2005 Tour Narrative
One of the great things about Mallorca is its predictability; the other is its unpredictability! On the one hand there are the dependable specialties such as Black Vulture, Eleonora’s Falcon, Audouin’s Gull, Bee-eater, Hoopoe, Purple Heron, Serin, and Moustached, Sardinian, and Great Reed Warblers. Then there are the near-endemics such as Marmora’s (Balearic) Warbler, Woodchat Shrike (of the Balearic race badius), and Balearic Shearwater. And then the surprises, which this year ranged from Whiskered and White-winged Black Terns to Red-footed Falcon, Marbled Duck, and Greater Flamingo. We had great views of all of these, and mixed in was a superb assortment of waders, from Little and Temminck’s Stints to flocks of Ruff and Wood Sandpipers and great comparisons of Kentish, Ringed. and Little Ringed Plovers. Other highlights included Squacco and Night Herons, a couple of Scops Owls, Booted Eagle, Honey Buzzard, Osprey, Tawny Pipit, thousands of migrant Swifts and swallows, Cory’s Shearwater, Crossbills feeding their young outside the hotel, on the other side of the hotel a cracking Wryneck, Nightingales seen and heard, a small fall of Whinchats, Redstart, both Pied and Spotted Flycatchers, Blue Rock Thrush, Firecrest, and Cirl Bunting.
The scenery was ever changing with the birds, from the mountains around the reservoirs to the spectacular Formentor peninsula, the largest reedbed in Western Europe at S’Albufera, and the turquoise waters of Cap de ses Salines. Each day we ate delicious picnics at prime birding locations, where our only worries were not getting apple paté, serrano ham, or olives on our optics! And to top it all off, our hosts at the hotel were as friendly, as helpful, and as welcoming as ever.
James Lidster
Updated: March 2008