Mallorca Getaway... 14th - 16th Feb 2016

My Wife and I took the kids to Mallorca for the half term week, as per all my holidays this is not a birding holiday but where I go so do my binoculars (and telescope, DSLR, Bridge Camera, Field Guides, Notebooks etc......), I do usually have a day reserved for geeking though and Mallorca was no exception.

We arrived very late on the 13th so it was straight to bed for all.  My day out geeking was the 17th but I still managed to pick out a few birds through out the stay.

Sunday 14th

Today was a day for settling in and checking out the local area which as it was a) out of season, and b) Sunday everything was closed.....  We took the kids for a walk along the beach which was empty and beautiful looking out over the Alcudia Bay.

Alcudia Bay, Mallorca

On the walk down I saw and heard a great number of House Sparrow which I find very pleasing, I suppose this is in part due to their status in the UK.

House Sparrow

The first bird I saw upon hitting the beach was Audouin's Gull, there were two by the shoreline foraging around.  We walked along the beach to a small moor for the locals boats, this little rocky surround held a small number of Mallard, a Little Egret and a Common Sandpiper, there was also a single Cormorant a distance out in the bay.  As I was watching the Audouin's Gulls flying up and down the shoreline I noticed a few Sandwich Terns amongst them.

Audouin's Gull

Audouin's Gull

Audouin's Gull

 

Sandwich Tern

On the walk back a I added Cattle Egret as it flew past towards the Little Egret and Common Sandpiper.

Common Sandpiper

Little Egret

Little Egret

Cattle Egret

 

Monday 15th

 

Today we drove over to Port du Pollenca for a look around, it situated on Pollenca Bay which is beautiful but again pretty much everything was closed and refurbishing for the new holiday season.

 

Birds I saw in the bay were Little Egret, Cormorant, Audouin's Gull, Black-headed Gull and Mallard.

 

After lunch we went to the supermarket, when I returned to the car which was parked next to a piece of waste ground I saw White Wagtail, Chiffchaff, Black Redstart, Song Thrush, Blackbird and 3.....Osprey!!!  Turns out the waste land is the back end of a small reserve called Gola.

 

Little Egret

White Wagtail

Distant Osprey

Back at the hotel I was treated to some great views of a Black Redstart pair and a male Stonechat

Black Redstart & House Sparrow

Stonechat

 

Tuesday 16th

 

Today we took the kids to the South-Eastern part of the island to visit some spectacular caves which house an amazing collection of Stalactites and Stalagmites,

 

 

Whilst there we popped into Porto Cristo for lunch and found a nice little place on the harbour, birds in the harbour were Yellow-legged Gull, Kestrel, White Wagtail, Stonechat, Black Redstart, Goldfinch, Wood Pigeon, Collared Dove, Starling, Cormorant, House Sparrow and Sardinian Warbler. 



 

Sardinian Warbler



A Couple of Lifers in Murcia

I visited Murcia in Spain for a 2 week course, the course was quite intensive with long days so I only had a single days birding which was our rest day.

I stayed relatively close as there were so many sites to visit, I started at the El Hondo which is a Marshy Lagoon which is a Special Protection Area due to its importance to birdlife, both Marbled Teal and White-headed Duck nest here - I saw neither....

 

The day was unbelievably hot so I was unable to stay long as you couldn't stand still in the sun for too long without passing out.  The first bird I saw was a juvenile Greater Flamingo, I only saw 2 on site.

 

Flamingo

Flamingo

 



The only ducks were Mallard and Red-crested Pochard. I saw a single Purple Gallinule but wasn't quick enough to get a photo as it skulked in the reedbeds.

There were quite a few terns flying around, I found Common Tern, Little Tern and I believe Whiskered Tern.

Common Tern

Little Tern

Whiskered Tern (Possible)

Also present were plenty of Black-winged Stilt, a few Cattle Egret, Little Egret, Grey Heron and my first lifer of the day with Squacco Heron (of course no photo..).

Black-winged Stilt

Black-winged Stilt

Cattle Egret

Cattle Egret

 

I had my second lifer here with a single Collared Pratincole, although I had great views through the scope my photographic exploits are dire, it was about 150m away.

 

Collared Pratincole

 

I also had distant views of 2 Hoopoe on the approach gravel pit which were a year tick.

 

I then moved down to the Mata National Park where I watch Buzzard and a large flock of Siskin, ever better was the number of Crested Lark

 

Crested Lark

 



I had my third lifer of the day with great views of an Iberian Grey Shrike, what an amazing bird.

Iberian Grey Shrike

 

The shallow water had a lot of waders, mainly Redshank, Greenshank and Common Sandpiper.

 

There were plenty of Red-rumped Swallows, when sat on my balcony at the end of the day, visual migration was fully evident with Swallows, Red-rumped Swallows and House Martins streaming over, I presume they were arriving at the coast ready for the hope across to North Africa first thing in the morning. Of course there were the usual House Sparrows and Collared Dove, the odd Starling but that really was it.

 

Red-rumped Swallow

Red-Rumped Swallow

 

The had one more lifer on the trip which was on the beach right next to the hotel, this was Audouin's Gull of which were the most numerous gull species on the beach they shared with Black-headed Gull and the odd Yellow-Legged Gull.

 

Audouin's Gull

 

Full Species List: El Hondo: Red-rumped Swallow, Barn Swallow, Kingfisher, Grey Heron, Little Egret, Cattle Egret, Squacco Heron, Black-winged Stilt, Greater Flamingo, Coot, Moorhen, Purple Gallinule, House Sparrow, Little Tern, Whiskered Tern, Little Ringed Plover, Collard Pratincole, Mallard, Red-crested Pochard, Black-headed Gull, Hoopoe. Mata NP: Buzzard, Siskin, Crested Lark, Iberian Grey Shrike, Turnstone, Avocet, Greater Flamingo, Redshank, Greenshank, Common Sandpiper, Blackbird, Swift, Robin.