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ZEISS DTI thermal imaging cameras. For more discoveries at night, and during the day.

Mallorca 2017 (2 Viewers)

I don't have the facts to back it up, but there seem to be far less Turtle doves this year. I have just been looking at one through my scope and what a beautiful bird it is. How anyone could blast these lovely doves out of the sky just for fun is beyond me. I guess some people are still living in the Stone Age. Mike

I remember when we went in 2015, we only saw two: one from the Palma-Inca motorway & one at Cala Murta on Formentor.
 
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Thanks everyone for all your posts, really good to know what is being seen, especially as I can't get out at the moment.
I am coming up north next Monday so I will look in on all your sites and hope most of the birds are still there. Mike
 
It was at the entrance just to the left of the gates. If I recall there are two very tall palms & the birds appear to be nesting in the top of the left hand one. The bird I saw was calling quite frequently. It was also in a dead tree looking down the hill with the farmhouse at your back immediately after passing through the gate. Seen on two consecutive visits.

I missed a few things when I went up Boquer last week in the thunderstorms - whereabouts was the Wryneck as will have another go early morning later in the week
 
A quick opportunistic trip to the start of the Boquer Valley with my youngest whilst the wife and eldest were at the medical centre resulted in Hoopoe and the target species, Wryneck. The latter was calling from the dead top of a bush on the hillside side of the path, just before the first gate. Many thanks to Mickelene for the loan of his bins :t:
 
A quick opportunistic trip to the start of the Boquer Valley with my youngest whilst the wife and eldest were at the medical centre resulted in Hoopoe and the target species, Wryneck. The latter was calling from the dead top of a bush on the hillside side of the path, just before the first gate. Many thanks to Mickelene for the loan of his bins :t:

Great to meet you this morning Phil. I pressed on into the boquer and saw a couple of crag martin amongst a throng of house martins. Also, very good views of two Eleanoras circling in the lower part of the valley up to twin rocks. No sight or sound of blue rock thrush..

Have a good trip to mortitx.
 
Great to meet you this morning Phil. I pressed on into the boquer and saw a couple of crag martin amongst a throng of house martins. Also, very good views of two Eleanoras circling in the lower part of the valley up to twin rocks. No sight or sound of blue rock thrush..

Have a good trip to mortitx.

Thanks also to Doody and Phil Turney for wryneck details.
 
Great to meet you this morning Phil. I pressed on into the boquer and saw a couple of crag martin amongst a throng of house martins. Also, very good views of two Eleanoras circling in the lower part of the valley up to twin rocks. No sight or sound of blue rock thrush..

Have a good trip to mortitx.

Didn't make it to Mortitx as I was lumbered with child care duties - instead I forced myself to do two circuits of Cuber Reservoir with the pram. It was absolute hell being forced to look at Black Vulture, Griffon Vulture, Red Kite, Booted Eagle, Eleonora's Falcon, Raven, Cirl Bunting, Crag Martins (feeding below me at the dam), Firecrest, Nightingale, Blue Rock Thrush (heard only) and of course Moltoni's Warbler. I found the latter surprisingly easy - two birds were on the opposite side of the road to the car park as soon as I got out of the car with probably at least three (and probably four) others in the stretch from the dam to a point 150 metres eastwards including an very young juveniles. Only water birds were a few YL Gulls and 2 Little Ringed Plover. Spectacular drive from Pollensa :t:

Is Mortitx feasible pushing a pram?
 
An early morning walk up Boquer did not produce the hoped for Wryneck,nor any raptors.Hoopoe down from the Finca,Crag Martins showing well and then the star of the show,a Balearic Warbler ln the short vegetation to the left of the track before you head down to sea.
 
Didn't make it to Mortitx as I was lumbered with child care duties - instead I forced myself to do two circuits of Cuber Reservoir with the pram..........

Is Mortitx feasible pushing a pram?

Sorry Phil, I think the first bit down to the vineyard would be difficult, the Mortitx path is nowhere near as good as cuber, and then you'd have to lug the pram over a very tall and steep stile.

What a fabulous haul you got at cuber! Delighted you picked up the cirl as you said it was one of your targets. Also you've inspired me to go and try for the moltoni's - I've never seen one.
 
