Valenciana, Comunidad·Spain
Photo: Lydia Manzanares Borreguero · Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)
The Albufera is a great coastal lagoon ringed by rice fields just south of the city, one of the most important wetlands in the western Mediterranean. Flamingos, herons, terns and waders throng the paddies and open water, best of all at the dawn fly-out and the flooded-field season.
In season: Sep–Apr · Peak: Feb–Mar, Oct–Nov
Easy birding from hides, tracks and a boat, with huge numbers on passage and in winter; the Racó de l'Olla hide and the rice-paddy circuits are the classics. Dawn and dusk are the moments.
Flamingo and tern colonies from the main hide
Herons and waders across the flooded fields at dawn
Scrub and pine between lagoon and sea
Base in Valencia or El Palmar. Start at the Racó de l'Olla visitor centre and hide, then work the paddy tracks with binoculars; a sunset lagoon boat is worth doing.
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