30 Apr 25

Day 8.

S'Albufera National Park.

It had to be done with another visit to to the National Park. This time Dawn and I chose bikes to get us around 14 km of the park.

Thank goodness we did as the information board suggested that to walk it, would take more than 3 ½ hours. Not that we weren't far off that, as the track at times was very bumpy.

Main highlights were two lifers a Crested Coot and a Purple Swamphen. The latter also known as Purple Gallinule.

Mammals Recorded:

Mallorcan horses

These white horses are Mallorcan horses and are also known as Mallorquin or Balearic horses.

Birds Recorded:
Cattle Egret

Purple Heron

Little Egret

Glossy Ibis

Shelduck

Mallard

Red-crested Pochard

2 Muscovy Duck (feral)

Marsh Harrier

Kestrel

Moorhen

Coot

1 Crested Coot (Lifer)

1 Purple Swamphen (Lifer)

1 Spotted Crake

Avocet

Black-winged Stilt

8 Ruff

4 Common Sandpiper

Black-headed Gull

Yellow-legged Gull

Common Tern

Sandwich Tern

Gull-billed Tern

Wood Pigeon

Collared Dove

Swift

15+ Bee-eater

Swallow

15+ Nightingale

2 Stonechat

Blackbird

3 Reed Warbler

2 Great Reed Warbler

Cetti's Warbler

Zitting Cisticola

Garden Warbler

Blackcap

Sardinian Warbler

1 Chiffchaff

Balearic Spotted Flycatcher

Great Tit

Blue Tit

Wren

House Sparrow

Goldfinch

Greenfinch

Serin

A Cattle Egret with nesting material.

A Red-crested Pochard.

Muscovy Ducks. Not native to Mallorca and undoubtedly feral birds.

A Marsh Harrier

This is my first.............

................ ever Crested Coot.

And here are two video clips of this unusual looking coot.

I heard it first, then saw it, but couldn't photograph it properly. The out of focus black blob centre frame is a Purple Swamphen. Honest!!

And this is exactly what I heard, before I saw it.

Five Ruff

In total there were 10 Ruff.

A Common Tern.

Not easy to spot, but there were at least 15 Bee-eaters flying very high over the reserve.

A female Stonechat hiding in amongst the reeds.

A very common warbler on Mallorca is the Sardinian Warbler.

Reptiles Recorded:

Red-eared Slider (Trachemys scripta elegans)

This invasive terrapin is.............

............a Red-eared Slider (Trachemys scripta elegans)

Dragonflies and Damselflies Recorded:

Blue-tailed Damselfly (Ischnura elegans)

A male Blue-tailed Damselfly.

Bees Recorded:

Great Banded Furrow Bee (Halictus scabiosae)

This is a Great Banded Furrow Bee (Halictus scabiosae) on a scabious sp. More on this bee here.

Butterflies Recorded:

Long-tailed Blue (Lampides boeticus)

A Long-tailed Blue (Lampides boeticus)

Crickets and Grasshoppers Recorded:

Egyptian Grasshopper (Anacridium aegyptium)

European mole cricket (Gryllotalpa gryllotalpa)

This is an Egyptian Grasshopper (Anacridium aegyptium) and.........

..............is one of the largest European grasshoppers, with adult males reaching 30-56 mm and females 46-70 mm in length.

No Photo 😞

Dawn did well on our bike ride around the reserve, and not only spotted the Red-eared Slider (Trachemys scripta elegans), but also an European mole cricket (Gryllotalpa gryllotalpa), which I just missed out on photographing, as it disappeared into the undergrowth. Here is a photo of one on Wikipedia here.

Plants Recorded:

Marsh Orchid (Anacamptis palustris robusta)

Marsh Orchid (Anacamptis palustris robusta). This subspecies of the Marsh Orchid,....................

..........which was on the point of extinction, can only be found in Mallorca and hardly anywhere else. In fact, it and another hybrid are unique to the Albufera Natural Park.

There are fair few orchids to be found on the reserve.

General Photographs:

Dawn and I hired bikes from the hotel and cycled around the reserve..........

..................... For 10 euros each to hire for the day we thought it was a pretty good deal.

A very comprehensive map of the reserve.

29 Apr 25

Day 7.

Alcudia (Old Town)

It was market day in Old Town Alcudia,. So having waited for a bus that wasn't fully loaded, Dawn and I headed off to see what it was like.

It was actually pretty good, but I must say that a good 70% of the stalls are geared up for women and children. So Dawn was pretty happy.

