Mallorca : 15th October 2015 : S’Albufera

The weather on the 14th had been pretty poor so we actually cancelled our birding plan for that day. Today we had another plan and that also went awry. We had planned a boat trip around Cap Formentor but the posters we had been getting our information from proved unreliable as the seasonal run had actually come to an end already.

A bit nonplussed by this we quickly thought that since we were close to the bus station we should just jump on the bus to Can Picafor and spend the day at S’Albufera. As we walked down the track from the entrance to the visitor centre we got a “life tick” in the shape of around ten Night Herons, all roosting in the bushes on the far bank of the canal. I had looked for these previously with no joy but here, suddenly, you couldn’t miss them. We were off to a good start and anticipated a great day walking around the huge site.

Elsewhere in the general environs there were plenty of Cetti’s Warblers and there seems always to be a Marsh Harrier or two quartering the reed beds.

At the Sa Roca pools there were Black-winged Stilts and a Common Sandpiper, Greenshank, a Snipe, several Purple Swamphens, a Red-knobbed Coot and even some Swallows. The new Les Padres hide had largely Gadwall although there was a trio of Wigeon as well.

We headed down to the Es Cibollar hides and, as usual, there was a bunch of bird photographers hogging the hide snapping their millionth photo of the Osprey that was systematically working its way through a fish, perched on the recumbent dead tree in the marshy land in front of the hide. There was a Green Sandpiper and a few Greenshank, some Teal and lots of Black-winged Stilts. A pair of Marsh Harriers patrolled the area.

We walked down to the Es Cibollar II Deck which we had not been to before, There was a bit of a shower but it did not last long. We met two people that we had seen in the hide before and they told us that a second Osprey had flown onto the log but we only saw three Marsh Harriers. We did get our first Cattle Egret of the trip – there were hundreds in Spring !!.

By this time the afternoon was wearing on so we headed back to the bus stop resonably happy with our unplanned visit to S’albufera. The only negative was the the mosquitos were starting to eat us !

Bird Sightings : S’Albufera Environs

Species	Count
Little Egret	2
Black-crowned Night Heron	10
Eurasian Marsh Harrier	2
Common Coot	2
Black-headed Gull	40
Audouin’s Gull	2
Cetti’s Warbler	4

Bird Sightings : S’Albufera : Sa Roca Pools

Species	Count
Mallard	40
Northern Shoveler	40
Common Teal	30
Grey Heron	2
Little Egret	4
Purple Swamphen	6
Common Moorhen	4
Red-knobbed Coot	1
Common Coot	8
Black-winged Stilt	6
Northern Lapwing	20
Common Sandpiper	1
Common Greenshank	1
Common Snipe	1
Common Wood Pigeon	6
Barn Swallow	6
House Sparrow	4

Bird Sightings : S’Albufera : Ses Pardes Hide

Species	Count
Gadwall	16
Eurasian Wigeon	3
Mallard	20

Bird Sightings : S’Albufera : Es Cibollar Pools

Species	Count
Mallard	20
Common Teal	4
Great Cormorant	2
Little Egret	8
Osprey	1
Eurasian Marsh Harrier	2
Black-winged Stilt	30
Green Sandpiper	1
Common Greenshank	3

Bird Sightings : S’Albufera : Es Cibollar II Deck

Species	Count
Little Egret	12
Cattle Egret	1
Eurasian Marsh Harrier	3
Barn Swallow	6

Mallorca : 15th October 2015 : S’Albufera