Mallorca 2017 (2 Viewers)

[Mike Montier]

Sorry Martin, I just cross-posted. So Mara found the Pallid Harrier too? What a fabulous spotter she is. It always makes me laugh when we are standing there with binoculars and telescopes and someone without any equipment sees the bird first. My wife does it all the time.
Mara was sitting on a rock calmly feeding the baby and found most of the birds. Amazing. Perhaps we talk too much. Mike

 

[s.g.]

couple of Curlew Sands and Bar T. Godwit salbufera 12th sept. and a distant Grey Plover at ES Salobrar 13th sept.
Steve.

 

[Josep Manchado]

Great weekend at Cap Salines

As Mike has said, it has been a very good weekend at the cape, the total of the 2 days has been the biggest flocks of booted eagles ever seen in Majorca, these are the figures:
Booted Eagle: 397
Honey buzzard: 52
kestrel: 9
Hobby: 6
Marsh harrier: 3
Sparrow hawk: 2
Black kite: 1
Pallid harrier: 1
Short toed eagle: 1 (the top of the day)
Scarlet rosefinch: 1 young

The next weekend more

 

[davercox]

It always makes me laugh when we are standing there with binoculars and telescopes and someone without any equipment sees the bird first. My wife does it all the time.

Some people (I'm not saying this is true of this lady) have astounding long-distance eyesight. I went once on a rather strange holiday to Tangier, where birding trips were available (free) for those who wanted to go, led by Bob Husband, whose non-birding wife was one such. Going along in the minibus, she would quite calmly announce an eagle about two miles away (naked eye) for her husband Bob to identify with his top-end optics. They made a great team !

 

[eagle33]

How rare is Scarlet rosefinch for the island.????

As Mike has said, it has been a very good weekend at the cape, the total of the 2 days has been the biggest flocks of booted eagles ever seen in Majorca, these are the figures:
Booted Eagle: 397
Honey buzzard: 52
kestrel: 9
Hobby: 6
Marsh harrier: 3
Sparrow hawk: 2
Black kite: 1
Pallid harrier: 1
Short toed eagle: 1 (the top of the day)
Scarlet rosefinch: 1 young

The next weekend more

 

[Houdiny]

How rare is Scarlet rosefinch for the island.????

Quite rare. I’ve found some records of it being on Cabrera, but I don’t know how often it occurs on Mallorca. I reckon one-bird-a-year-kind of rare.

Today’s very quiet. Three Honeybuzzards at the Cap, a handful of Booted Eagle and no sign of the Scarlet Rosefinch.

Cheers
Martin

 

[Josep Manchado]

How rare is Scarlet rosefinch for the island.????

Maybe it is the first time seen and identified in Majorca.
There are more or less:
20 views in Cabrera
2 views Formentera
1 view sa Dragonera
1 view Illa Aire

Always small islands.

 

[Houdiny]

Thanks Pep, very interesting!

 

[eagle33]

A very good find then. Wish it had been a few days earlier

QUOTE=Houdiny;3624906]Quite rare. I’ve found some records of it being on Cabrera, but I don’t know how often it occurs on Mallorca. I reckon one-bird-a-year-kind of rare.

Today’s very quiet. Three Honeybuzzards at the Cap, a handful of Booted Eagle and no sign of the Scarlet Rosefinch.

Cheers
Martin[/QUOTE]

 

[eagle33]

Great find

Maybe it is the first time seen and identified in Majorca.
There are more or less:
20 views in Cabrera
2 views Formentera
1 view sa Dragonera
1 view Illa Aire

Always small islands.

 

[Simon Wates]

Thanks Mike and Josep for the additional info on the Booted Eagles. I'm still confused whether they cross direct to Africa from Mallorca, despite leaving to the south. Is there an accepted theory or even proof, like a bird with a transmitter? I'm sure Booteds can make a fair distance over sea, though I'm surprised they can make it the 270kms to N.Africa.

Are Booteds seen in Ibiza or Cap de la Nau on the mainland - I wondered whether they veer back to the mainland via Ibiza and down to the Strait...? Also, is it known where they have left on the mainland before hopping to Mallorca?

Sorry for all the questions!

 

[Mike Montier]

Hi Simon, I would love to know the answers to your questions as well!
I really don’t know and I’m not sure if anyone does. We possibly need a satélite tag on one of them to find out. It would be very interesting. I will ask Lalo when he returns and maybe Maties knows something. I will post here but I rather fear it’s a mystery to all of us.
Some strong winds on the península blew them towards Mallorca I believe so it may be possible to at least see where they came from but as to where they go from Mallorca I just don’t know. Mike

 

[Josep Manchado]

Is there an accepted theory or even proof, like a bird with a transmitter? I'm sure Booteds can make a fair distance over sea, though I'm surprised they can make it the 270kms to N.Africa.

