islands and depleted the area of waders. However, we scanned through the several hundreds of ducks of Mata del Fang from the watchtower on top of the building, connecting with several pairs of tufted duck (Aythya fuligula) and pintail (Anas acuta) among the numerous common pochards (Aythya ferina) and red-crested pochards (Aythya fuligula), as well as a hybrid common pochard × ferruginous duck (Aythya nyroca). However, my personal favorite in Racó de l’Olla was a large flock of small passerines in the pine trees, including over 10 goldcrests (Regulus regulus) — an unusual species to find this close to the sea in the region, especially in such numbers. An impressive influx has brought good numbers of this species to unexpected locations this season.
Heading south, a quick stop in Muntanyeta del Sants provided scope views of a distant peregrine falcon (Falco peregrinus) among flocks of northern lapwings (Vanellus vanellus) and black-headed gulls (Chroicocephalus ridibundus). European starlings (Sturnus vulgaris) were gathering in large numbers, and we briefly heard the call of the local escapee Derbian parakeet (Psittacula derbiana) — a rare, threatened species native to a small range of Southeast Asian montane forests.
We then drove back and forth following flocks of lapwings, which held several European golden plovers (Pluvialis apricaria) and ruffs (Calidris pugnax). We were lucky to spot a short-eared owl (Asio flammeus) sitting on the roadside vegetation, quickly flushed once it noticed us. As we stopped to get scope views of the bird after it landed at a safe distance, we noticed a flock of seven black storks (Ciconia nigra) — both species being scarce but stunning winter visitors in l’Albufera.
Among one of the flocks of lapwings, Joan Balfagón had found a national rarity earlier that week, motivating our effort to follow and scan these flocks. Thanks to directions from Guillem de los Santos, perseverance from the whole group and Darío Gijón’s masterful scoping skills, we eventually connected with and enjoyed superb views of a sociable lapwing (Vanellus gregarius).
This sociable lapwing was the 1st for l’Albufera and only 2nd for Valencia province. Although Darío and I had seen one in El Hondo back in 2021 and Roi had seen this bird earlier this week, we still felt the excitement of a lifer as we searched for a needle in a haystack — especially as we got to share it with friends and fellow birders we bumped into. This cracking bird, originally from Central Asia, has global population numbers unfortunately plummeting and is currently classified as critically endangered.
We wrapped our day in Tancat de Mília, surrounded with the calls of penduline tits (Remiz pendulinus) and only distant views of the usual flocks of thousands of glossy ibises (Plegadis falcinellus), as the fields where they typically roost are dry. It’s not every day that you drive back home with all your initial targets in the bag.
