Mallorca Holiday 30th April 2015 : S’Albefura

Mallorca Holiday 30th April 2015 : S’Albefura

Because Anne was visiting friends in Palma, I had a full day to do as I wished so I could think of no better way of filling a full day than paying another visit to S’Albufera. I was rewarded with a host of sightings – around forty-six species – including four “life ticks”

From the main path leading to the visitor’s centre as it overlooks the main canal I first spotted the usual roosting Cattle Egrets and on a branch in the water was a Common Sandpiper. A Red-knobbed Coot was on the water but most of the action was in the bushes with the usual songs of Cetti’s and Sardinian Warblers as well as lots of Nightingales.

I dropped in at the visitor centre to register my presence and then headed off for the first hide overlooking the Sa Roca pools. It was a bit cramped in there and whilst there were plenty of birds to see I didn’t find the aspect very good so decided to move on to the next hide that overlooks the same body of water. Fortunately for me there was an experienced birder there and also a couple who live near Minsmere and had been birding for years so I had plenty of help from experienced and friendly fellow birders.

The obvious birds were there – Black-winged Stilts,  Red-crested Pochard and Ringed, Little Ringed and Kentish Plovers. Also a pair of Wood Sandpipers,  a Ruff and a Curlew Sandpiper. Shelduck, Shoveler and a pair of Garganey all added to the scene. The star, however, was (another “life tick”) a Collared Pratincole – indeed it sometimes seemed like there were two but it was hard to see them both clearly at the same time if, in fact, there were two. One kept lifting off, flying in a circle and then returning to the same spot. I managed to get a short video clip of it eventually. Other specialties of the site were there including a single Purple Swamp Hen (or Gallinule) and a lovely pair of Marbled Ducks (or Marbled Teal) – this was also a “life tick” as I had not managed to see these last year when I visited this site..

Smaller birds included a Wheatear and several Yellow Wagtails (flava), again perhaps Blue-headed. Another “life tick” was two Fan-tailed Warblers (or Zitting Cisticolas) bouncing  overhead.   A Marsh Harrier made an appearance and a Common Tern flew in. Surprisingly, I spent about an hour in this hide and only left when a gaggle of infants came in with their teacher, some wearing binoculars almost as big as them.  Tomorrow’s ornithologists !!

I walked around to the raised mound but that was also inundated with happy youngsters so I moved on. I crossed the bridge and headed down to the hides overlooking the Es Cibollar Pools and Cetti’s Warblers and Nightingales seemed to be popping out everywhere. The best tick here, though, came when I stopped to try to locate the source of some extremely loud and scratchy singing. I had been listening to some of this song in mp3 format and thought I recognised it. Happily for me the bird popped up right in front of me and started to sing from the very top of the tall reeds to the side of the path. The view was so good that I could not fail to recognise what had been one of my target birds for this visit – Great Reed Warbler. I Also heard a, mundane by comparison, ordinary Reed Warbler.

In the hides overlooking the Es Cibollar were quite a number of Common Terns, Kentish and Ringed Plovers and Black-winged Stilts.  Red-crested Pochard, Mallard, Shelduck, Gadwall and Coots were all there. As I was talking to someone about the Marbled Ducks I had seen earlier, two flew into the pool right on cue. There was a single Spotted Redshank and a single Ruff. A chap I was speaking to thought he saw a Little Stint but I never found it. In the very back of the pools a Great White Egret was roosting but occasionally stood up and showed it’s extremely long neck. Little and Cattle Egrets were there in numbers and an especially gratifying tick was a Stone Curlew in the rough land behind the pool – at once hard to see then impossible to miss. A bird of prey flew over and caused me a bit of an I’d problem. I tended towards Montagu’s Harrier  but I would have loved confirmation !

I was intending to return down the path and head for the Es Columbars hide but a couple I met suggested that I gave that a miss and instead went to the observation tower down the Canal des Sol path. This took about 20 minutes but the walk was filled with woodland song and too much time was spent trying, sometimes successfully, to locate a Nightingale in the bushes. Cetti’s Warblers were much easier to see and most people I met were amazed that they had actually seen one properly ! There are so many, they can’t possibly all hide.

I eventually reached the platform definitely ready for a sit down. I had been told that this was a brilliant place for birds of prey but for quite a while I only saw ducks, Red-crested Pochard and Shelduck and Mallards. It’s not often that a Great Crested Grebe causes excitement but this was the first one of the holiday so made me quite happy. A couple of Purple Herons flew by and lots of Cattle Egrets were around. A Raven also flew over the marsh. As time went by I started to think that all the action must have taken place earlier in the day but eventually a Marsh Harrier did appear and then, quite close, an Osprey. In the distance a group of around eight Eleonora’s Falcons swooped around but a scope was necessary to see them. From the elevated position of the platform it was also easy top pick out a number of Fan-tailed Warblers

I was starting to tire by now and with a good list of birds for the day I was happy enough to call it a day. I returned back to the visitor centre but couldn’t resist stopping to try to locate every other Nightingale.  My persistence paid off when I saw instead a Thekla Lark which was another target bird.  As I walked back down the path the Cattle Egrets were making their weird gobbling noises and this was just where I had started off earlier. When I got to th3 bus stop I met the couple I had met earlier and we talked about what we had seen. The male part of the couple had actually been one of six bird ringers in Africa in his youth !

For all this description the quality of the day is more clearly seen just in the bird list.  In all 46 species in five hours, twelve of these were this holiday firsts and four were life ticks. What a fantastic day of birding plus I met and talked to so many informed and friendly birders that it really makes up for all those curmudgeons that you sometimes meet at home.
Click here for route taken around S’Albufera
Total distance: 7.8 km (4.4 mi)

Bird Sightings : S’Albufera : Environs

Bird Sightings : S’Albufera : Sa Roca Pools

Bird Sightings : S’Albufera : Es Cibollar Pools

Bird Sightings : S’Albufera : Canal des Sol Observation Platform