Mallorca 2024 (2 Viewers)

[Matthebirder]

4 Oct morning at Son Real with a good 90 mins in the bird hide overlooking the drinking pool; steady stream of Goldfinches, Linnets, Greenfinches plus a few Serins, Blackcaps. A surprise appearance by a stunning Grey wagtail shows you are never far from this species wherever you go. A Thekla lark at the carpark and a fast fly by Pasha while I was in the toilet proves you can't turn your back. While admiring the fine Black Pigs a Plain Tiger flew through the compound again not allowing any photos.
On to the Treatment Works (Albufera), the Black-necked Grebe was still present. A peregrine flew over again as last night.

The Audouin's count was increased to 66 from our balcony at 19:43 just before dark on the reef opposite the Pollensa Park while trying one of the Mortix whites....
5 Sandwich Terns a bit earlier
One day to go...

 

[sdhearn]

sdhearn
Hope you had a good trip home.
Thanks for your posts and well done with the Hobby.
Mike

Thanks Mike - we’re still in Palma for a further 5 nights before flying back to the UK.
I suspect my birding is over but we may walk down to Portixol and/ or Castle Bellver so no doubt my bins will find themselves into my rucksack!! 😊
Steve

 

[Geordie Dave]

A change of plan yesterday morning saw me heading to Albufereta. It turned out to be a wise move. The main ponds and Sa Barcassa pond were very quiet but 2 Osprey fishing, one of them taking a fish in front of the the hide, were nice to see. There were 2 kingfishers darting around, a reminder that the autumn is upon us and several summer birds. 2 purple heron, common redstart, yellow wagtail and both pied and Mediterranean flycatchers. In the little wood between the platform and Sa Barcassa I was watching 3 chiffchaff and 2 serin when my eyes were drawn to a dark warbler. My initial thought was lesser whitethroat but the adjacent chiffchaff showed it to be a larger bird. It’s head was dark/black and it had a heavy black mask. The back was grey/ brown and it’s underparts were pale beige/pinkish. It didn’t make any call. After watching for a couple of minutes it flew to another tree in the same wood and was lost from view. I was fairly confident that I had just seen my first Orphean Warbler in Mallorca; described in Maties and Peps book as a rare migrant in spring and autumn. A real bonus on an otherwise quiet day.

 

[Matthebirder]

5 Oct; Tenelles this morning; 15-20 Griffons and 1 Black Vultures. On the dragonflies front at the corner water tank, no sign of the male Orange - winged Dropwing in 30 mins despite many other dragonflies . A lot of Robins, many singing!

 

[Mike Montier]

A very lively morning at the Cap.
I got there at dawn but saw very little, just one Marsh harrier leaving.
Pablo arrived and I struggled to keep up with the continuos Spanish conversation for about an hour but I learnt a few new words.
Then Pep, Pau, Lalo and Susana arrived.
It was just like the old days with constant banter and laughter, most of which was at my expense. When i find a raptor, I try to give directions in Spanish but I fail miserably.
Apparently, my attempts are funny.
Then the birds came:
1 Grey heron
1 Egretta alba
4 Honey buzzard
13 Booted eagle
16 Marsh harrier
8 Red kite
17 migrant common kestrel
1 Hobby.
4 Bonelli’s eagle.
I joked that as soon as I left, they would see a mega.
They did.
An adult male Pallid harrier.
I’m not sure whether it was seen at the Cap or nearby, perhaps Pep could confirm.
I will miss these days more than anything.
They just don’t come any better.
Mike

 

[ChrisMc1957]

Sounds like you had a belter of a day Mike

 

[Josep Manchado]

A very lively morning at the Cap.
I got there at dawn but saw very little, just one Marsh harrier leaving.
Pablo arrived and I struggled to keep up with the continuos Spanish conversation for about an hour but I learnt a few new words.
Then Pep, Pau, Lalo and Susana arrived.
It was just like the old days with constant banter and laughter, most of which was at my expense. When i find a raptor, I try to give directions in Spanish but I fail miserably.
Apparently, my attempts are funny.
Then the birds came:
1 Grey heron
1 Egretta alba
4 Honey buzzard
13 Booted eagle
16 Marsh harrier
8 Red kite
17 migrant common kestrel
1 Hobby.
4 Bonelli’s eagle.
I joked that as soon as I left, they would see a mega.
They did.
An adult male Pallid harrier.
I’m not sure whether it was seen at the Cap or nearby, perhaps Pep could confirm.
I will miss these days more than anything.
They just don’t come any better.
Mike

