Mallorca - Putting the Boot in!

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So I had two weeks in Mallorca. Very nice it was to but I also just happened to take my Camera and Bins and a few random lenses and we just happened to end up at a few choice wild life spots, randomly of course.

Let me start by giving a bit of a big shout out and nod to the EFRS's tame Raptor Sage. Non other than your very own Nick P Williams, or NPW as we like to call him. What this guy doesn't know about Raptors isn't worth knowing. Send him a pic of a fuzzy black blob and he will tell you what that Pale morph, second calendar year Booted Eagle had for breakfast!! So with that in mind the majority of the titles of the raptors where provided by NPW and it's not me having a sudden leap up the food chain and actually knowing what I'm looking at.

Mallorca, Sunny isn't it?...............

There were Spotted Flycatchers fighting House Martins for the last of the flies

First call of nature was oop north at the magnificent and very large S'Abufera Reserve. It's a bit Shapwick / Hamwall but the reeds are about twenty feet tall so walking the paths is a bit of a let down since you can't actually see anything at all! Once at a raised platform it's much better and most offer great views over the reeds including the power station and rear of the hotels in Port d'Alcudia.

Short sighted Cattle Egret

Through the glass of the side window int eh hide we were in I saw these three chaps. I've never sen Stone Curlews before but have always been intrigued by them. The don't look like what they are, waders. They look like young Raptors with their colour and big eyes. Very odd bird to me.

Well camouflaged Stone Curlews

A couple of very distant Purple Herons wandered around. A first for me

Stone Chats where a'plenty

A great vantage point was a raised platform overlooking the very tall reeds with a nice channel in front of it. Climbing to the top I was greated with a young German guy with a small beat box pumping out some Kraut-Rap. Quit a bazaar sight and sound considering where I was!

Gadwall

Great Crested Grebe and young

Then something odd happened. I am sometimes prone or rather often prone to compacency. I will look at something and in a moment of 'birding turets' where I think a bird is one thing then blurt out another name (I see a Cuckoo and call Woodpecker), I see what my brain tells me is a Female Marsh Harrier. It's close and slow. I snap....

The moment passes. I'm happy and carry on admiring the rest the place has to offer.

Booted Eagle (Adult Pale Morph) A first again for me. Although I didn't know at the time. I assumed Osprey

Booted Eagle (Adult Pale Morph)

Little Egret

Just as I was wondering where everything was a small motor boat, probably the wardens, went back in a channel close by which instantly put everything up. Most notably this flock of Night Herons

and Cattle Egret in full bloom

A REAL Female Marsh Harrier

Male Night Heron

Female Night Heron

Then that 'Female Marsh harrier' came back......

It was at this point my brain got into gear and I realised what it really was!!!

Osprey with catch

This is my favourite

Off to devour

Cattle Egret looking a little bemused as to what just happened and probably being thankful for not being a fish!

The only macro of the day. Ants enjoying the beer spills from the German Student.

Yet another first for me. A Squacco Heron popped down and had a wander in the reeds before moving on.

S'Albufera is noted for these reintroduced and aptly named Red-knobbed Coot

Great site that really needs a couple of days to do it justice. Bit of a home from home particularly since Shapwick and Hamwall have had most of those I saw over the past couple of weeks. How ironic!

So on to a bit of an old stomping ground for me, Formentor. Many years ago in my hill walking days I came here with a mate and had a week of nothing but mountain walking. I remember it well. Fantastic knife edge ridges with overhangs looking down at nothing but blue sea, perfect sticky limestone you can run up near vertical faces.

This time I was after other prizes at the light house.

Eleonora's Falcon, 2nd calendar year dark morph

Been there, done that!

Some more Spotted Fly Catchers

Dark Morph Eleo (As us pro's call them :¬D )

When this Spanish Air force Aerospatiale SA 330J Puma came showing off I had a funny feeling. I had an inkling that the pair of Eleo's would come back pretty quickly and closer following the path of the helicopter. If I was a raptor I would to. A bit like following a plowing tractor that would churn up and flush out prey. It worked and they did.

