A second visit to S'Albufera and this time an early start: well early for Dee that is! In fact we arrived shortly after 9am but today we'd decided to give the information centre and hides a miss and take the track that leads south overlooking both Es Ras and Ses Puntes marshes. There are also a couple of raised towers along this stretch too with good all around views of the reserve.
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| Best I've managed thus far of Eleanora's Falcon. |
It wasn't long before the first of several sightings of
Eleanora's Falcon but not since arriving here have we had one come particularly low, so photographing them has been a real challenge. The usual
Little Egret and
Cattle Egret were constantly overhead and at least a half dozen
Marsh Harrier, including a particularly nice looking male, were quartering the reserve.
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| Cattle Egret over S'Albufera |
The reedbeds I have to say were almost devoid of song, maybe we're here a little too late for some species, but at least one
Moustached Warbler was heard singing.
Cetti's Warbler and
Fantail Warbler are a constant all over the Island and only a single
Great Reed Warbler was recorded during our walk. The highlight of the day occurred when Dee and I were walking back towards the centre, when suddenly a
Little Bittern flew out of the reeds and along the path in front of us before disappearing back into the reedbed, priceless. Other species of note:
Purple Heron,
Purple Swamphen,
Red-crested Pochard,
Water Rail, Peregrine, Hoopoe and
Night Heron.
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| Marbled Duck - Another of Dee's pics with my Canon SX50 |
After registering our visit back at the information centre we left and took the short drive to the old saltpans (Ses Salinetes).This is a water treatment plant which has a couple of fresh water lagoons and after investigating these there is a walk that leads down to Son Bosc. We parked at the sign saying S'Illiot and in fact had only just reached the first lagoon when a couple of
Marbled Duck came into view. A single
Avocet was noted along with
Black-winged Stilt,
Common Sandpiper and
Little-ringed Plover. Surprisingly, despite visiting many pools and marshes throughout our stay, not a single
Whiskered Tern or
Gull-billed Tern has been recorded, in fact only three
Common Terns have been seen throughout!
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| Bee-eater at Son Bosc. |
From the pools we walked the track along to Son Bosc for around 500 mtrs. Here
Woodchat Shrike,
Great Reed-Warbler and at one stage we were almost on top of a singing
Moustached Warbler and still didn't connect. At the bottom of the track several
Bee-eater were on the wires and a single
Short-toed Lark before the return journey.