Hello,
Yes today it was a great morning at the Cap Salines, but the best was arriving the village of Ses Salines, arriving there, we thought stopped in middle of the road, with the warning lights on, 2 cars in front of us, the Lalo's and Pablo's cars, inmediatelly i thought it was an accident, but Pau told me it is a "white harrier crossing the road", i stopped as quickly i could and it was an stunning male Pallid harrier (Circus macrourus); so just before our lunch and in middle of the road it was the bird of the picture, who was quickly attacked by a red kite so he had to go very up so we lost it.
Tomorrow more! and i hope better.
We were Pau (owner of the pic), Susana, Lalo, Pablo and me.
Josep

 

[Matthebirder]

5 Oct cont'd; Son Real, further viewing of at least 1 Two-tailed Pasha from the car park/duck enclosure.
Water Treatment works (Albufera); 2 Caspian Terns for 10 mins at 17:00; very vocal.
Final count of Audouin's roosting off the Pollensa Park at 19:45 was 70+

That's all for this trip ; thank you for all the news posts.

M

 

[HnehpetS]

I'm staying in Porto Pollensa for a few days. Had an Egyptian Vulture over yesterday pm. Two Merlin arguing the toss with each other as they flew over. We have a local Sardinian W pair, a flock of 100+ Goldfinches that gather most days, Redstart (juv), Stonechat, a Song Thrush that spent a long time on a wire fence before it came down to small pool of water I created, more wood pigeons than you can throw a stick at and had a Kingfisher at the little nature reserve in the town (Chiffchaf there too).

 

[Geordie Dave]

My birthday today so a canny bit to fit in. We began at Pollenca market, a gentle wander around, some great live blues music and a cana at one of our favourite bars. The plan was to have a birthday picnic on the beach at Port de Pollenca so I escaped for a couple of hours to Albufera. I saw my first spoonbill in 3-4 years at Cibollar 1, my 195 for the year in Mallorca. There was an Osprey sat with a fish on the telegraph pole and usually two others in flight overhead, returning migrant birds? At our picnic I saw a griffon vulture and a raven but nothing else of note. We enjoyed a fabulous picnic with an ensamaida de crème, fresh fruit, ham and chess from the market, washed down with some Lidl beer. Back to our local bar where I fell in with some local friends and enjoyed a couple of free large whisky’s. A perfect end to a memorable day. Living the dream in Mallorca. Feliz cumpleanos a mi.

 

[Mike Montier]

Glad you had a good birthday David.
Love the photo of the beer and fruit!
It was also good to see you and Peter today.

I got to the Cap at a stupid time, even by my standards, but I was too excited to sleep. My wife reminded me about the anti-mosquito spray as I left the house.
Yeah, yeah, I said.
I forgot it.
I was bitten to death which it serves me right.
When it was light enough to see slightly, 1 Marsh harrier left for Africa, followed by 2 more.
Then 2 Montagu’s harriers also left in the half light. I looked for a boa but it was really too dark to tell, although one looked good to me.
Another Montagu’s left a bit later looking much nicer in the light.
I was joined by Birthday Boy David and Peter and it was nice to talk away in the quieter bits.
Then Honey buzzard came, 7 in all.
Photos were near impossible due to the lack of light.
A group of 16 Grey heron flew west. A lovely sight.
It went very quiet and I left for home whilst David and Peter made for Salobrar.
I look forward to reading David’s report on that bit.
Mike

 

[Mike Montier]

The Bigyear is jogging along nicely with young Biel still out in front with a seemingly unassailable lead.
David is in hot persuit. The big question is, will he reach the magic 200?
I know he got two more year ticks this morning so I reckon he will cross the border into the next century.
I’ve been away a lot, usually at peak migration times, so I miss out quite a bit.
It’s still great fun though, a bit of banter masks the real desire to do well.
With our thanks to Pep for keeping the list going.
Mike

 

[HnehpetS]

Yesterday, Col de Siller, Booted Eagle.

