Not A Load Of Bals!

 I've just returned from a week's holiday in the company of my non birding wife. We enjoyed some nice weather, plenty of food and drink and I managed to get out and about for a bit of nature spotting. Our holiday was based in Alcudia in the north east of the island and it's a great resort for birders as there are quite a few top sites nearby. Most of my wanderings were on foot though I did resort to public transport on one occasion.

Heron assortment

I paid two visits to the excellent Albufuera reserve and was rewarded on both occasions with some interesting wildlife. Although my efforts to see Moustached Warblers again were unsuccessful there was plenty of other good stuff to ease the pain of dipping. The reserve is an excellent spot for herons and the mixed heronry on the Grand Canal holds good numbers of Little and Cattle Egrets as well as Night Herons and a few Glossy Ibis. Elsewhere on the site I encountered Little Bittern and a Squacco Heron as well as more mundane fare in the shape of several Grey Herons. Matching the herons for stature though trouncing them in the flamboyance stakes were good numbers of Greater Flamingos. It's still a little early for the main rush of arctic waders yet but a small group of Little Stints had joined the resident Little Ringed and Kentish Plovers, sadly I didn't see the reported Collared Pratincole. Albufuera is home to a scheme to reintroduce  Crested Coots, Purple Gallinules and Red Crested Pochards to Majorca and I managed to see all three, it was hard to avoid the coots as they strolled around the feet of bemused birders. One more highlight worthy of mention was a flock of five Whiskered Terns that had stopped for a rest on their northward migration and showed well if a little distantly.

Waders

Another wetland reserve worthy of any birder's time is Albufereta situated between Alcudia and Puerto Pollenca. On this visit it was uncharacteristically a little dull, there was a small selection of waders but not much else. Good views of Corn Buntings were my main compensation for what was quite an arduous hike but this county rarity is always worth watching. A trip on one of the excellent local buses took me to the Boquer Valley where I hoped to find some Balearic Warblers as well as raptors. Not for the first time my quarry managed to stay hidden away though one sang long enough to increase my sense of frustration! Vultures saved the day from being a total bust as I saw three Griffons, my first on the island, and a single Black. A pair of Botted Eagles consisting of a dark and a pale phase bird was also memorable. My only Bee-eaters of the trip were also heard here as they passed overhead.

Majorcan miscellany.

When I wasn't gallivanting around premier birding sites I spent a bit of time walking around an open area interspersed with pine woods and farmland north of the almost bird free Lake Esperanza. A decent haul of birds was achieved with my favourite being a Wryneck calling from an old olive grove, some rubbish record shots were taken. Sharing the same tree was my only Woodchat Shrike of the trip - that was a very good five minute spell! With a soundtrack of calling Hoopoes and a chorus of Nightingales, Serins and Sardinian Warblers I enjoyed my wanders around the area. Our hotel was not without interest either as it was home to a small number of scrounging Audouin's and Yellow-legged Gulls. On one occasion while my wife Sandra and I were enjoying a lakeside drink our conversation was halted first by a passing male Hen Harrier and then a Cuckoo as both made their way northwards. My highlight however was a Long-eared Owl hunting around the grounds in the pre dawn gloom, I'm not sure who was more surprised - me or the local House Sparrows.

Hotel scrounger squad

Other wildlife proved to be quite elusive and it wasn't until the last few days before I encountered many butterflies. Small Whites and Speckled Woods were the commonest species and the former in particular was widespread. A single Red Admiral may have been a migrant though the other species were probably local. On my last day at Albufuera some sunny weather brought out Holly and Common Blues, a few Small Coppers and two Swallowtails. I spent quite a while standing next to the butterfly garden watching the latter chasing each other around. Not many dragonflies to report with just a single Lesser Emperor and a Black-tailed Skimmer on show. All in all it was a pretty good trip, Majorca is a great place for getting a spot of package holiday wildlife watching without breaking the bank.

Butterfly gallery.