Eleonora's Falcon, adult pale morph

Grabbing some flushed prey

Kestrel, 2nd calendar year male was also spooked.

Pale Morph Eleo

It was great watching these hobby/Peregrine-esk birds hanging in the breeze over the light house. No one else was in the least interested in them. Probably just as well.

Another day snatched was a trip out to archipelago of Cabrera. A completely designated nature reserve. Brilliant. I had a bit of a wander but unfortunately there was little in the way of interesting stuff.

The local Lizards where very friendly

View from the castle

Just about got this Sardinian Warbler (A first)

This Wheatear was looking good on it's patch.

The only raptor at all. A single Kestrel

After a very enjoyable and theatrical thunder storm this poor gal was trying to wring herself out. So inspired by the noble and altruistic actions of Carl Bovis I put her on a tissue. She was off in half an hour. I felt good.

Palma Harbour

WTF said the Cormorant

The big day, my birthday btw but I'm altruistic so I wont go on. A day at Cuber Reservoir. Fab. So after a while at Gorg Blau wondering where all the Vultures were we went to Cuber and started again.

Kestrel, adult male. I thought this was something new since it was so pale underneath

Booted Eagle, adult dark morph

Cow having a drink (as you would)

Eleonora's Falcon, 2nd calendar year pale morph

The cliffs where the Vultures are supposed to be

Common Buzzard, adult

Red Kite, Adult

What?

TTTEEEXXXTTTUUURRREEE

I love this one

Nearly trod on this bad boy!

We had an understanding and passed without incident but it was tense!

Then they came..............

Never mind your Marsh Harriers and Tor here's two Black Vultures and the military base on Puig Major

Black Vulture

Stonechat

Lots of Green Finches about

Black Vulture

Booted Eagle, adult dark morph

 The big boys - Griffon Vulture

On the way back on the MA-10 and overlooking Port de Soller I spotted this. I had no idea until NPW told me.

Booted Eagle, adult pale morph

They were all taken in between taking this sort of shot

So considering I only had a few days of actually birding I don't think I did to badly. A few new firsts, a great Osprey opportunity and a real surprise when I got the  crib sheet from NPW. All the while I was hoping for a few sightings. The Eleo's, the Vultures, the Night Herons, the Purple Herons and............... a Booted Eagle. I thought I had missed the Booties (As no one except me calls them) In my ignorance I didn't realise that I had in fact got at least three Boots in my camera. Thanks Mallorca.

Mad dogs and English Women

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Mad Dogs and Englishmen - Its an album by someone I have never heard of

Nice pants.

So, I have really been struggling to go anywhere recently.  The rare vagrant known as my mother is visiting and she brings her own brand of chaos and confusion, which as a knock on effect on birding time.

Still, I managed to get out for a few hours.  For maximum effectiveness  I headed out in the car.  Straight to Tealham moor.  No messing about.

Although this bit of the world seems remote it actually seems to be about as busy as the A37.  There were cars, walkers and cyclists all in attendance.

Now, everyone is quite friendly and dutifully pull up to let you by.  But here lies the problem.  I want to go SLOW but feel obliged to speed up to allow the kind person who is waiting to proceed.  ITS SO BLOODY ANNOYING!!!!!

Now, this place is littered with Herons, Buzzards and Kestrels.  Anyone who knows anything about birds knows that if you stop, it will fly off.  Resulting in an un avoidable arse shot.

So I normally act cool and just drive on if there happens to be a Buzzard sat on a post a few feet from the car.  I wasn't successful.  I drove passed.  He sat there.  I turned round.  He flew off.  This game continued a few times before I got bored....

