Mallorca Holiday 29th April 2015 : La Gola and Boquer Valley
I was supposed to have a quiet day reading and doing a bit of shopping for the necessaries while Anne took the bus to Pollenca Town so I thought I would walk into town via the La Gola mini reserve. There had been a bit of overnight rain a couple of nights ago so this might explain why the normal Greenshank and Sandpiper weren’t there as the water levels were a bit high. I spent quite some time looking for a Serin, eventually getting two.
In fact one of them was a little bit incidental as I was looking in a tree for one and I saw a Goldfinch. Thinking I had mistakenly identified the Serin, I was surprised to see the Goldfinch I was watching in my binoculars suddenly go for another bird. This was the Serin I had been looking for all along and missed ! There were lots of Greenfinch and Sardinian Warblers and a small flock of House Martins hoovering up insects just over the water. A couple of nice sightings but quite quiet.
Despite it being a “day off” from birding, whilst I was out and about I just couldn’t resist a walk over the Boquer Valley. Apart from spending too long looking at a Short-toed Lark working on my id skills there was very little around at the Casa de Boquer. I spoke to a couple of birders but the story was the same all over – not much happening. A chap had seen Booted Eagle and Honey Buzzard in the morning but not much else since.
I did manage to get quite good views of about half a dozen (out of the many dozen there) Sardinian Warblers and nice views of a male Blue Rock Thrush but no birds of prey. A bit of a disappointment, really, but always a good walk – despite the loud (usually German) walkers that seem to be a permanent stream across the valley.
Bird Sightings : La Gola
| Species | Count |
|---|---|
| Mallard | 40 |
| Yellow-legged Gull | 1 |
| Common Wood Pigeon | 8 |
| Eurasian Collared Dove | 2 |
| Common House Martin | 8 |
| Great Tit | 1 |
| European Stonechat | 2 |
| European Greenfinch | 10 |
| European Goldfinch | 6 |
| European Serin | 2 |
Bird Sightings : Boquer Valley
| Species | Count |
|---|---|
| Sardinian Warbler | 20 |
| Blue Rock Thrush | 1 |
| European Stonechat | 2 |
| Eurasian Blackbird | 1 |
| Common Chaffinch | 1 |
| European Greenfinch | 8 |
| European Goldfinch | 4 |