Mallorca 2013 (2 Viewers)

ok here goes best of the weeks birds. Blog with pics later.
S'Albufera, Purple Herons, Little Bitten, Great White Egret, Little Stints, Curlew Sandpipers, Glossy Ibis(1), Redstart, searched hundreds of Swallows not 1 Red rump, Moustache Warbler, Booted eagle and Elenoras Falc. Wood Sand. Marble Duck, Nightingale, Nightjar but no Scops Owl this year.

Formentor, Whale Species 6 Baleric Shearwater, 25 Scopolis feeding with Whale. 1 Greater Flamingo. 12 Elenoras plent Pallied Swift, 4 Balearic Warbler, Melodious Warbler, Redstart, Pied Fly, blue Rock Thrush etc.

Cubar Res, black and Griffon Vultures, Tawny Pipit, Short toed lark and Cirl Bunting.

Son Real 3 Wryneck.

Campanet caves 30 + Bee eater

cap des salines 40+ Bee Eater, and another flock heard but not seen. More Scopolis following fishing boat.

as I say ill get a blog sorted with dates.

Hello Mike

Just returned from Dragonera; two great days and my first Balearic Shearwater call (2013-2014) for Dragonera- a lonely female.

There’s a lot information but very dispersed.

I must find time to get all this on a Balearic Islands Shearwater web. And this year we’ve finally started to prepare the material

Seabirds breed on predator free islands, and this is also true for both of our Shearwaters. Most of the colonies are found on small coastal island that are predator free. Some colonies can be found on the large islands, but they are very inaccessible (high cliffs of the island of Formentera. A shearwater predator refugee on large island.

Near Mallorca we have three well known and studied colonies: the National Park of Cabrera, the Natual Park of Dragonera and the Malgrats. These areas are also important breeding areas for Scopoli’s and other seabirds. There are also some breeding sites along the north Sierra de Tramuntana, this area needs is still been explored for unknown colonies.

Shearwaters (Balearic and Scopoli’s) breed on the high cliffs of Formentera, and several of the small coastal islands and islets surrounding Ibiza.

Menorca is a bit different. We have an important colony of Scopoli’s along the NW and NE coast of Menorca. Breeding in high cliff areas on the main island. Predation in these areas is a serious problem. Yelkouan type shearwaters breed on the NE coast of Menorca. The taxonomy of “Puffinus” shearwaters of Menorca is a bit confusing. All birds breeding on Menorca are of the Yelkouan type (size and plumage), but there is hybridization with Balearic DNA. The hybridized birds look like a Yelkouan. Any Yelkouan observed near Mallorca or Menorca, could be a Menorcan-Balearic-Yelkouan type Shearwater.

Shearwater Phenology - Balearic - Yelkouan birds of Menorca add 1-2 weeks.

Presence in the colony: September ---July
Laying: last week February - first week March
Hatching: Last week April
Fledging: First week July
NE-Atlantic - Portugal, France and UK: June-September. Non breeding birds start to move to the Atlantic in May. First year birds? We’re working on that mystery. We think that the birds of Menorca probably stay in the Mediterranean.
Feeding areas are seasonal, but they are always very coastal. Near the Balearic Islands they normally don’t follow the trawlers (they do follow trawlers off the coast of Catalunya). Birds can be observed feeding along th ecoat of Mallorca: Sóller, SW coast of Mallorca, Bay of Palma, Bay of Alcudia and Pollensa). They can feed in shallow waters, very near the coast. The birds are were the food is. With experience you can start to predict the best places and months.


Scopoli’s (I like to split them - they are easy to separate in the field and vocalizations are distinct).
Presence in the colonies: February--October
Laying: last weeks of May
Hatching: First week August
Fledgling: Last week October
South Atlantic - Namibia, etc...: October-February. Non breeding birds move to the Atlantic earlier.
Coastal and offshore feeding, a lot of feeding depends on the trawler fleet.

To fund our island restoration projects we’ve started to run boat tours to observe shearwaters in the area of Cabrera. We’ve started with Scopoli’s - our non critically endangered test shearwater, and the experience has been very good. This winter we’ll be starting with our critcally endangered Balearic.

I can get very exited with shearwaters. We could meet and have a coffee and a long talk about shearwaters; and observing shearwaters.

