A quick look at the ploughed fields to the rear of the villa at sunrise produced a gorgeous ♂
Whinchat and an unmistakable purring call alerted me to my first
Turtle Dove of the visit, perched across on the phone wires. Although
Stone Curlew had been calling while I was enjoying my coffee before leaving the villa, there was no sign of last nights birds. A five minute drive and my now regular morning walk at Can Cullerassa provided a few new additions to my local list with
Spotted Flycatcher,
Night Heron and
Purple Heron.
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| Purple Swamphen - One of the main attractions at S'Albufera |
After breakfast Dee, Dave and I headed for S'Albufera, probably one of the best known and internationally recognised natural areas in Majorca, around a 15-minute drive from the villa. Although it was quite busy it wasn't as bad as I'd feared, this being a mayday bank holiday on the Island.
First birds of note were
Cattle Egret and
Little Egret, along with a single
Night Heron in the trees overhanging the channel that leads along the 1.2 km walk to the visitor centre. A singing
Great Reed Warbler was also heard along the boardwalk that leads up to the centre. In fairness to Dee and Dave I only made them complete the walk from the centre along to the Es Colombars Hide and back (
information and reserve map HERE) but we ended up with quite an impressive tally and Dee and I will complete other areas next week, hopefully a little earlier in the day!
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| Purple Heron over S'Albufera |
Pausing at the bridge which overlooks the main channel
Red-knobbed Coot,
Purple Swamphen and several
Red-crested Pochard. Overhead the cracking sight of
Eleanora's Falcon and
Osprey was one of the holiday highlights for me thus far! Apparently the bridge is also a good place to see
Little Bittern too but sadly not during our visit.
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| Kentish Plover - One of many today. |
Further up the track there are several places to overlook the reserve, including a designated raised platform area. From here the brief song of
Moustached Warbler rang out from the reedbed but we never managed to connect. A
Marsh Harrier was quartering in the distance and a flyover of
Purple Heron,
Peregrine and once again
Eleanora's Falcon. The pools held
Kentish Plover,
Ringed Plover,
Little-ringed Plover,
Wood Sandpiper and
Black-winged Stilt.
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| Greenshank on the Es Cibollar Pool |
The Es Colombars Hide, which overlooks pools near to the power station was relatively quiet with a couple of
Redshank,
Great-crested Grebe,
Little Grebe and I was surprised to still see several very pristine ♂
Pochard, plus a pair of
Shoveler. The main highlight was a
Water Rail, one of Dee's nemesis birds, which thankfully showed very well for her during our stay.
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| Dee's record shot of Temminck's Stint |
Finally, a stop at the hides overlooking the Es Cibollar Pools, which offer close range views of a number of species provided an excellent wader count with:
Greenshank,
Spotted Redshank,
Wood Sandpiper,
Curlew Sandpiper,
Dunlin,
Little Stint, and a couple of
Temminck's Stint to end the day.