Depuadora - Albufera

Bee eaters on the road in - population looks the most healthy I ve seen in quite a few years. Highlights from the platform - Peregrine, Eleonoras, Osprey, Spotless Starling, 4 Green & 1 Common Sandpiper. 2 female pochard & 1 Gadwall were unexpected. There maybe a a second Gadwall, dead on the bank. On one of the platforms there are 4 dead BH gulls - none appear predated so something appears to be on a killing spree or they've all succumbed to some poison or toxin?
Back in Campanet, a Stonechat visited the garden this morning and just had the first Booted Eagle circling low above our heads. Last night a LE Owl put in a brief appearance
 
Four marsh harriers, kestrel, green s/pipers, comm s/piper,hoopoe, tawny pipit, thekla lark, woodchat shrike at depuradora. Red kite nearby. Dead birds mentioned by others are very strange....
bee - eaters are an absolute delight.
However, the strangest spot of the day was after turning off main Pollensa - Port Poll road to Cala st Vincenc at 10.00 pm ish. After 100 m a pine marten ran in front of the car. Whole family got a clear look. Had no idea there were any on the island. Does anyone know whether there's a breeding population?
 
Hi Mickelene, yes, there is a resident population of Pine Marten in Mallorca. I don't have any figures but I do see them fairly regularly in most parts of the Island. I'm not sure where to find statistics for the total numbers but it must be considerable. I even saw one recently in my local Parc Mondrago. I will see if I can find out any more but if anyone knows anything, perhaps they would kindly post here. Thanks. Mike
 
Here's the abstract of a paper in Mammal Review 23(2):65 - 72 (depending who you read it was published either in 1993 or in 2008!).
"Between March and December 1990, a survey of Pine Marten Martes martes L. on the Balearic Islands of Minorca and Majorca was carried out. Pine Marten were found distributed over 55% of Minorca and occupied Aleppo Pine and Holm Oak forests, mediterranean shrublands and riparian/ cliff habitats. In Majorca, Pine Marten were found on 48% of the island and three broad physiographic areas, the Sierra de Tramuntana, Sierra de Levant and the Massif de Randa. Droppings were collected along four designated routes during five bimonthly intervals in Minorca to describe the Pine Marten's differential use of habitat types. The upland/open pine forest had the highest use index while the Holm Oak forest had the lowest. The number of Pine Marten faeces collected was greatest during the months of July-August. The Balearic Island Pine Marten populations were once on the verge of extinction; however, protection during the last 20 years has enabled the species to recover throughout most of the forested habitats on both islands. Resource managers must carefully monitor the Pine Marten populations to provide the species and its habitat with adequate protection and management in the future.".
Clearly things have changed a bit since then with sighting, like Mike's, in other places.
In all the years I've been going to Mallorca I've never actually seen on alive.
The same article was mentioned previously in message #290.
Martin
 
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Here's the abstract of a paper in Mammal Review 23(2):65 - 72 (depending who you read it was published either in 1993 or in 2008!).
"Between March and December 1990, a survey of Pine Marten Martes martes L. on the Balearic Islands of Minorca and Majorca was carried out. Pine Marten were found distributed over 55% of Minorca and occupied Aleppo Pine and Holm Oak forests, mediterranean shrublands and riparian/ cliff habitats. In Majorca, Pine Marten were found on 48% of the island and three broad physiographic areas, the Sierra de Tramuntana, Sierra de Levant and the Massif de Randa. Droppings were collected along four designated routes during five bimonthly intervals in Minorca to describe the Pine Marten's differential use of habitat types. The upland/open pine forest had the highest use index while the Holm Oak forest had the lowest. The number of Pine Marten faeces collected was greatest during the months of July-August. The Balearic Island Pine Marten populations were once on the verge of extinction; however, protection during the last 20 years has enabled the species to recover throughout most of the forested habitats on both islands. Resource managers must carefully monitor the Pine Marten populations to provide the species and its habitat with adequate protection and management in the future.".
Clearly things have changed a bit since then with sighting, like Mike's, in other places.
In all the years I've been going to Mallorca I've never actually seen on alive.
The same article was mentioned previously in message #290.
Martin


Thanks Mike and Martin,
Very interesting and widespread sightings bode well for this beautiful creature - and the diversity of the ecosystem that sustains it. Brilliant!
 
As always Martin, very many thanks. I really don't know how you do it. This thread would be much poorer without your input. I bet you've got a considerable library! Mike
 
Flying out tomorrow for a week- can't wait to be back here. I'm touching down in Palma at 9:30, meaning I will hopefully be able to have the afternoon out birding.

I note that the Western Reef Egret hasn't been seen for a few days- has anyone had any reports?

Many thanks once again!
 
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