Mallorca Summary : 11th – 24th October 2015

Mallorca Summary : 11th – 24th October 2015

We set out for Mallorca in the (horribly) early hours of the morning of the 11th October. En route to the hotel we got our first bird of prey – a Red Kite. This was just the start of a good tally of birds of prey but we also got much, much more and ended the holiday with a holiday list of ninety species including some impressive “life ticks”. See below for a day by day summary of our birding.

The 12th

was our first full day in Port de Pollenca and we took the walk up to the Boquer Valley where we got the life tick of Crag Martins and also got Booted Eagle

The 13th

was a Wednesday and Anne wanted to go to the market in Alcudia and I remembered that when we were last in Alcudia we visited the old Roman remains and there were lots of birds around. Unfortunately we were being guided so we couldn’t stop to look at them. This time we returned with the idea of concentrating on the birds and we found plenty of them including our first Hoope of the holiday. There were also lots of smaller bird including Black Redstarts who are one of the last migratory species to complete their migration.

The 14th

was scheduled to be our planned guided birding day. We had booked a guide, Cristina Fiol from BalearsWildlife but the weather was so poor that we had to cancel. There was a lot of rain and wind so we generally had a bit of a laid-back day and hoped for better weather the next day when we had also planned a boat trip.

The 15th

had been pencilled in for a boat trip from Port de Pollenca, around Cap Formentor, down to Cala Sant Vicenze and back. We hoped to get some sea birds on this trip. Unfortunately this turned out to be cancelled so we made a quick decision to go to S’Albufera which is always reliably good. We got a life tick in the shape of a large group of Night Herons and we also got an Osprey and all the usual specialties you expect to see here – Purple Swamp-Hen (Purple Gallinule) and Red-knobbed Coot as well as good numbers of waders.

The 16th

was our re-scheduled guided birding day and we went to three sites, Mortixt, Cuber Reservoir and Salobrar de Campos. Our bird list for the day ended up at forty-five birds including life ticks of Greater Flamingo and Griffon Vulture. In fact we had a great day for birds of prey asnd saw both Griffon and Black Vultures, Marsh Harrier, Red Kite and Booted Eagle.
At Mortixt, in particular, we got lots of small birds including Cirl Bunting, Firecrest, Tree Pipit, Common Redstart and Siskin. One fo the best small bird sightings was a really close view of adult and juvenile Crossbill at Cuber.
As regards waders, we got Spotted Redshank, Little Stint, Greenshank as well as Greater Flamingo. We also had nice views of Thekla Lark and Fan-tailed Warbler (Zitting Cisticola).
All in all we had a very long day but, as we already knew, a guide can save you a huge amount of wasted effort so we felt pretty happy about the day and we only got back to the hoel just in time to get the last of dinner. We had been birding for 13 hours !

Bird Count for Guided Birding : Mallorca Holiday Autumn 2015

The 17th

On the 17th, despite the exertions of the previous day, we managed to get up in time to go to S’Albufera where Cristina, our guide from the previous day, was giving a demonstration of bird ringing. This gave us a “life tick” in the shape of a Spectacled Warbler but we also had the opportunity to see several birds “in the hand”. Afterwards we went around the various hides and managed to get our first Stone Curlews of the holiday and another Hoopoe. The weather was nice and cool but sunny enough to make for a very pleasant day at this fantastic reserve. No matter how many times you go, you always feel like another vist after a couple of days.

The 18th

The 18th was a bit of a chill-out day and as Anne went over to Pollenca town for the market I stayed at home and caught up on my birding notes fitting in just a brief visit to La Gola

The 19th

The 19th was another one of those days where the weather was so uncertain,  with some very high winds and rain possible, that we decided to stay local again so that we could get to cover easily. We were hiring a car the next day, when the weather was predicted to be better and we could go further afield, so we were content just to do La Gola and the Boquer Valley again. I managed to get my only Blue Rock Thrushes of the holiday and managed to get a female in the scope. Good views of Crag Martins, Booted Eagles and Vultures also made for a good day under the poor weather conditions.

The 20th

The 20th was the first day that we hired a car and we wanted to go further south again to some sites I had read about. We went to Salobrar de Campos, Cap de Ses Salines and Portocolom. The day was of more entomological interest than avian, though. I don’t know if this is a particularly bad time of year for biting insects but all three of the places we visited we got bitten. From the look of the other, probably local, people we ran into they were as put off as we were. Nevertheless we mannaged to get some new waders and some Shearwaters. It was probably more interesting to see more of the island than we had seen before and also to know where to find these sites so we knew where to find them again. Perhaps in Spring there are more birds and fewer bugs – though I doubt it.

The 21st

The 21st was also a day for exploration with us taking in Punta de Capdepera and the Depuradora de S’Illiot before driving back to Port de Pollenca via the back of S’Albufereta. The Punta was a little disappointing, as all our coastal visits had been so far, but it was interesting to go there. We had more luck at the Depudora where we got another Hoopoe and plenty of small birds. Along the back of S’Albufereta we got another Hoope and a large flock of grazing Cattle Egrets. Obviously this is where they spend their days not at S’Albufera.

The 22nd

The 22nd was planned to be a trip down memory lane for Anne as she wanted to go to Calle Bona where she had stayed as a child. This is over on the east coast so that filled up our morning. In the afternoon, on the way back, we fitted in a quick visits to Can Curassa, La Gola and the Boquer Valley. It was pretty quiet, particularly at Can Curassa but we did get more nice views of Booted Eagles up in the Boquer Valley and we spent too long looking for a Cirl Bunting in Pine Tree Avenue only to find a pair of Chiffchaff.

The 23rd

The 23rd was out last day in Mallorca so we had to pack bags and such so we took it easy and just lazed about and I wrote up some of our birding trips. In the end this was how our list for the whole holiday worked out :

All Bird Sightings Mallorca October 2015

Life Ticks

1. Night -heron,
2. Eurasian Griffon
3. Greater Flamingo
4. Moustached Warbler