Regards

Miguel

Some links about Balearic:

A paper we published with some interesting information about movements and phenology:

http://www.plosone.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0033753

Some recent notes about our work on Dragonera:

http://www.birdguides.com/webzine/article.asp?a=3925&utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter

The Balearic Shearwater is ACAP listed. I'm helping John Cooper with the ACAP nesting site series (very soon information about Ibiza and Formentera):

http://www.acap.aq/index.php/es/novedades/ultimas-noticias/1300-acap-breeding-sites-no-3-sa-cella-sa-dragonera-mallorca-balearic-islands-home-of-the-balearic-shearwater

http://www.acap.aq/index.php/es/novedades/ultimas-noticias/1302-the-enigmatic-shearwaters-of-menorca-balearic-or-yelkouan

http://www.acap.aq/index.php/es/novedades/ultimas-noticias/1492-acap-breeding-sites-no-46-the-cabrera-archipelago-maritime-terrestrial-national-park-supports-balearic-shearwaters-in-the-absence-of-introduced-predators

Hello

About the whale of Formentor.

We've had a few observations of Fin whale this year. At least one observation from Formentor (2013).

I have a problem with the tail: a tail held in the air when diving, is typical of a Sperm whale. A species not very rare along the continental slope of Mallorca+Menorca.

A photo will help with the identification.

picture added in post 440 :t:

mcminn said:

Hello

About the whale of Formentor.

We've had a few observations of Fin whale this year. At least one observation from Formentor (2013).

I have a problem with the tail: a tail held in the air when diving, is typical of a Sperm whale. A species not very rare along the continental slope of Mallorca+Menorca.

A photo will help with the identification.

Click to expand...

I spent two fantastic days on the Island of Dragonera with Juhani Vilpo (Finland)

11-12 September

Dragonera Natural Park, Andratx, Mallorca

http://www.conselldemallorca.net/dragonera/?lang=EN

I met Jussi this spring photographing Balearic Shearwater, and we observed the first Eleonora’s returning to Dragonera.

I promised Jussi that we would return to Dragonera in September to photograph the Elonora's.

We had great views of the aerial display of the Eleonora’s near the colonies; some birds engaged in very serious upside down display showing intimidating talons.
An hour before sunset it started to rain. The falcons were flying in the rain, and getting quite wet. The rain stopped in an hour, and we could get a glimpse of the sunset; all the falcons were flying and shaking their bodies to get dry.

Most falcons were in active moult (body, tail and inner primaries).

Other observations:
Mediterranean Shag
Scopoli’s Shearwater - following trawlers returning to the port of Andratx - they breed on Dragonera and Pantaleu
Balearic Shearwater - female call, visiting island during the night
Booted Eagle - light and dark phase
Honey Buzzard - 2 indv. chased off by falcons
Osprey
Kestrel
Peregrine
Eleonora’s - 30 in the area of the Llebeig
Common sandpiper
Audouin’s Gull
YLG
Wood Pigeon - getting very abundant
Collard Dove
Tree pipit
Skylark
Wheatear
Whinchat
Blue Rock Thrush
Redstart
Sardinian Warbler
Willow Warbler
Golden Oriole
Linnet
Serin
Goldfinch

Red-veined Darter
* other two non identified dragonflies
Sea Squill in flower - very abundant

Whale Formentor

Its not a Sperm whale tale. Thats an smooth arching back when diving.
Its difficult to estimate size. Do you think it was really big?

I would like to send the photo to a good friend and cetacean specialist.

One of the birds sitting on the sea looks like a shearwater?

Compared to the Scopoli's shearwaters in the pic it didn't look that big? please do send . I have a video of this image if he would like it (but only of the tail.)

mcminn said:

Whale Formentor

Its not a Sperm whale tale. Thats an smooth arching back when diving.
Its difficult to estimate size. Do you think it was really big?

I would like to send the photo to a good friend and cetacean specialist.

One of the birds sitting on the sea looks like a shearwater?

Click to expand...

Flamingos

Hello!
Salobrar de Campos is high recommended this time of year too.
Yesterday my partner and me counted 234 Flamingos in Cami de sa Barrala, and we could read some rings.
Also there were lots of avocets in the other side (road to es Trenc), Black headed gulls, Black-winged stilt, Kentish Plover, Ringed Plover and Little Ringed Plover, Little Stint, Greenshank, Spotted redshank, Curlew Sandpiper, etc.
And we could enjoy three Red kite flying very close, two Booted eagle and three or four Marsh Harrier.

