Mallorca 2024 (4 Viewers)

[mike puxley]

Hi Mike
I usually leave the finer points of difficult identification questions to those better equipped than me, but just for interest, I attach a few photos of our local birds.
Yours looks good to me for Mediterranean flycatcher but as the popular phrase goes: “what do I know?”
I hope you get a positive DNA result.
All the best.
Mike

Thank you for the excellent photos.

Certainly a head scratcher for those in the field. Think some leading Dutch Birders are involved now helping with the ID.
It’s been quite amusing on the Scilly Birders WhatsApp Group as they have photographs with ‘VAR’ lines on trying to assess the projection length of the primaries.
Some are complaining the lines have been drawn in the wrong place!!🙂

Just glad they have a sample for DNA analysis.

Regards
Mike

 

[Mike Montier]

Two days ago, as I reported, I caught the tail-end of the seabird passage from my balcony, in perfect conditions, a super-calm sea and hundreds of passing shearwaters.
Tonight was entirely the opposite. A miserable grey sky, a choppy sea with a very cold easterly wind. I was even more miserable than the weather.
Three hours of standing alone by an exposed headland seeing not much at all was testing my resolve, but if I have to give myself credit, then tenacity would be at the top of the list.
149 Scopoli’s and 616 Balearic shearwaters were the unimpressive totals.
I even took to photographing the local gulls of various ages so it must have been hard going.
Seawatchers must be at the madder end of the birding spectrum..excluding twitchers I suppose.
Mike

 

[StewB]

This bird has just turned up on the Isles of Scilly. Debate going on as to whether a spot or med flycatcher. Picture courtesy of Tim Jones. Any thoughts from the resident experts on Med Fly either way gratefully accepted. More pics available.
Ought to add that the IOS has a really good w/e just gone with migrant overshoots including purple heron, red-rumped swallow, pallid swift, hoopoe, woodchat shrike, 2 serin and 3 golden orioles.

I gather that “fecal matter” has been collected, so DNA confirmation, one way or the other, should follow!

 

[Roger Baddley]

Blackcap, wood sandpiper and great crested grebe seen today at Cami des Polls, Albufera.

 

[Stuart Hearne]

Hello everyone,
I hope you don't mind if I join your group. I have just arrived in Port de Pollensa and will be staying until a week on Saturday.

I've just had an afternoon stroll to the Boquer Finca - 4 Iberian Yellow Wagtails in the field with the sheep. Even at a distance they vibrate with electric yellow. 3 Ravens and then a worn Hoopoe, a female Pied Flycatcher and Mediterranean Flycatcher in the Pine Walk/Park. Not a bad start. Stuart

 

[Mike Montier]

Welcome Stuart
Thank you for posting, a good start as you say.
It will be very Interesting to see what you find, hopefully a couple of megas!
Good luck
Mike

 

[Stuart Hearne]

Albufera today in lovely sunshine. 3 Wood Sandpipers, 3 Snipe and a Common Sandpiper. 5 Little Terns and a Great Reed Warbler. Two or three singing Nightingales.

 

[Stuart Hearne]

Singing Great Read Warbler.

 

[Roger Baddley]

Seen today at Mortitx between 1045 and 1315 hrs.
Winchat
Pied flycatcher (3)
Black redstart
Cirl bunting
Griffin vulture
Bonelli’s eagle (2) displaying well
Spotted flycatcher
Common cuckoo (2)
Peregrine falcon

 

[Mike Montier]

Hi Stuart
Well done with the Little terns, a scarce bird here in Mallorca.
Can I put the news out please?
Mike

 

[Mike Montier]

Visiting birder Max has found some fantastic birds including Short-eared owl, a record group of 27 White storks, a female Pallid harrier, Red-footed falcon, Hobby and another rarity a couple of days ago, a Calandra lark, flying low and calling.
Phew! Just one of those would have done me.
Getting on site early really helps though.
Also: Ortolan bunting (Tony Soler) and a Rufous-tailed rock thrush (Biel)
Some wonderful birds have been seen recently but there is a shortage of common migrants so far.
Puzzling and there has been a long discussion on one of the forums as to why this may be.
I’ve been round my local patch here in Mondragó and I’ve seen hardly anything at all, normally by this time I would have seen plenty of Willow warblers, Pied flycatcher and Common redstart but nothing doing.
Mike

 

[Stuart Hearne]

Hi Mike,

Just been up to the Boquer farmhouse. Very few birds about but the fields below are totally bare. Too many goats and sheep?
There was a Chiffchaff, female Pied Flycatcher and a female Redstart in the Pine Avenue and a fly-through Hoopoe, so all was not lost.

