Amazing Majorcan Birding (and other interesting finds)

This is my account of my adventures in sunny Majorca as well as one day in torrential rain.

I have just returned from 10 days in Majorca, spending 4 days exploring S'Albufera Natural Park and 1 morning exploring the Salt Marshes. I spent the time at the Natural Park with my dad and my visit to the Salt Marshes with my dad and Miguel (a great guy who I met through twitter).

Day 1:
We caught the bus just outside the hotel to go to S'Albufera which only took about 5mins. We then had a 1Km walk to the info centre where we were greeted by a guy who gave us an English guide to the park. This gave an idea of the species that may be seen on the reserve and routes of the walks around the park. As we left the info centre we almost immediately spotted 2 Sardinian warblers which flew around the trees in front of us for a while until they flew into the back end of the bushes.

Sardinian Warbler

 

After that we walked down the path to get to the start of 1 of the walks, on the way we saw a bird fly out of a tree next to us and we saw it fly to the top of a bush as we got a better look at it we noticed that it was a shrike of some sort then after a bit we decided to creep a bit closer and then we noticed that it was a woodchat shrike.

Woodchat shrike

 

Before we reached the walk we had to walk across a bridge first, as we were walking across it we noticed some egrets coming up the river as they got closer they turned out to be cattle egrets, dozens of little and cattle egrets were flying up the river which was amazing to watch. Also as we looked along a bit more of the bridge we spotted some red knobbed or crested coots with there young just a couple of meters away from the bridge also there was a few purple gallenules hiding in the reeds and my dad spotted a few red eared slider turtles at the side of the river.

Cattle egret

Red knobbed coot

 

When we got to the start of the walk we started walking down to reach 2 hides which were at the end of the path. On the way we found a little viewing area which overlooked a little bridge and at the back of the bridge there was a few reeds, on the little bridge there was a few little egrets and red crested pochards sitting on it, after a while we noticed a heron type bird come out of the reeds at the back it was a night heron but not long after he flew away.

little egret

 

After that we managed to reach the 2 hides but there was not a single bird to be seen. When we got back to the start we started walking another way to some other hides but while we were walking there I noticed some birds flying around at the end of this path just behind a little gate so we decided to walk down the path to see what they were. When we reached the gate there was no sign of the birds but then after a while I spotted one flying out of a tree it was a bee eater after a bit lots more started coming out of the trees. While we were watching them I noticed a little bird fly on to a branch next to me it was a spotted flycatcher as I got better looks at him I noticed that it looked like he had a very bad leg.

Spotted flycatcher

 

After we left that area we headed of to another part of the reserve to some other hides on the way there we found a viewing platform which looked over a little stream with some reeds at the back of it, after about 2mins of waiting a great reed warbler landed on a branch near the reeds which after a few seconds flew straight into the reeds.

 

When we reached the first hide there wasn't much going on, it looked like it was a dried up lake but there was a tiny little pool of water just outside the hide there were 2 little ringed plovers feeding around it. After that we decided to go to the last hide before calling it a day. When we got there, it again looked like there has been a dried up lake in front of it but once again there was a little pool of water at the far end of the dried up lake, on it there was a common sandpiper, redshank, little ringed plovers, snipe, dunlin, little egret and a grey heron.

 

When we left the hide we started walking back to the bus when we saw some cattle with cattle egrets on top of them, they were picking the bugs of the cattle. While we were watching them an Osprey flew over which spooked pretty much all the birds in the area.

 

After a while we reached the entrance of the reserve and started walking to the bus stop and on the way we got an unexpected surprise a hoopoe flew right in front of us! it was amazing. We got the bus and made it back to the hotel.

 

 

Day 2:

Once again we caught the bus to go to S'Albufera. Today was very hot so before we left we decided to take quite a few drinks so we could cool down a bit (my dad had the pleasure of carrying these). We decided to take a path we hadn't been on so far which was quite a trek in the heat. Sadly we didn't really see much and we were both a bit disappointed. However on the way back, we checked out one of the places where we had seen the Bee eaters and were delighted to see a couple of Hoopoe's quite close by.