Regards
Cristina.

I envy your stay on Sa Dragonera

I´ve managed to stay there twice, both times surveying the moths. In fact I´ve co-authored a paper describing a species new to science from there Idaea acutipennis - a small geometrid moth. Until recently it´s the only place from which it is known. However, during a stay on Cabrera, I managed to catch a few more specimens. I´m shortly to publish another paper with the additional distribution record and a description of the first known female (the original specimens were just males). I suspect that it might be a coastal species which, due to habitat loss for tourism, etc., means that it is absent from Mallorca itself (or with a restiricted distribution) - but that´s really just a wild guess as there´s been so little work on the moths (relatively speaking) on the islands (the exception being at s´Albufera). We still know nothing of its biology.

Re the Whale:

If the birds are anything to go by then it appears to have been quite small - dophin sized?

Martin

may have met you both yesterday, thanks for pointing out the single Flamingo and the direction of the rest ;-) Don't forget the Grey Plover and Theckla Larks too ;-)

Cristina Fiol said:

Hello!
Salobrar de Campos is high recommended this time of year too.
Yesterday my partner and me counted 234 Flamingos in Cami de sa Barrala, and we could read some rings.
Also there were lots of avocets in the other side (road to es Trenc), Black headed gulls, Black-winged stilt, Kentish Plover, Ringed Plover and Little Ringed Plover, Little Stint, Greenshank, Spotted redshank, Curlew Sandpiper, etc.
And we could enjoy three Red kite flying very close, two Booted eagle and three or four Marsh Harrier.

Regards
Cristina.

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Spider

can anyone id this for me please too. Wasp Spider?

Hi Craig

Of a sort - the same genus. It´s a female Argiope lobata

Martin

honeym said:

Hi Craig

Of a sort - the same genus. It´s a female Argiope lobata

Martin

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brilliant thanks martin. big bugger.

Yes - up to 25mm body length but the male, like ´our´ wasp spider, is small - only 6mm

Hi Miguel. Wow! Many thanks indeed for taking so much time to explain the breeding grounds of the local Shearwaters, very comprehensive and I will keep a copy for future reference.
I can see that you really love the shearwaters.
Yes, I would very much like to meet up for coffee and talk about the shearwaters and other bird life of the Balearics. There is so much to learn, as always. Regards, Mike.

A young Woodchat, two Hoopoes, a Stone curlew, a Golden oriole and five Bee-eaters all in view at the same time in Felanitx this morning was pretty special. It made me 15 minutes late for my appointment but who cares? Mike

superb!

Mike Montier said:

A young Woodchat, two Hoopoes, a Stone curlew, a Golden oriole and five Bee-eaters all in view at the same time in Felanitx this morning was pretty special. It made me 15 minutes late for my appointment but who cares? Mike

Click to expand...

eagle33 said:

can anyone id this for me please too. Wasp Spider?

Click to expand...

Hi Craig

Here´s a shot of another wasp spider. I think this is Argiope bruennichi, just taken in s´Albufera - but not in the most photogenic of positions.

Martin

that's what I would expect form a Wasp Spider, the serrated edges to mine confused me somewhat but not now you told me what the spider really was. so thanks for that

honeym said:

Hi Craig

Here´s a shot of another wasp spider. I think this is Argiope bruennichi, just taken in s´Albufera - but not in the most photogenic of positions.

Martin

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Formentera cetacean

Hello

I've been studying the photo and doing some comparisons with photos. I also sent the photo to a good friend with experience with whales and dolphins. She has worked a long time in the area of Mallorca.

We both think its a tail of a Bottle-nosed Dolphin. Position of tail (horizontal), size, colour and shape. It looks like that the dolphin jumped out of the water; a large splash can be observed.

Bottle-nosed Dolphins are easy to observe in coastal waters of the Balearic Islands. Stripped Dolphin is more abundant in the Mediterranean, but its an offshore species, and not easy to observe from the coast.

Its always nice to observe dolphins. Today we observed three in the Marine Reserve of Cabrera.

Thank you for sharing.

eagle33 said:

Compared to the Scopoli's shearwaters in the pic it didn't look that big? please do send . I have a video of this image if he would like it (but only of the tail.)

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