 

[Ian Bell]

The Bigyear is jogging along nicely with young Biel still out in front with a seemingly unassailable lead.
David is in hot persuit. The big question is, will he reach the magic 200?
I know he got two more year ticks this morning so I reckon he will cross the border into the next century.
I’ve been away a lot, usually at peak migration times, so I miss out quite a bit.
It’s still great fun though, a bit of banter masks the real desire to do well.
With our thanks to Pep for keeping the list going.
Mike

Does Philip (of one L) not enter,as he comes across some great birds ?

 

[Mike Montier]

Philip is a very experienced birder with many years traveling the world, mostly cruising, so he has seen a fantastic amount of the world’s seabirds.
He often birds alone, keeps meticulous notes but is not on social media or WhatsApp groups.
He doesn’t take photos and doesn’t submit any records now.
Like many old school birders, the modern approach doesn’t suit him and I quite understand that.
I have had many memorable days out with him over many years and I have learnt a lot from him.
So he doesn’t enter the Bigyear either sadly. He usually has a very good list so that’s a shame.
Mike

 

[Geordie Dave]

Glad you had a good birthday David.
Love the photo of the beer and fruit!
It was also good to see you and Peter today.

I got to the Cap at a stupid time, even by my standards, but I was too excited to sleep. My wife reminded me about the anti-mosquito spray as I left the house.
Yeah, yeah, I said.
I forgot it.
I was bitten to death which it serves me right.
When it was light enough to see slightly, 1 Marsh harrier left for Africa, followed by 2 more.
Then 2 Montagu’s harriers also left in the half light. I looked for a boa but it was really too dark to tell, although one looked good to me.
Another Montagu’s left a bit later looking much nicer in the light.
I was joined by Birthday Boy David and Peter and it was nice to talk away in the quieter bits.
Then Honey buzzard came, 7 in all.
Photos were near impossible due to the lack of light.
A group of 16 Grey heron flew west. A lovely sight.
It went very quiet and I left for home whilst David and Peter made for Salobrar.
I look forward to reading David’s report on that bit.
Mike

Leaving Mike at the Cap, Peter and I made the short drive through Ses Salines town and on to Fontsanta Hotel at Salobrar de Campos. Waking down to Camino Sa Barrala we found the track dry and accessible almost all the way to the far pumphouse building. Water levels varied in the ponds with at least half of them entirely dry and devoid of birds. As always there were marsh harriers and red kites in the air. From the first gateway on the left of the track we found a single curlew, our first of the year. There were dozens of egrets, black winged stilts and 6 shelduck. The only waders were greenshank, redshank, Kentish and ringed plover and a solitary sanderling. 28° on the salt pans, no shade and no breeze. It is a remarkably tranquil place and we didn’t see another person in 2 hours. The Big Year nudges up to 196. I’ve got 9 days of this visit left and one more trip planned in November. Here we go again!

 

[HnehpetS]

Just before noon today, MA2203 just off MA2200 towards Cala Sant Vicenç - 30-40 large BoP including Griffon and Black Vultures and Booted Eagle.

 

[Matthebirder]

Hello Mike; I was interested in your flock of Grey Herons as have been reviewing my photos this week; we had a flock of about 15 circling over the bay off Son Real last week eventually heading back in land. At the time I wondered if they were likely to migrate to Africa; do you see this happening. Though we obviously get dozens roosting sometimes; it is rare to see tight groups 'migrating'?
Thanks (an old school birder!)

 

[Mike Montier]

Hi Matthebirder.
I’ve seen quite a few flocks of grey heron over the years, sometimes up to 70 birds.
Some go west and some go out to sea.
It is listed as a moderate migrant.
It’s a non-breeder but managed to do so in 1990 and 1991.
I believe things have changed a bit, as indeed they have for many herons and egrets.
Grey heron used to be seen in winter but was fairly scarce in summer from what I remember.
Now they are recorded in every month of the year but the big numbers are in the autumn, peaking in January, so they are therefore migrants.
It makes me laugh that I got my name in British Birds for finding a rarity in Kent.
A Little egret.
Now look what’s happened.
I went twitching to see a Great egret at Stodmarsh and a flock of Cattle egret in Cambridge.
Times have certainly changed.
Mike

 

[Matthebirder]

Thanks Mike, you must have enough to put together a book soon... ; I'm sure we would all buy one!