After having walked around the market for a good 2 hours we had a look at the area where we saw the pair of Hoopoes last time we were here. And we weren't disappointed as both parents were continually flying back and forth to the nest. 


Birds Recorded today including those seen on the walk to the bus stop and back:
1 Cattle Egret

Yellow-legged Gull

Wood Pigeon

Collared Dove

Swift

2 Hoopoe

House Martin

Blackbird

Sardinian Warbler

Balearic Spotted Flycatcher

Great Tit

House Sparrow

Goldfinch

Greenfinch

Serin

Hoopoe

Sardinian Warbler

Balearic Spotted Flycatcher.

Butterflies recorded:

Southern Small White (Pieris mannii)

Southern Speckled Wood (Pararge aegeria aegeria)

African Monarch (Danaus chrysippus)

Cleopatra (Gonepteryx cleopatra balearica) - Sub-species

Swallowtail (Papilio machaon)

Plants Recorded:

Dragon fruit (Selenicereus undatus)

This is Dragon fruit (Selenicereus undatus) and goes by the name of pitaya or pitahaya in Mallorca. It is the fruit of several cactus species indigenous to the region of southern Mexico. It is also grown in Mallorca and sold at markets.

28 Apr 25

Day 6.

Platja de Muro

It was a morning walk in our local area which saw us walking from the hotel down to the English Bridge (Entrance to Parc Natural de s'Albufera de Mallorca) and then returning on roads close to the wetlands here.

Birds Recorded:
Cormorant

Cattle Egret

1 Great Egret

Little Egret

Glossy Ibis

Mallard

Kestrel

Moorhen

Black-headed Gull

Yellow-legged Gull

Common Tern

Gull-billed Tern

Wood Pigeon

Collared Dove

Swift

1 Hoopoe

Sardinian Warbler

Continental Coal Tit

Great Tit

Blue Tit

Raven

House Sparrow

Goldfinch

Greenfinch

Serin

Great White Egret

A Common Tern

A Sardinian Warbler and a very common warbler to be found on the island.

Crustaceans Recorded:

Marbled Rock Crab (Pachygrapsus marmoratus)

Marbled Rock Crab (Pachygrapsus marmoratus)

Butterflies Recorded:

Southern Small White (Pieris mannii)

Cleopatra (Gonepteryx cleopatra balearica) - Sub-species

Well I was certainly caught out by this stunning yellow butterfly. For the past few days I assumed that what I was seeing were either Brimstones or Clouded Yellows. Well apparently not, they have all been Cleopatra butterflies (Gonepteryx cleopatra balearica). More on this butterfly here.

Plants Recorded:

Cade Juniper (Juniperus oxycedrus)

False Sowthistle (Reichardia tingitana)

Mediterranean Linseed (Bellardia trixago)

Curry Plants (Helichrysum stoechas)

This is Cade Juniper (Juniperus oxycedrus) and is a native species of juniper found in the Mediterranean...

...It also goes by the name of Cade, Prickly Juniper, Prickly Cedar or Sharp Cedar, and grows on a variety of rocky sites from sea level.

These flowers alongside the Canal de Siurana...........

............are False Sowthistles (Reichardia tingitana). More on this plant here.

This is..........

...............Mediterranean Linseed (Bellardia trixago). More on this plant here.

These yellow flowered plants are members of the Daisy Family and are called.........

...........Curry Plants (Helichrysum stoechas)..........

............and are also known as Everlasting Flowers. It is native to the Mediterranean region, including Mallorca. More on this plant here.

General Photos:

This Pont des Anglesos (English Bridge) crossing the Canal de Siurana here, next to the main entrance to Albufera Natural Park here.

All along the coastline there is an......

 .....................ongoing restoration programme to............

.............protect the Dunes. This area here is part of that programme.

And its not just the dunes but also the birds that are being protected. Here this..........

...........stretch of land running alongside the Siurana Canal has been fenced off to protect breeding Kentish Plovers.

Looking north from the Siurana Canal is Port d'Alcúdia here.

And looking back along the Siurana Canal towards the English Bridge.

Our Hotel we stayed in. The Rei del Mediterrani here, with a.......

........fantastic backdrop.

Ships today:

This is the Spanish Passenger/Ro-Ro Cargo Ship "Martin I Soler" anchored up in Alcudia Port. More on this vessel here.

One of the many "Super Yachts" to be seen in Alcudia Bay.

----------------------------

Hotel Grounds

This evening just as the sun was setting, eight Greater Flamingos', a Night Heron, a Purple Heron and several Yellow-legged Gulls were noted heading to their respective roosts.

Also seen were pipistrelle-type bats and large possibly Horseshoe bats.