Albufera Marsh

Albufera Marsh Mallorca, Balearic Islands, Spain

The best-known and most popular birding site in Mallorca, this important wetland finally became a designated nature reserve in the mid-1980s after being under threat from development for many years.

This area of marshland supports Little Bittern, Cattle and Little Egret and Black-crowned Night, Purple and Grey Herons, in addition there are Water Rail, Moorhen, and in winter, Eurasian Coot and Common Kingfisher. Marbled Duck bred here for the first time in 1997, Squacco Heron in 2000 and Purple Swamphen has been successfully reintroduced. Mallorca's first breeding of Common Tern took place here in 2001. Raptors include Osprey and Marsh Harrier with Eleonora's Falcon and passage Northern Hobby frequently hunting over the area. Red-footed Falcon is a rare but regular passage visitor. Usually hawking insects over the marsh are Red-rumped Swallow, Pallid and Alpine Swifts. The reedbeds hold Zitting Cisticola and Cetti's, Moustached, Reed and Great Reed Warblers as well as Reed Bunting with Wryneck, Hoopoe, Nightingale, and Woodchat Shrike in surrounding Scrub. European Serin and the Balearic race of Common Crossbill also occur, mainly in the roadside trees at the entrance.

A short distance further south on the coast road are some disused saltpans behind which is an area of scrub good for Stone-curlew, Common Quail, Greater Short-toed Lark and Tawny Pipit. The birds on the saltpans depend largely on water level, if favourable there are Ringed, Little Ringed and Kentish Plovers, Common Redshank, Greenshank and many smaller waders with numbers and variety greatest during spring passage. At this time of year all three marsh terns commonly occur and Roseate Tern was reported in April 2002, Mallorca's first record if accepted.

The area is also rich in flowers, especially orchids including Bee Ophrys apifera, Bumble-bee O.bombyliflora, Sawfly O.tenthredinifera and Tongue Orchid Serapias lingua as well as nearly twenty other species.

Albufera Marsh is behind the coast road just south of Alcudia on the east coast of Mallorca. The reserve is best entered by a footpath which leaves the coast road just south of the Hotel Esperanza and runs alongside a canal to a farm. There is a visitor centre with helpful staff who issue visitors with free permits, an observation tower and hides. Most birding visitors to Mallorca base themselves at Puerto Pollensa in the north-east where hotel and self-catering accommodation is plentiful.

Birds

Birds you can see here include:

Little Grebe, Great Bittern, Little Bittern, Black-crowned Night Heron, Squacco Heron, Cattle Egret, Little Egret, Grey Heron, Purple Heron, Eurasian Spoonbill, Greater Flamingo, Common Shelduck, Eurasian Wigeon, Gadwall, Common Teal, Mallard, Northern Pintail, Garganey, Northern Shoveler, Marbled Duck, Red-crested Pochard, Common Pochard, Tufted Duck, White-headed Duck, Western Honey-Buzzard, Black Kite, Marsh Harrier, Hen Harrier, Montagu's Harrier, Booted Eagle, Osprey, Red-footed Falcon, Eleonora's Falcon, Peregrine Falcon, Common Quail, Water Rail, Spotted Crake, Little Crake, Moorhen, Purple Swamphen, Eurasian Coot, Black-winged Stilt, Pied Avocet, Stone-curlew, Collared Pratincole, Little Ringed Plover, Ringed Plover, Kentish Plover, Golden Plover, Grey Plover, Northern Lapwing, Red Knot, Little Stint, Temminck's Stint, Curlew Sandpiper, Ruff, Common Snipe, Spotted Redshank, Common Redshank, Greenshank, Marsh Sandpiper, Green Sandpiper, Wood Sandpiper, Common Sandpiper, Turnstone, Black-headed Gull, Slender-billed Gull, Audouin's Gull, Yellow-legged Gull, Gull-billed Tern, Little Tern, Whiskered Tern, Black Tern, White-winged Tern, Turtle Dove, Common Cuckoo, Eurasian Scops Owl, Common Swift, Pallid Swift, Alpine Swift, Common Kingfisher, European Bee-eater, Hoopoe, Wryneck, Greater Short-toed Lark, Thekla Lark, Sand Martin, Eurasian Crag Martin, Barn Swallow, Red-rumped Swallow, House Martin, Tawny Pipit, Meadow Pipit, Red-throated Pipit, Water Pipit, Blue-headed Wagtail, White Wagtail, Nightingale, Bluethroat, Black-eared Wheatear, Cetti's Warbler, Zitting Cisticola, Moustached Warbler, Reed Warbler, Great Reed Warbler, Melodious Warbler, Sardinian Warbler, Common Chiffchaff, Firecrest, Spotted Flycatcher, Penduline Tit, Golden Oriole, Woodchat Shrike, Common Starling, European Serin, Balearic Crossbill, Reed Bunting

Content and images originally posted by Steve

Reviews

mr1967's review

Visited site in Sept 2002. Excellent area in which to wander. Very good hides / towers to observe from. Log maintained at visitor centre at which you can pick up information leaflet.

Good viewing of raptors over the marsh with farmland & salt marsh to also explore around the area. Overall (y)

Pros

• A large complex where you can easily spend a day!

Cons

• None

ikw101's review

A huge area of Phragmites dominated marshland just outside of Alcudia. Although it has the reputation of being one of the best sites within the western Mediterranean we were slightly disappointed and considering what we saw I'm not sure why. Probably because we knew there was a lot we missed! Unfortunately the problem with visiting this site so late on in the year is the fact that the reeds were approx 24ft/8m high. Therefore many of the views down the ditches were just not there and as a result we had to use the hides. Highlights included a group of 6 Marsh Harriers, watching an Osprey fishing from the Bishop Hide, Black-winged stilts everywhere, Night Herons by the main canal and an unexpected encounter with a Little Bittern whilst walking down a path. If wearing shorts or sandals watch out for ticks!

Marsh Harrier, Coot, Little Egret, Night Heron, Cetti's Warbler (very common), Barn Swallow, Hoopoe, Stonechat, Goldfinch, Little Grebe, Osprey, Little Bittern, Black-winged Stilt, Greenshank, Redshank, Snipe, Red-knobbed Coot, Pied Flycatcher, Spotted Flycatcher

Pros

• Massive area easy access

Cons

• Tourists with no binoculars and little interest