Mallorca.............Part 1

Two weeks in Northern Mallorca in the Spring has been our destination for the past nineteen years. This year, although the weather was somewhat disappointing, we managed to visit most of our usual haunts and photograph some of the rich bird life usually present in April/early May. We always stay in Puerto Pollensa and with the Boquer Valley only a few minutes away this is often visited daily! However on this occasion there was less activity and we were told by other birders that a lot of the migrants had 'gone through' three weeks earlier . However there were still the 'regulars'.....

The very first bird was a Blue Rock Thrush on the approach track in an olive tree....a location in which we had never seen one before, as they are usually much higher up and seen on rocky outcrops. We only saw one other this year which was most unusual.

Booted Eagles are the commonest raptor although we usually see Eleanoras Falcons but they had not arrived from their winter quarters in Madagascar.

 Hoopoes are reasonably easy to spot !






Crag Martins are also easy to spot but difficult to photograph as they career around the rock faces at a rate of knots.

Wrynecks are always sought after by visiting birders but this one was quite obliging if you timed your visit to coincide with its own  regular visits to a dead palm tree.

 Wrynecks.... unusual looking birds of the woodpecker family.

Cirl Buntings are few and far between but we were fortunate on one occasion

Conversely Sardinian Warblers are evereywhere!

The most common migrants were Flycatchers, both Spotted and Pied...here is a female Pied .

An area just south of Puerto Pollensa known as Can Cuarassa can produce some good birds and was a  location we visited regularly. There are two small lakes and several smaller areas of fresh water  which attract several species.
Black Winged Stilts are always present, several pairs with nests.

A Common Sandpiper was present during most of our visits ...

whilst this Cormorant paid regular visits  along with a regular Little Grebe

Yellow Wagtails (iberriae) were common ...

Male...

..and female.

  Zitting Cisticolas are common throughout the area and easily noticed by their constant 'zit-zit' flight call...this photo I believe is a juvenile.

 On one occasion we saw some high flying Bee Eaters

One of my favourite birds!

...but it wasn't until later on in a different location that we were rewarded with a few closer views.

On another occasion we found a Squacco Heron in a Tamarisk bush.

It was actually on our first visit during the first week we had a real treat when a distant Black Stork flew over and although distant, instantly recognisable.There are not many sightings of this bird in Mallorca each year so we were fortunate.

..........................to be continued.