The Mediterranean island of Mallorca is a type of locations the place birding and non-birding hobbies might be mixed with fantastic comfort. That is slightly essential to me when touring with associates, as with the ability to file some attention-grabbing species with out an excessive amount of effort and nonetheless maximising the time I can share doing non-birding actions is hard in locations with low avian variety. I used to be in Mallorca fairly a while in the past already, however since there’s not that a lot to report on within the birding division from central Germany right now of 12 months, I’m planning to concentrate on some spots I visited prior to now.
The seashores on Mallorca are, conveniently, a terrific place for birding. Not solely the range-restricted Audouin’s Gulls are ever-present, however I additionally noticed Blue Rock-Thrush and Eleonora’s Falcon. I used to be warned by my associates nonetheless to not stroll across the touristy seaside with binoculars nonetheless, for apparent causes.
The drier woodlands, farmland, and thickets have been enticing to an entire vary of passerines, and therefore to me, with Woodchat Shrike, Widespread Nightingale and Sardinian Warbler being some enjoyable sightings right here. Pink-legged Partridge was a lifer for me, however I did really feel barely unhappy after I ticked it, because the species was launched on the island within the thirteenth century. Regardless of counting this hen, I did suppose that it could be good to see it in mainland Spain or one other space that constitutes its totally native distribution, i.e. with none human meddling. I now imagine that it is a bit foolish because the its precise distribution on the mainland has undoubtedly been affected by human actions over the millenia, so having the expectation of solely ticking “totally wild” birds appears over-ambitious, unrealistic, and pointless. I assume everyone has their very own cut-off of when to rely and when to not rely species. For instance, I might not rely a Bearded Vulture within the Alps, the place they’ve been launched over the past a long time.
Essentially the most well-known website for birding on Mallorca is undoubtedly the massive s’Albufera wetland. I didn’t handle to do that place justice as I visited with my associates at noon, however we did see some good birds like Cetti’s Warbler, Western Swamphen, and Higher Flamingo. My associates loved the Shiny Ibises most of all, so we spent some time watching these from the hides. It’s at all times enjoyable when non-birding individuals discover particular birds very enticing that you simply’ve stopped listening to your self as you’ve seen them so incessantly. Taking a step again like that is generally very refreshing.
We’re contemplating one other go to to Mallorca subsequent summer time, the place we hope to discover the mountaineous areas within the north and east, aside from among the smaller and quieter seashores we found on our final journey. It is going to be a problem for me to not make a pursuit for the one endemic (Balearic Warbler) an excessive amount of of a precedence on that journey.