Mallorca Birding Trip Report - Day 1 (Sunday 19th February 2017)

Mallorca – an idyllic Mediterranean island retreat, steeped in Spanish culture and popular with holidaymakers and tourists alike. The largest island in the Balearic archipelago, this beautiful location is packed full of both interesting and fascinating flora and fauna, with a number of notable bird species to be found here including Black Vultures, Marbled Ducks, Moustached Warblers, Red-knobbed Coots and of course the endemic Balearic Warbler. 

Found in just a handful of places on earth having recently been split from Marmora’s Warbler, finding this beautiful and charismatic Sylvia warbler is understandably the main reason for any birder’s trip to this stunning island, and we of course were no different. Allowing ourselves three days to track down this Mallorcan endemic, we planned our trip to maximise success with this species, hoping to catch up with our remaining targets in the process. 

Housekeeping:

Our trip to Mallorca involved exploring the Northern half of the island around Alcudia and Port de Pollença, incorporating Boquer Valley, Embassament de Cúber and Parc Natural de s'Albufera de Mallorca, with specific targets of Balearic Warbler, Black Vulture, Moustached Warbler and Red-knobbed Coot.  4 lifers and 70 species in total were seen during our 3 days in Mallorca, covering the 19th February – 21st February 2017.

We hired a car for the duration of the trip from Hertz and flights were direct return from Manchester to Palma. With four main targets encompassing three locations in Mallorca, from our base in Playa de Muro we had easy access to all of the key sites in the area, with no journey taking more than an hour. We stayed in a total of 2 hotels during the trip – a late arrival into Palma saw us stay in the town for the night at Hotel Hesperia Ciutat de Mallorca, before heading north the next day to our base at Viva Blue & Spa hotel – a self-catered apartment room complete with outside pool.

Viva Blue & Spa Hotel

Daily Diary

Day 1:

Arriving late on the Saturday evening at Palma airport, our after dark arrival left no opportunity for birding, instead navigating the short journey through town to our hotel for the night on the western outskirts of the city. 

Awaking bright and early the next morning to crystal clear skies and glorious sunshine we were out on the road early, the arterial motorway that cuts through the island making light work of our journey north to our first site of the trip – the famous and iconic Boquer Valley. 

The view down to the sea from the Boquer Valley

Passing through the delicate blossom orchards and olive groves as we neared the historic town of Pollença, a solitary Booted Eagle was our first bird of note as we travelled through the old fashioned farmland and terracotta buildings, shortly followed by a large vulture drifting effortlessly between two huge swathes of mountain. Stopping the car excitedly in the hope it could be a Black (Cinereous) Vulture – a new species for us both – our bins revealed chocolate brown tones and a structure too small to be our hoped for Black, the soaring figure instead being our first Griffon Vulture and in reality one of only two for our trip. 

The views from the Boquer Valley hillside

Reaching the small rocky car park nestled at the base of the Boquer Valley we began the gradual climb up the boulder-strewn hillside, a single Blackcap foraging in the white blossom of an orchard garden a reminder of the spring still to come back in the UK, while several Black Redstarts skipped amongst the parched grassland below. As expected, it wasn’t long before a stunning male Blue Rock Thrush flew in to view, our first of many in what is their traditional favoured mountain habitat, while a small number of Great Tits, Robins, Chaffinches and Goldfinches all chattered noisily from the stand of conifers lining the track.

Blue Rock Thrush

Manoeuvring through two sets of metal gates and through the courtyard of an abandoned Spanish villa before heading up the valley path, the thick shrubs and bushes taking over the dry terrain held an abundance of Sardinian Warblers, their scratchy songs emanating from between the thorns and occasionally treating us to a glimpse of their midnight black hoods and fierce, piercing scarlet eyes as they popped up to survey their territory. Serins also darted from branch to branch here, whizzing across our heads and performing their enchanting display flights, the buttery coloured males attempting to charm their female counterparts with bursts of cheery song while an aerial chase between Kestrel and Peregrine erupted in the skies above us.

Heading much further down the valley our feet trod the familiar and well-worn path that countless birders had inevitably walked over the years, all with the same end goal in mind and with eyes and ears alert for a snatch of song carrying on the breeze or a flash of deep dark grey disappearing in to a bush. We, like hundreds of others before us, were on the trail of the Balearic Warbler – endemic to Mallorca and the main reason for our visit to this Mediterranean island. 

Goats were in abundance at the Boquer Valley!

One of the most popular and well known sites on the island to find this charismatic Mallorcan endemic, Boquer Valley is notoriously productive at producing this coastal maquis specialist, with more records here than at any other site. Favouring the knee high scrub at the farthest end of the valley by the sea as opposed to the taller shrubs inhabited by the Sardinian Warblers earlier on in the route, it wasn’t long before a flash of dark grey caught my eye. 

Sure enough, raising my bins excitedly revealed our prize – our first Balearic Warbler, perched precariously on a patch of lilac flowers and belting out loud bursts of song across the valley. Success, and our Balearic endemic safely in the bag! 

Balearic Warbler!

