A short (four day) trip to Alicante - the first time Lu and I have been away with the kids since 2022 and a chance to spend some quality time together. Short to fit in with Maisie's and Joel's work shift patterns and done very much on a budget. We flew from Exeter and stayed in Gran Alacant which meant we were only five minutes away from the wonderful Clot de Galvany, which I explored each morning before the family was up and about. Bird highlights were Red-necked Nightjar (seen and heard around our holiday complex and at Clot de Galvany), White-headed Duck, Red-knobbed Coot, Slender-billed Gull, Marbled Duck and Audouin's Gull.
Clot de Galvany. This is the first body of water you come across when you walk into the 366 hectare reserve. Great Reed Warblers are constantly croaking away and Red-knobbed Coots are found here.
The best bird screen overlooks a much larger body of water. I got my best White-headed Duck views (and photos) from here. Other species seen from here included Red-crested Pochard, Black-necked Grebe, Whiskered, Little and Common Terns, Purple, Squacco, Grey and Black-crowned Night Herons, Purple Swamphen, Little Bittern, Slender-billed Gull, Glossy Ibis and Greater Flamingo.
'Iberian' Long-tailed Tit ssp irbii. The grey-backed subspecies occurring in central and eastern Spain.
Marbled Duck - reintroduced to the reserve, it took me 'til the last morning of our four-day stay to track three or four birds down.
Iberian Grey Shrike - easy to see around the reserve. Frequently heard singing too.
Singing Great Reed Warbler. A nest was visible from one of the viewing screens...
Red-rumped Swallow - small numbers seen at Clot de Galvany.
Little Tern at salinas de Santa Pola.
Gull-billed Tern - salinas de Santa Pola.
Squacco Heron at Clot de Galvany.
Juvenile Little Bittern. Up to nine Little Bitterns were seen - mostly in flight.
Sea Daffodil. One of very few flowering plants seen.
Semipunctated Shield Bug Graphosoma semipunctatum.
Collared Pratincole. One of 10+ at the salinas de Santa Pola. The flock was discovered after a bird flew up from the middle of the road as we drove round a roundabout!
Female White-headed Duck. I wasn't prepared for just how close you can get to this rare and beautiful duck.
Juvenile White-headed Duck.
First-summer male White-headed duck - black-headed variant.
Male White-headed duck - my new favourite bird!
Lesser Emperor.
Scarlet Darter.
Scarlet Darter.
Long Skimmer Orthetrum trinacria.
Black Percher Diplacodes lefebvrii.
Whiskered Tern.
Stone-curlew.
Black-crowned Night Heron. And below.
Natterjack Toad. Found by Maisie on our way back from a dusk Red-necked Nightjar search.
Pallid Swift. As usual I struggled to pick out Common Swifts amongst large numbers of Pallids.
Little Grebe. Lots of these breed on the reserve along with both Black-necked and Great Crested Grebes.
Black-necked Grebe. Several of these at Clot de Galvany with an all-white albino/leucistic bird seen too!
Hoopoe.
Small numbers of Spotless Starlings can be found in the reserve.
Spotted Flycatcher.
'Spanish' Western Yellow Wagtail ssp Iberiae - Clot de Galvany. Note the white throat.
Lots of Glossy Ibis can be found on the reserve.
Zitting Cisticola.
Crested Lark song-flighting - salinas de Santa Pola 22/7/26.
Black-winged Stilt. Good numbers seen at Clot de Galvany.
Adult Slender-billed Gull with Black-headed Gulls. No shortage of gulls at Clot de Galvany with Mediterranean, Audouin's and Yellow-legged Gulls all seen in good numbers.
Juvenile and adult Slender-billed Gulls.
Audouin's Gull.
Purple Swamphen.
Juvenile Red-crested Pochard.
Juvenile Pochard. These breed at Clot de Galvany alongside Ferruginous duck and Red-crested Pochard. Juveniles of all three species seen. I also saw Shovelers with recently-fledged young.
Female Ferruginous Duck.
Male Ferruginous Duck.
A big highlight for me was being able to watch and listen to Turtle Doves. Something I haven't done for many years.
Red-knobbed Coot. The birds at Clot de Galvany sport neck-collars.
A flock of 24 Wood Sandpipers. Just part of a flock consisting of c75 birds.
Male Sardinian Warbler. Typically for the Mediterranean region this species was seen in numbers pretty much everywhere.
One of a flock of c40 Bee-eaters - Clot de Galvany.
Greater Flamingo. Hundreds seen at the salinas de Santa Pola and much smaller numbers seen at Clot de Galvany.
