Day 1.
The flight passed and some hours later i landed at Palma de Mallorca around about midnight, the temperature is very pleasant and now all i need to do is wait 6 odd hours for the buses to start operating, around about 6am i take a bus from the airport into Palma de Mallorca on the journey it becomes clear i have missed my stop and have to back track via a taxi to the bus station. I wait some more time and eventually i am on a bus heading for Alcudia. Upon arrival at Alcudia i alight from the bus at Porto Alcudia and find a guest house called. Hostal Calma which was OK and suited my needs. I head out under the mistaken idea Alcudia is a small fishing village and soon i will be out of town and into good birding territory after walking around for an hour i realise i have made another mistake and chat with a taxi driver about the cost to get to Albufera at just over £10.00 i get in and realise that Alcudia is a huge resort as we travel a long way past rows and rows of tourist hotels.
But i have reached birding heaven Albufera and stare down the long path. Albufera is a huge marsh land popular with birdwatchers, walkers, and cyclist, on the walk to the visitors reception centre i do not see many birds but after the reception area deeper in the marsh new lifers start to appear. Purple Swamphens are feeding in one of the canals a Little Bittern stands motionless in the reeds, and Red Knobbed Coots are swimming around. Cettis Warblers have been calling constantly since i entered the park but getting a good view of one is frustrating. I wander around on the many paths within the reserve it is a lovely relaxing place to be in, bar the mosquitoes that are biting in the day. The combination of the night flight, no sleep and heat is taking its toll on me and i make the long walk back to the main road not so far from the entrance a brown dull bird with large eyes gets my attention a Nightingale.
At the main road it is simplicity itself to travel via public bus back to Porto Alcudia one bus, one road.
Entrance to Albufera
Alucida is geared up the package holiday crowd and is full of high rise hotels and tourist type restaurants. Porto Alcudia is the same but looks nicer with its harbour and old town area with many tourist type restaurants and prices to match not really my scene at all.
Day 2.
Up early and out, i grab a fresh bottle of water, and a nice looking salami baguette from a supermarket and take the bus back to Albufera. After the long walk up to the visitors centre i spend a bit of time here but no new birds seen it looks like most of the Summer migrants have departed to Africa. I take a new trial and end up in a bird hide seeing Stone Curlews, Kentish Plovers some still in breeding plumage and Marbled Ducks lazing about. I meet a couple of English birders here and we chat for a while, then i wander off to explore, at a bridge going over one of the canals i am drawn to a strange bird call and meters away below me i see a Moustached Warbler fantastic as this bird is very difficult to see in most of Europe.
Back at Porto Alcudia i look around for a cheap eating spot or even a bar that does not look expensive, i do not feel like paying over the odds to sit on my own eating a overpriced meal so opt for some cans of beer, bread, tomatoes, a tin of sardines and have a picnic tea back at my hotel.
Day 3.
I am giving the mosquitoes a rest today and heading to the Boquer Valley. Again it is simplicity itself to get here one bus one road all you need to do is stand on the other side of the road from the bus stop to Albufera. Puerto Pollenca is my destination then take the trial up to the finca and beyond. As i am still smoking it is a huff and a puff as well as a sweaty hike to reach the end of the valley and i am shamed when a fit elderly gent runs past me and on into the distance. The reason for all this exertion is to find the Balearic Warbler in the short grasses at the far end of the valley i am joined by one of the English birders i met yesterday but it was not to be no warbler bar Sardinian Warblers seen. On the way down the valley new birds seen are Booted Eagles and Stonechats, in the pine trees on the outskirts of Puerto Pollenca i see a Hoopoe feeding meters away from me. Back at base its more cans of beer and a supermarket style tea.
Heading up the Boquer Valley
Day 4.