Getting photos of this Mallorcan treasure was a different story however, and as quickly as he’d appeared he was gone, disappearing into the depths of the shrubs and taking another ten minutes to relocate slightly further down the slope. By this point, the pleasant sunshine of the morning had completely disappeared, leaving in its wake a cool sea breeze circulating around the valley. 

With the towering mountains putting the whole area into a dark shade, the temperature had also dropped dramatically, and it was perhaps a case of the lack of Mediterranean sun bringing a premature close to our Balearic Warbler concert. In a further two hour stake out we only heard the song twice more, and despite scrambling up and down the loose shale slope in an attempt to secure further views of perhaps two individuals, we only caught glimpses as they flew around the valley and clambered through the bare shrubs. 

Balearic Warbler

At one point we were able to fire off some record shots as one swayed on the top of a nearby bush, bright orange legs splayed and delicately feeding on the tiny spiders nestled amongst the buds, but on the whole they proved to be extremely tricky to photograph, rarely staying in one place for more than a couple of seconds and having a habit of completely vanishing without a trace into a patch of scrub. 

As well as the Balearic Warbler, we also stumbled across this Sombre Bee Orchid (Ophrys fusca), a new species of orchid for me. Finding just a solitary plant on the scree covered slope, this is a species native to the Mediterranean. 

With the temperature dropping further and with aching ankles and feet due to the challenging terrain, we decided to call it a day and make our way back down to the base of the valley, a flock of over 20 Ravens flying overhead a notable sight while several more Song and Blue Rock Thrushes darted over the scrubland. One particular male gave fantastic views perched on a favoured terracotta roof in the abandoned yard at the base of the mountain, the deep royal blue feathering glinting in the spring light under the floating white blossom petals. 

Blue Rock Thrush - I guess they do like rooftops after all...

With the afternoon to spare we decided to make our way through the mountains and towards the Embassament de Cúber, travelling along the elevated Ma-10 mountain road from Pollença to Fornalutx  in an attempt to locate one of the many Black Vultures that inhabit the island. Having missed them on mainland Spain during our previous visits we were keen to catch up with these magnificent birds, which can be found in good numbers soaring high up above the mountains on Mallorca. 

With Alex expertly manoeuvring the winding mountain rounds, we soaked up the incredible scenery and breath-taking panoramic views of this part of the island, a new vista at every turn and showcasing the natural charm that the Balearic islands hold. Black Redstarts and Robins darted out in front of the car on several occasions as we made our way higher up in to the mountains, demonstrating the sheer abundance of these species on the island. 

Black Redstarts were abundant on Mallorca

Arriving at Embassament de Cúber and parking up in the small car park, we scanned the surrounding hillsides, safe in the knowledge that this particular area was a hotspot for our target Black Vultures. Two Crag Martins zipped over the surrounding cliffs, dancing above the ledges and wheeling through the sky, their white tail windows shining through in the light, while a small handful of Cormorants fished the glassy waters of the reservoir itself. 

Embassament de Cúber

The donkeys at the reservoir were particularly friendly!

Suddenly, Alex called out that he had the vultures, two large black shapes circling distantly over the far mountainside. Scrambling out of the car to set up the scope, he got on them just as they disappeared behind the crags, unfortunately not reappearing again for me to take a look. The perils of limited baggage and only taking one scope! 

Mountain - minus the vultures!

With the thick fog and cloud rolling in to obscure the tops of the mountains, we decided to head in the direction the vultures appeared to be travelling, and emerging from a tunnel on the Mirador Ma-10 viewpoint slightly north of the Embassament, I spotted three large shapes soaring to our left. 

Black Vultures!

The viewpoint from Mirador Ma-10

Pulling over in an extremely well placed lay-by and getting the scope on the birds revealed we had indeed relocated our targets, and we watched as they proceeded to drop down on to the top of the mountainside to feed on a nearby carcass, dwarfing the Ravens already in attendance. 

Black Vultures feeding on a carcass on the mountainside

Two more birds, this time flying much lower down, soon appeared from the nearest cliffs, soaring effortlessly ahead and displaying their exceptional wingspan, before disappearing back in to the mist. Like flying barn doors, Black Vultures are significantly larger than the Griffon Vultures, and it was fantastic to successfully catch up with them and watch on as they fed.

Flying barn door!

Bizarrely, what was a deserted lay-by had now become packed full of German tourists in the space of 10 minutes, and with a solitary Red Kite drifting above us as the clouds rolled in subsequently hampering our view, pleased with our success we called it a day. 

The mountain where a few minutes earlier we had been watching the vultures feed, was now completely obscured by clouds!

Navigating the twisting mountain route once more we continued on to our hotel for the night, situated just south of Port d’Alcudia at Playa de Muro and positioned directly outside the famous Parc Natural de s'Albufera de Mallorca.

Parc Natural de s'Albufera de Mallorca - the view from our hotel!

Indeed, parking the car upon arrival and scanning out over the reed-fringed pool opposite the hotel complex, we instantly spotted 3 fine Auduoin’s Gulls roosting on the posts, a species that despite once being severely depleted in numbers has made an excellent comeback.

Auduoin's Gull

With our feet aching and after sampling the buffet offering at the hotel, we were well placed for exploring this fabulous reserve the following day, and pleased with our success for the day we headed to bed looking forward to the avian delights the wetlands would bring.