I have just returned from the sunny isle of Menorca. The little, quieter and more thoughtful
sister to the louder and more brash Majorca.
Of course Majorca is the birding capital of the islands, shouting loudly
with Black Vultures and Eleonoras falcons.
Menorca looks on at its loud sibling and rolls her eyes and
gives a quiet tut. She is far more
subtle. The birds are residing on her
furtile soil and in the heated air. But
you have to work for them. The bounty is
there!
A short transfer from Mahon airport brought us to the resort
of Cal En Porter. On the way I spied a
distant dark bird spiraling in the sky.
A Booted eagle I assumed. A first
for me J
At the resort we unpacked and sorted ourselves out. I immediately made good use of the All
Inclusive facilities with a quick pint of Estrella. The family jumped about in the pool whilst I
kept my eye in the sky.
Collared doves, Sparrows and Rock Doves were everywhere
providing some entertainment. I decided
it was time to take a dip as the heat was quite intense. My british body, more accustomed to rain and
wind was overheating.
Whilst in the middle of the pool a large brown shape circled
low. A Booted Eagle! He eyed me up,
probably wondering what the white, hairy thing was looking up at him. I splashed and gurgled my way out of the pool
and unzipped my bag (a process in itself, the zips were jamming and I was
generally fumbling about the place)
By the time I had sorted myself out the eagle was already thinking about departing
What is that funny human doing with that long tube?
The next day I woke up early and made a beeline for some
marshy land behind the main beach.
Exotic...
Hmmm...
Loads of these, some quite big (more on that in the next episode)
Then I made a bit of a discovery. A trail that took me into a gorge. Stunning scenery and not a soul in
sight. But plenty of little birds everywhere,
and some slightly bigger ones as well!
Early morning (very early!)
Sun slowly rising
Loads of these fellas
Sadly this photo doesnt really highlight this spiders size. It was like our Garden spider but pumped up on steroids (perhaps he was All Inclusive ice creams that did it)
Spotted Flycatcher
Barn swallows (I think)
Happy to see this one! Blue Rock Thrush (young one)
Funny look cactus thing
Woodchat Shrike
No idea- if someone knows please tell me...
Nightingale ;-)
Hoopoe :-)
As the sun rose across the countryside I decided it was time
to return for some All Inclusive scoffing and drinking.
Part 2 to follow…
My first thoughts were maybe a Juvenile Yellow Wagtail?
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