We hired a luxury penthouse appartment in Puerto Pollensa northern Majorca,it is advertised in the RSPB magazine,and is stunning.
In the garden sardinian warblers were nest building,from the balcony Booted eagles were seen daily, and Audouins gulls were resident on the nearby beach.
SARDINE WARBLER IN GARDEN
On our first afternoon we familiarised ourselves with the town had a beer or two and found the small town reserve HUMIDA DE GOLA where we found a common sandpiper and a little ringed plover.As we strolled around an Osprey appeared overhead circled around gradually gaining height before drifting away on the breeze.
Day two found us at the Formentor Peninsula on a sunny breezy sunday,having braved the hairy hairpin bends and the hundreds of cyclists on the road we arrived at the lighthouse where there were black redstarts,a woodchat shrike,blue rock thrush,crossbill,peregrine and eleonoras falcons and way below balearic shearwaters could be seen skimming the waves.
On the way back a local birder was encamped on the roadside raptor watching,we joined him for a while and soon encountered black vultures passing along the ridge opposite,as well as buzzard and sparrowhawk.
Stopped off for a coffee at Formentor village after the vultures and encountered yellow legged gulls and house sparrows in numbers as we used to know them.
BLACK WINGED STILTThe main and most famous reserve on the island is S`albufera a large expanse of marsh, water meadows, scrapes and reed beds.The highlights here were breeding cattle egrets and night herons,purple gallinule,black winged stilt,red knobbed coot,marbled duck,hoopoe,serin, alpine swift,redstart and another woodchat shrike.
RED KNOBBED COOT(preferred to crested coot, it has not got a crest it has got two red knobs)
We visited a very large monastery at LLUC on Tuesday morning which was all very interesting but was a bit too commercial for my liking though we did see a black vulture over the mountain ridge here.
After this we headed off over the mountains to Soller a real spanish town not a tourist resort.On the way could not resist a stroll round the Cuber reservoir where we added red kite and crag martin to the growing list.
In the evening we ate at home,and with a bottle of Rioja on the balcony were entertained by several scops owls calling across the town and the sudden eerie screech of a barn owl.
Wednesday, the only cloudy day of the week with a few spots of rain, we walked through the Boquer valley,another well known birding area which is very close to the apartment.
here we found cirl bunting ,blue rock thrush, sardinian warblers galore,serin,crag martin,stonechat and booted eagle.
Back at home the day got even better when a subalpine warbler appeared in the olive tree in the garden,a life tick for me and from the comfort of the terrace, wonderful.
The next day went to the second part of S`albufera where there is a sand pit and a water treatment plant,much seems to have changed recently and access was limited but we did see more yellow wagtails hoopoes,the only wheatear of the trip fan tailed warbler and more common ducks.
HOOPOE
YELLOW WAGTAIL
The last field trip was to the deep south of the island toSalinas de Levante,the salt pans are a magnet for waders and other migrants and we added avocet ,dunlin, little stint and grey plover as well as the only black headed gull,a cuckoo was heard and corn bunting and short toed lark completed the tally at 101.
AVOCET
KENTISH PLOVER
The last day was spent in the capital Palma a very vibrant and interesting city full of street entertainers, cafes,
and expensive shops.The cathedral is a fine building and the waterfront very pleasant.All in all a superb holiday very lucky with the weather and the accommodation is first class.
Wow, some stunning photos there!
ReplyDeleteMost envious.....