In the end I used a more chaotic approach and simply held my camera in my lap.  Sped up to whatever happened to be sitting about and fired off a few shots.  Here are some stunned birds.  Unprepared for the speed of the EFRS....

 One of three Kestrels on the moor

He tried to out run me but the 1Litre engine was to much for him

 This heron was uncertain and confused by my driving style

As was this Swallow

Then everything went a bit mad.  A lady was cycling her dog (not walking it).  That would be to sensible.  It went beserk and hurtled across the moor and ploughed into a load of disgruntled swans.  The ran, waddled a flapped all over the place.  Carnage.

Mad dog...

She was shouting at him.  He didnt care.  Luckily it appears that no swans were hurt in the making of this film.

All the madness caused a few Wheatears to fly up from the grass.  Handily a few of them decided to perch up nicely.

 The Wheatears look on at the crazy dog

A few minutes later and things calmed down a bit.  The dog returned to its owner and charged off down the road.  Peace was restored.

The birds returned to the ground.  A Buzzard and a Wheatear discussed events...

Foreground: Wheatear and cowpat

Background: Buzzard.

Strangely Robin Morrison later posted a cowpat picture... If you decide to follow him on twitter be prepared for some great photos which will probably be better than yours...  

Having sat on my bum for much of the day I thought I had better pay a quick visit to London drove at Westhay.  

Here I found a few intersting critters.  Here is a heron standing in front of the Tor

Poser...

A spent an hour or so looking around the track.  I heard a Kingfisher and a Sparrowhawk shot by.

Then I noticed a pigeon sat in a tree.  I took a few photos and realised it wasn't a pigeon after all.

Much better than a pigeon.  How could I get so confused?

It was obviously the mid day sun :-)

Lights, camera, action!

 

Its been too long!  After getting loads of time to go out and about I now haven’t been anywhere for ages.  It’s a bit like the rainy season followed by the drought!

Anyway I got a few hours to myself so I drove out to Tealham.  I didn’t hold out much hope.  The sky was a lead grey, there was a cool breeze and a few spots of rain in the air.  Still, I had to try!

A welcome sight greeted me on the moor.  A large yellow digger!  Now I’m not a digger enthusiast (although I'm sure there are plenty of websites for it).  But where there are diggers there are bound to be herons!

Sure enough a flock of them had already descended, hungry for the entrails of frogs, mice and whatever else might be living in the muddy banks!

I suspect the digger driver wondered what on earth was going on.  Being followed slowly along the river bank by a man in a car with a large tube sticking out of it.  Luckily Peugeot 107’s aren’t very threatening…

Once I had my fill of herons I moved on.  A Buzzard showed up for a bit but didn’t really like being photographed.  He had a poo and was off.

Fortunately his smaller cousins were very much in attendance.  A total of 3 Kestrels were hovering and perching.  A young Kestrel was sat right in front of me on a gatepost, facing out, looking superb.  Sadly there was a lot of traffic behind me (why!? – its in the middle of know where!) so I didn’t get the shot.

I did manage these ones.  Sadly the light was a bit of a let down.

I was rather enjoying myself and got a bit casual.  This was my downfall.  A small brown bird of prey streaked in front of the car and across the field, following one of the ditches.  It was either a Sparrowhawk, or maybe… a juvenile, female Merlin.  I really couldn’t tell…

I was really slow off the mark and didn’t even manage a bad picture.

I normally drive up the road and back down again just the once when at Tealham but today I thought I would do it a few times and it did pay off.

A spent a good few minutes looking at these fellows.

And this one flew close and quite slow.  Finally a reasonable Swallow picture.  Shame it was so dark!

The morning was nearly at an end.  My father in law was coming round to help me build the “man cave”.  More on this in the coming weeks know doubt…

Just as I was about to leave the moor.  A flock of small birds was being hunted by a very eager Sparrowhawk.  Again a bit distant for a picture but interesting all the same.

Driving home it became apparent that I had the camera, the action but not the lights!