I am not sure what do you mean with this, asking a proof, in the spring it is even more obvious, we are on the Formentor Cape, the northern point on Majorca and we saw then flying directly to the north.

This weekend he have seen 400 and sure we havent seen many more of them, do you suggest they dont fly to Africa or than they are locals?
Sorry but maybe i dont understand your doubts correctly.

 

[Raptorash]

Bluethroats at the Depuradora

I would be grateful for comment on how scarce or otherwise bluethroat are on the island in the autumn ? This evening there were at least 3, possibly as many as 5 separate, individual bluethroat at the Depuradora. Not easy to pin down an accurate number as they were quite elusive around the margins of the settling tanks, but on one occasion 3 were in view at the same time, and overall there were 5 sightings in different parts of the habitat. Unfortunately none were adult males!

 

[Simon Wates]

I am not sure what do you mean with this, asking a proof, in the spring it is even more obvious, we are on the Formentor Cape, the northern point on Majorca and we saw then flying directly to the north.

This weekend he have seen 400 and sure we havent seen many more of them, do you suggest they dont fly to Africa or than they are locals?
Sorry but maybe i dont understand your doubts correctly.

Josep - What I meant was; is it known for sure that the autumn Booteds cross to Africa from Mallorca? I had understood that they left Mallorca southwards. When I mention proof or accepted theory I wondered simply if there had been any birds tracked or that it was accepted by the local birders/ornithologists that they do indeed cross to Africa from Mallorca.

I then wondered, that if it is not known for sure where they are heading, if in fact they cross back to the mainland...and then down to the Strait.

Its interesting to me because I watch 100s of late birds at Sagres, Portugal - practically all juvs (99%+ by annual census). Here they are well off course from the Strait - if your birds are also juvs. maybe we will see some of yours - IF its too windy in the Strait and yours go southeast instead of south

Many thanks

 

[Josep Manchado]

Josep - What I meant was; is it known for sure that the autumn Booteds cross to Africa from Mallorca? I had understood that they left Mallorca southwards. When I mention proof or accepted theory I wondered simply if there had been any birds tracked or that it was accepted by the local birders/ornithologists that they do indeed cross to Africa from Mallorca.

I then wondered, that if it is not known for sure where they are heading, if in fact they cross back to the mainland...and then down to the Strait.

Its interesting to me because I watch 100s of late birds at Sagres, Portugal - practically all juvs (99%+ by annual census). Here they are well off course from the Strait - if your birds are also juvs. maybe we will see some of yours - IF its too windy in the Strait and yours go southeast instead of south

Many thanks

If they do in spring why cant they do in autumm?
Many times they go directly to the south, even several degrees left of Cabrera; what other thing can they do? go miles inside the sea and then turn to the west? We have seen them arriving directly from the sea and departing directly to the sea.

 

[Josep Manchado]

Josep - What I meant was; is it known for sure that the autumn Booteds cross to Africa from Mallorca? I had understood that they left Mallorca southwards. When I mention proof or accepted theory I wondered simply if there had been any birds tracked or that it was accepted by the local birders/ornithologists that they do indeed cross to Africa from Mallorca.

I then wondered, that if it is not known for sure where they are heading, if in fact they cross back to the mainland...and then down to the Strait.

Its interesting to me because I watch 100s of late birds at Sagres, Portugal - practically all juvs (99%+ by annual census). Here they are well off course from the Strait - if your birds are also juvs. maybe we will see some of yours - IF its too windy in the Strait and yours go southeast instead of south

Many thanks

I think the best proof is that they do in the Spring, from the north of Majorca there are not another possibility to fly france or catalonia, more than 200 kms.

 

[eagle33]

Winter visitors to the island i believe, had a couple in the same area a few days ago. See them in the same area most years.

I would be grateful for comment on how scarce or otherwise bluethroat are on the island in the autumn ? This evening there were at least 3, possibly as many as 5 separate, individual bluethroat at the Depuradora. Not easy to pin down an accurate number as they were quite elusive around the margins of the settling tanks, but on one occasion 3 were in view at the same time, and overall there were 5 sightings in different parts of the habitat. Unfortunately none were adult males!

 

[Simon Wates]

Thanks Josep - though I'm still a bit confused :-O With regard to Booteds here what I think also is that older birds just head for the Strait without going to Sagres thereby avoiding making the mistakes they made on their first migration. Honey Buzzard juvs seem much, much better at it - or else there would be 1,000 + at Sagres (going off the Booted numbers at Sagres compared to the Strait). We barely get 100 birds all autumn, whereas Booted are in excess of 700 some autumns. Honey Buzzards are some 10x (or more) more numerous than Booted Eagles at the Strait.

I'm imagining that maybe juv Booted Eagles see Mallorca from the mainland.....and "try it out".

 

[s.g.]

A few shots of the Marsh Sandpiper first seen on the 15th sept at Sillot.
Steve.