The Mediterranean island of Mallorca is one of those places where birding and non-birding hobbies can be combined with wonderful convenience. This is rather important to me when traveling with friends, as being able to record some interesting species without too much effort and still maximising the time I can share doing non-birding activities is tricky in places with low avian diversity. I was in Mallorca quite some time ago already, but since there is not that much to report on in the birding department from central Germany at this time of year, I’m planning to focus on some spots I visited in the past.
The beaches on Mallorca are, conveniently, a great place for birding. Not only the range-restricted Audouin’s Gulls are ever-present, but I also saw Blue Rock-Thrush and Eleonora’s Falcon. I was warned by my friends however not to stroll around the touristy beach with binoculars however, for obvious reasons.
The drier woodlands, farmland, and thickets were attractive to a whole range of passerines, and hence to me, with Woodchat Shrike, Common Nightingale and Sardinian Warbler being some fun sightings here. Red-legged Partridge was a lifer for me, but I did feel slightly unsatisfied when I ticked it, as the species was introduced on the island in the 13th century. Despite counting this bird, I did think that it would be nice to see it in mainland Spain or another area that constitutes its fully native distribution, i.e. without any human meddling. I now believe that this is a bit silly as the its exact distribution on the mainland has undoubtedly been affected by human activities over the millenia, so having the expectation of only ticking “fully wild” birds seems over-ambitious, unrealistic, and unnecessary. I guess everybody has their own cut-off of when to count and when not to count species. For example, I would not count a Bearded Vulture in the Alps, where they have been introduced over the last decades.
The most famous site for birding on Mallorca is undoubtedly the large s’Albufera wetland. I did not manage to do this place justice as I visited with my friends at midday, but we did see some good birds like Cetti’s Warbler, Western Swamphen, and Greater Flamingo. My friends enjoyed the Glossy Ibises most of all, so we spent a while watching these from the hides. It’s always fun when non-birding people find specific birds very attractive that you’ve stopped paying attention to yourself as you’ve seen them so frequently. Taking a step back like this is sometimes very refreshing.
We are considering another visit to Mallorca next summer, where we hope to explore the mountaineous areas in the north and east, apart from some of the smaller and quieter beaches we discovered on our last trip. It will be a challenge for me not to make a pursuit for the only endemic (Balearic Warbler) too much of a priority on that trip.
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