S'Albufera Nature Reserve - Formentor Peninsula

With the threat of strong easterly winds we decided to pay a visit to S’Albufera Nature Reserve this morning in the forlorn hope of seeing the reported Baillon’s Crake, which we didn’t of course. However a male Eurasian Golden Oriole greeted our arrival and we also saw Great White Egret and Great Reed Warbler before the masses arrived early this morning. We visited 6 hides during the course of our visit before lunch and enjoyed seeing a good selection of species at quite close range. Highlights from this morning include Marbled Ducks, Red-knobbed Coots, a flock of approx. 12 summer-plumaged Spotted Redshanks, 1 or 2 Collared Pratincoles, Common Terns and a couple of pairs of Garganey.

Collared Pratincole

Little Egret

Western Marsh Harrier

Spotted Redshanks (left)

Western Swamphen

Zitting Cisticola

Red-knobbed Coot

More Western Marsh Harriers

After lunch at our finca we drove to the lighthouse at the end of Formentor Peninsula in near gale-force winds and didn’t see a lot apart from some terrific scenery, a Peregrine Falcon and some Eurasian Crag-Martins. 

Formentor Peninsula

So we didn’t dally here and dropped into the base of the Bocquer Valley which was also quiet and a small wood opposite was similarly quiet. So we returned to our base in the rural Mallorcan countryside for an early finish, a few drinks and some time to relax and enjoy our final dinner together.

Tramuntana Mountains - Albufureta Marhes

The winding mountainous road up into the Tramuntana Mountains and on to Cuber reservoir was very scenic to say the least. We even managed to avoid the streams of cyclists to a large extent and made reasonably good time before arriving at this lovely spot. 

Cuber reservoir

We followed the path alongside the reservoir in glorious sunshine until the dam and despite failing to find any Moltoni’s Warblers enjoyed a number of excellent sightings beginning with the first of maybe 6 or 7 Eurasian Wrynecks. 

Eurasian Wryneck

There were others calling in the area and we estimated up to a dozen birds present in the area. An amazingly high density for what can be a pretty tricky species to find on occasions. Well, we also managed to finally track down a little group of Balearic Red Crossbills – not a species in its own right (yet) but the bill is noticeably thicker and chunkier than birds in the UK……. 

Balearic Red Crossbill

We watched the yellow-orange male for ages feeding on pine cones alongside the slightly more dowdy Mrs Crossbill and a streaky juvenile was also present. Moving on, a very inquisitive Common Firecrest came down to check us out and also gave prolonged views, even hovering over the path for a few seconds. What a photo that would have been! 

Common Firecrest

Once at the dam we sat down and scanned the crags and peaks all around for raptors, all the time serenaded by the beautiful song of a Common Nightingale in the valley below. Our scanning was worthwhile and revealed a pair of displaying Bonelli’s Eagles, several Eurasian Griffons and eventually a huge Cinereous Vulture. It was hard to drag ourselves away but we had a lunch date and drove back down to the coastal plain where we failed to avoid the hordes of cyclists!

After another delicious lunch back at the finca we drove the short distance to Albufereta Marsh where we saw an Eurasian Spoonbill and a bunch of commoner species at some distance. There didn’t seem any point in lingering so we headed to another good little site that used to be a series of old salt pans and which are now some lagoons that can often be productive. Out on the water we saw a few Red-crested Pochards, as well as Sand Martinand a singing Great Reed Warbler. 

Red-crested Pochards

And again we didn’t linger as there was one more site I wanted to visit and as it was early evening I was hoping our timing was going to be perfect.  So we found ourselves on the other side of S’Albufera Marshes and our walk certainly produced the goods as we followed a trail past some lagoons and headed out into a vast reedbed. Sure enough we soon heard the distinctive refrain of a singing Moustached Warbler and after a bit of searching managed to get several views of this much-wanted species from its reedy songpost. Also in the area were 3 pairs of Marbled Duck, plenty of singing Cetti’s Warblers, and a pair of Garganey amongst others.

Marbled Duck

This evening we finally saw a pair of Eurasian Scops Owls perched and in my spotlight, as well as a Western Barn Owl flying over to round of a really good day.

Eurasian Scops Owl