 

[Ian Pollença]

Hello everyone. Arrived yesterday early p.m for a long weekend. Off to Albufera for a flying visit and on to a Little Bittern immediately and a very low flying Osprey. Then off to Albufereta and a Purple Heron showed well and Spotted/Med Flycatcher in the small wood. 2 Birders were staring up at a Tree and said they'd just seen a Wood Warbler; a quick walk around to the other side and there it was. This a.m at Albufera very early (too early as missed the Little Terns) but nice views of Nightingale, Squacco Heron and Great Red Warbler and another Osprey very close on the canal. Off to The Dep to see Thekla Lark, Whinchat, Whiskered Tern, Wood Sandpiper and Black Kite. Off to Maria de la Salut, no Lesser Kestrel for me but did see Booted Eagle and a close Woodchat Shrike. Finished off at Albufereta with a very close Whinchat. And a nice sunny day to boot. Cheers, Ian

 

[Geordie Dave]

I arrived back on Wednesday and have spent the last 2 days in the areas around Pollenca bay with visits each day to Albufereta and Can Cuarassa and a walk alongside the Duva/Habitat hotel and apartments. Thursday was fairly cold and birding very quiet, a tree pipit at Duva being the pick. Today was both warmer and more rewarding. Albufereta had 2 ospreys diving into the main pools in search of fish, there were corn buntings and serins on the mound, ringed, little ringed and Kentish plovers and a stone curlew at the back of the cultivated field at the finca. Best of all a cuckoo appeared in the field next to the high platform and there was a pair of wheatears next to the low platform. The cuckoo landed briefly in a bush before moving on towards the sea. At Can Cuarassa there was a single spotless starling on the usual roof, a whinchat and little else until a female montagus harrier appeared very low over the ground. It gave a lovely slow fly past less than 50 metres away, crossed the track and was then lost to view. An excellent start to this 3 weeks visit. Tomorrow morning the tower at Albercutx awaits!!

 

[Mike Montier]

Hi Stuart.
The Little terns are a scarce species here and I have an enquiry about what time you saw and photographed them as they are an important species to see in Mallorca.
If you could let us know, that would be helpful.
Thanks
Mike

 

[Phil Akers]

I`ve been waiting for a chance to post some recent photos from over the last 3 weeks or so and I`m still having big problems with my lap top and my Google photos is also playing up. And on top of all that my wife and I are in the middle of selling our house in Pollenca and moving back to the UK, so things have been pretty hectic. But anyway here we go.

The Great reed warbler, Collared Pratincole, Marbled Ducks, Squacco Heron, were at The Albufera. Tree Sparrow was at the Bus Depot at Son Bosc. Whinchat and Thekla Lark perched on the fence on the path to the Depuradora. Kestrel at S`Amarador. The Ruff at Es Cibbolar 2 / Albufera. Woodchat Shrike and Nightingale in my garden. Yellow Wagtail and Corn Bunting Albufereta. Great Crested Grebe Maristany. Red Kite the fields at Maria de Salut.

I might manage one more birding trip before we leave the Island and maybe there might be a few more photos.

Cheers Phil Akers

 

[Geordie Dave]

I spent the morning at Albercutx tower and enjoyed almost 4 hours on a beautiful sunny morning with GORA raptor migration monitoring group where it was good to catch up with local birding friends. After a slow start we were treated to 12+ marsh harriers, 3 white storks, 2 montagus harriers and a very close up female pallid harrier. Shortly after we had the first of 2 hobby. A cast of pallid and alpine swifts, a sparrowhawk and numerous hirundines added to the day list. Thank you GORA for your companionship.

 

[Scridifer]

I`ve been waiting for a chance to post some recent photos from over the last 3 weeks or so and I`m still having big problems with my lap top and my Google photos is also playing up. And on top of all that my wife and I are in the middle of selling our house in Pollenca and moving back to the UK, so things have been pretty hectic. But anyway here we go.

The Great reed warbler, Collared Pratincole, Marbled Ducks, Squacco Heron, were at The Albufera. Tree Sparrow was at the Bus Depot at Son Bosc. Whinchat and Thekla Lark perched on the fence on the path to the Depuradora. Kestrel at S`Amarador. The Ruff at Es Cibbolar 2 / Albufera. Woodchat Shrike and Nightingale in my garden. Yellow Wagtail and Corn Bunting Albufereta. Great Crested Grebe Maristany. Red Kite the fields at Maria de Salut.

I might manage one more birding trip before we leave the Island and maybe there might be a few more photos.

Cheers Phil Akers

Lovely photos Phil, thanks for sharing! Good luck with the move, hope all goes well!

Chris

 

[Stuart Hearne]

There are two Whiskered Terns at the far hide by the power station at Albufera. Poor photo on my phone through the scope.

 

[derban]

I`ve been waiting for a chance to post some recent photos from over the last 3 weeks or so and I`m still having big problems with my lap top and my Google photos is also playing up. And on top of all that my wife and I are in the middle of selling our house in Pollenca and moving back to the UK, so things have been pretty hectic. But anyway here we go.

The Great reed warbler, Collared Pratincole, Marbled Ducks, Squacco Heron, were at The Albufera. Tree Sparrow was at the Bus Depot at Son Bosc. Whinchat and Thekla Lark perched on the fence on the path to the Depuradora. Kestrel at S`Amarador. The Ruff at Es Cibbolar 2 / Albufera. Woodchat Shrike and Nightingale in my garden. Yellow Wagtail and Corn Bunting Albufereta. Great Crested Grebe Maristany. Red Kite the fields at Maria de Salut.

I might manage one more birding trip before we leave the Island and maybe there might be a few more photos.

Cheers Phil Akers

Lovely photos, thanks Phil, best wishes to you with your move and good birding in the UK!