Hoopoe

 

This was a real treat and made us feel that our earlier efforts had been rewarded. As we trudged back towards our bus stop down the long road into the reserve, we got some lovely views of a Nightingale and our day was much more complete.

Nightingale

 

 

Day 3:

After a couple of days break and a chance to catch up with some friends we had met around the hotel, we again set off for the Reserve. As usual, it was very warm and we made sure we had plenty of drinks to help us through.  First we decided to walk down the path again to see if any night herons were roosting on the little bridge, as we arrived we soon spotted 3 night herons sitting on the bridge with a big group of little egrets. After that we decided to have a 45min walk down to a hide where there is lots of scrapes. On the way a cracking male stonechat sat at the top of the reeds giving us superb views.

Stonechat

Night heron

Before we decided to go in the hide we decided to check out some scrapes just a few meters away from it, around the scrapes there was several Kentish plovers and little ringed plovers. Plus when we were looking on the scrapes a stunning Osprey flew right over our heads.

Osprey

Little ringed plover

 

After we had left the scrapes we decided to have a quick look in the hide where once again there was lots of Kentish plovers and little ringed plovers and after a while another Osprey (or the same one - not sure) came into land on a pole in the middle of the lake.

Osprey

 

After a while a Marsh harrier came gliding across the reeds and my dad managed to pick up an incredibly camouflaged Stone curlew.

Stone curlew

 

After spending around 1hr 30mins in the hide we decided to have a look in the 2 hides which didn't have much water in around them to see if anything had turned up there. When we reached them in the first hide there was quite a lot more water around the hide and feeding at the front of the first hide there was a few little ringed plovers and a Purple Gallenule. As we were watching to see if anything interesting dropped in I noticed lots and lots of plovers were dropping in near the other hide so we decided to go and have a look over there. As we walked in a couple of hundred or so plovers were feeding along the scrapes including Kentish and Little Ringed Plovers also the cattle were feeding right next to the hide so it brought the Cattle Egrets much closer. Plus a little later a superb Glossy Ibis fly over the lake! And the occasional Bee Eater flew over.

Cattle egret

Glossy ibis

Bee eater

 

After that we decided to go catch the bus and go back to the hotel.

 

 

Day 4:

Today instead we decided to go to the Salt Marshes with Miguel to see the flamingos what had been there recently. We got up at 5.45am and could hear the rain outside (of all days). We had to drive to the other side of the island and this was a bit scary as it was still dark and pouring with rain.When we arrived at the marshes with Miguel, almost straight away we spotted the flamingos and dozens of avocets and black winged stilts but the bad thing was the weather was still terrible, it was pouring down but as we were watching the flamingos a group of waders flew past which included a few Kentish plovers, little stints and a temmincks stint! There was around 25 flamingos in total. As the rain never showed any signs of stopping we went to a lovely little café Miguel knew where we had a drink and watched an amazing lightening storm over the sea. We then headed back in the car, sad not to see much of the salt marshes but happy to have met Miguel (a great guy) and to have seen flamingos in the wild.

Flamingos

 

 

Day 5:

It was our last day in Majorca today so we decided to have a quick look around S'Albufera one last time. Our plan was to check most of the places out were we saw some good birds so first we checked the hide which took 45mins to get too. When we reached the hide there was redshanks and greenshanks feeding with little egrets along the scrapes and quite a lot of black winged stilts were feeding along them too plus a while later the Osprey dropped in. After we walked to the 2 hides which now had lots of water in from the rain from the other day, on it there was more Kentish plovers and little ringed plovers plus 2 little stints and a dunlin were feeding along the scrapes also 5 black winged stilts were at the back of the lake.

Black winged stilt

Osprey

 

It was a great few days and something I hope to do again in the near future.