Off to Albufereta today and take the Puerto Pollenca bus i am getting a dab hand at getting around via the bus service now. I alight the bus outside a tourist complex and walk behind it to the marsh area where there is a viewing hide over a pool but no new birds seen and i can not explore further into the marsh area. I head back to the main road and walk up to a side road and get fantastic views of a Cettis Warbler at last. I walk along the side round for a few miles without seeing any new birds bar a few Serin then i turn back towards the main road, on the way back an Alsatian comes charging across a field at me barking and snarling in this kind of situation something inside you takes over its called fight or flight and before i really know what it is i am doing i have charged the Alsatian the Alsatian stops running towards me i stop running at the Alsatian now he is stationary barking at me and i walk away from this confrontation.
In the afternoon i re visit Albufera for the last time no new birds seen but still a great place to wander around.
At the Balearic Warbler stake out
Day 5.
I am off to the Boquer Valley again today,. As i reach the finca i meet an English birder on his way down who informs me he has seen a Balearic Warbler just past the huge rocks leading up into the valley, as i approach this area i am on high alert and i see a bird that could have been a Balearic Warbler but it was to brief a view to identify i have missed my chance, but sometimes that is birdwatching one to come back for as the saying goes. I carry on to the end of the Valley and grill the area ever hopeful but no Balearic Warbler seen, after some hours i return to the huge rocks and at least i am rewarded by great views of Crag Martins. I linger at the huge rock area for a while before i make my way back to Porto Alcudia.
Day 6.
Son Real is the destination today and i take the bus to a place called Can Picafort down the coast, another huge tourist resort. I alight the bus at Can Picafort and now have no idea were i am going so i pop into a hotel and ask them directions and decide to go by taxi as it is not so far away and the price is OK. Son Real is a nature reserve, picnic site and home to some archaeological ruins and i get dropped of at the visitors centre. I head off walking to the coast and first pass some agricultural fields that have some Red Legged Partridge within them then onwards into probably the nicest scenery i visited on Mallorca. Pine trees, heather and gorse scrub land. I come across a hide in the woodland with a small drinking pool from this point i get great views of Crossbills, Cirl Buntngs and a late passage Male Redstart. After a while i wander off through the pine trees down to the sand dunes and low scrub and find a Thekla Lark. Back up in the wooded area near the visitors centre i get 2 new birds in quick succession close up views of a Firecrest in a pine tree then a Tawny Pipit walking around in the sand under the trees. As i have no transport i walk up to the main road maybe a bus will come at some point but whilst waiting i may as well try and hitch a lift and within 5 Min's i am being whisked back to Can Picafort in a hired car with 3 German tourists in it.
Typical habitat at Son Real.
Day 7.
My last day but i do have a full day as i am on a night flight back to Manchester. I check out of the hostel and leave my bag there to pick up later in the day. At the bus stop i get on a bus heading to Sa Colobra my destination is Lluc a monastery high up in the Tarmuntana mountain range the journey is spectacular as we climb up into the mountains the road is narrow and filled with cyclists. At Lluc the bus departs for So Colobra and will return in 4 hours to pick us up. Most folk making this journey are
doing so to have a look around the monastery for me its maybe a chance to see a vulture. I take a path called the path of the righteous which winds around a hill above the monastery at the top i get a fleeting glimpse of a large bird soaring away from me, later on a Booted Eagle puts on a show. There is not much happening up here so i descend to the monastery then take a side road leading down into a valley at this point a large bird appears in the sky, then another followed by a 3rd. Griffon Vultures clearly seen then a larger bird appears a Black Vulture and i can easily see the difference between the 2 birds fantastic and a great ending to the trip.
Conclusions.
Not a bad trip i added 23 new species to my life list, would i go again yes but i would go early in the year no later than the spring passage and maybe a bit earlier to track down the Balearic Warbler. Its dead easy to get around via the local buses. Alcudia is a bit of a tourist trap with prices to match but is a good location for the sites mentioned in this report. I found the locals to be good mannered and pleasant with me which was a bonus considering our reputation on the Island.
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