Weather: overcast but bright & warm. From 11:30am.
A short drive from Canyamel & easy to find is Mallorca's premier birding site: s'Albufera. To my surprise most of the people wandering about were Brits, a change after the predominantly German towns of Canyamel & Cala Rajada.
Walking up the kilometre-long path to the visitors' centre passes a good-sized & noisy heronry dominated by Cattle Egret with a few Little Egret; the cattle egrets were in full buffed-up breeding plumage, busy getting busy. Sitting separately, aloof from the colony was a beautiful Night Heron, resplendent in white, with dark green crown & a long streamer - the first new life list addition of the day.
Before reaching the egret colony though, a great view of an overflying Osprey was had. It was fairly distant but it was obvious, even with the naked eye, that it was carrying a large fish: a successful hunt! Also overflying were Swift, but nearer to the ground amongst the reeds along the path were as many singing Cetti's as I've ever heard, but as usual no luck with actually seeing one, though Coot was seen in the river running along the path.
On another patch of water, visible before entering the visitors' centre, some striking ducks were visible & using the centre's guide-book I confirmed Red-Crested Pochard, a bird I found quite numerous on the reserve. On leaving the centre the sightings came thick & fast: plenty of House Sparrows, a Spotted Flycatcher, & singing Nightingale & Cetti's (neither of these two were seen though). The osprey briefly reappeared & then another raptor flew over, & because it was quite close I could pick out its buff underside. More obvious were its long, slender wings & tail, it was also larger than a hobby, & had a more relaxed flight, attributes which identified Eleonora's Falcon. Furthermore a good dozen or so of these impressive falcons were seen out over the distant part of the reserve viewable from the first hide: the CIM hide. On entering the hide not just the falcons were obvious, a wide range of species were seen on the muddy flats of the marsh. Most numerous were Black-Winged Stilt, Kentish Plover, & amongst them, Little-Ringed Plover. A lone, foraging bird with a distinctive curved bill identified Curlew Sandpiper & by way of contrast with the more familiar a Greenfinch flew over. Flitting amongst the reeds & the grazing buffalo were Great White Egret, & on the water Common Tern, Shoveler, Mallard & Grey Heron. Further out with the Eleonora's, a couple of Marsh Harrier briefly quartered & a Purple Heron also briefly took flight. Finally just before leaving the hide I was alerted by a fellow Brit birder to an exotic & strange looking bird, a Sacred Ibis, with wattled head & white plumage, which took its time feeding in an almost regal manner.
Finally moving on from the CIM hide, via the viewpoint, took us over the sa Roca Bridge & very close views of Crested Coot, a species reintroduced to s'Albufera. Also, on a nearby lagoon was a Little Grebe with three chicks.
The path towards to the Bishop hides passes through dense river-side foliage, like walking inside a hedgerow, & here the Cetti's Warbler were again in excellent song. This time however a couple of drab brown birds were spotted very briefly flitting about & after waiting & straining to see through the shadows of the undergrowth, finally a bona fide view of the elusive warbler! A couple hopped about on the ground or the low foliage with a distinctive cocked tail, occasionally bursting into song, a shy bird but at this point apparently oblivious to anyone's presence. Hopefully now I can see the bird in the UK, though I won't bank on it especially having observed first-hand its preference for shadowy undergrowth.
Visiting Bishop II hide first, with much less activity than CIM, highlighted the presence of a curious & tiny, but loud, bird that I wasn't familiar with. A closer view of one in flight showed a stubby tail & a sandy colour with some streaking. However throughout the day it was more usually heard delivering a song from flight though it was difficult to see due to its small size. I wasn't immediately able to ID this one but after checking the reserve's species list & other guides I decided I'd seen a Fan-Tailed Warbler or Zitting Cisticola, albeit briefly & not clearly.
From Bishop I hide a very close Snipe was rooting in the mud, along with little egret & black-winged stilt again, & a Moorhen on the lagoon's edge. A snoozing couple of ducks that I first took for hybrid mallards caught my attention when they un-tucked their heads, revealing a grey smudge around the eye & neat, uniform mottling to the plumage: Marbled Duck.
Heading back towards the centre, & a reluctant exit, took us past another Nightingale which was flushed by a loud family with kids walking past. Back across the bridge revealed a Gadwall couple, & back along the main path out an excellent view of a singing Sardinian Warbler as well as more familiar Goldfinch, Blackbird & Woodpigeon.
A nice walk, I only visited a fraction of the reserve but saw plenty, giving a big boost to the life list. If I were to return to do the rest I'd hire a bike like many other people had, in fact I reckon it'd be impossible to cover the ground in a reasonable time otherwise.
As a footnote, after s'Albufera was a drive up to Formentor, the mountainous northern peninsular of the island, during which I briefly spotted a Raven, & before that a group of unidentified raptors. Unfortunately the narrow winding road made it impossible to stop &/or look out the window long enough to see what they were!
38 species, 12 new.
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