S'Albufera es Grau and Algendar Gorge

Two sites that we visited whilst on holiday in Menorca were the large marsh called S'Albufera es Grau near the village of Es Grau in the north east of the island and the Algendar Gorge in the south west of the island.

Harbour at Es Grau

 

S'Albufera es Grau is the only official nature reserve on the island. It is nearly 2000 hectares in size, 67 hectares of which are a large, freshwater lake. We visited one afternoon, when it was very, very hot! It wasn't the best time to visit, but we did still manage to find a few birds; Little Grebe (several pairs nesting), Moorhen, Coot, Black-headed Gulls (2 juveniles- quite a rarity here), a single male Pochard, Red Kite, Kestrel and several juvenile Red-crested Pochard.

View from the hide at S'Albufera es Grau

Another good spot for any visiting birder is the Algendar Gorge.

Algendar Gorge

 

The main reason for visiting this site was to catch up with Egyptian Vultures. We arrived at about 11am and managed to see 2 birds; an adult and a juvenile bird, already high up in the sky. As well as the vultures we also saw and heard the following; Blackcap (singing male), Kestrel, Goldfinch, Greenfinch, House Sparrow, Rock Dove, Red Kite and Raven. Woodchat Shrike and Hoopoe were seen on the drive over.

A typical Menorcan gate

Menorcan Insects

As well as enjoying some nice birds in Menorca I also managed to spot a few insects too, including a very impressive adult male Scarlet Darter dragonfly.  The first few pictures were seen on the flowers in front of our apartment.

Brimstone

Common Blue Butterfly (female)

Painted Lady

We also spotted a few insects around Son Bou, some of which I can't identify.

Long-tailed Blue (I think!)

Scarlet Dater (male)

 

Shieldbug species; Graphosoma lineatum italicum!

 

These two photos were taken at Algendar Gorge, near Cala Galdana in the west of the island. Any ideas about the grasshopper?

Grasshopper species

Clouded Yellow (not too sharp)

 

The last photo shows a dragonfly species, that decided to spend a minute on my foot one day, whilst I was on the beach. I think it's a female  Red-veined Darter, due to the black line down its abdomen and the pale pterostigma with a black border. Unfortunately I can't see any yellow on the base of the hind wing though, so I can't be 100% sure. Any thoughts?

 

Red-veined Darter?

Punta Nati and Cap de Cavalleria

There are 5 lighthouses on Menorca and during our recent holiday we managed to visit two in the north of the island, Punta Nati and Cap de Cavalleria. Both sites stick out into the sea and are home to a variety of very good birds.

Cap de Cavalleria

Punta Nati

 

When we visited it was very hot and obviously late in the breeding season, so the number of birds seen was quite low, but it did include one lifer; the Thekla Lark. We also managed to see Tawny Pipit, Rock Dove and Kestrel!

Tawny Pipit

 

Other birds that can be seen at these sites include; Blue Rock Thrush, Short-toed Lark, Corn Bunting, Stonechat, Stone Curlew and Raven. Next time hopefully!

 

On the drive up to lighthouse at Punta Nati there is a small breeding colony of Cattle Egrets which we managed to see.

 

Cattle Egret

 

Driving back from Cap de Cavalleria we stopped off a wetland called Tirant, where we saw a at least 50 Cattle Egrets roosting in the trees. Luckily for me, a Booted Eagle flew over the area as I was looking at the birds and spooked them into flight. Lovely!! Other birds seen here were: Swallow, Egyptian Vulture, Coot, Red Kite, Little Grebe, Moorhen and Red-crested Pochard. 

Year List update and 2 "Lifers"

Yesterday I blogged about my recent trip to Menorca and promised to update the Year List, so here goes:

149- Zitting Cisticola (Fan-tailed Warbler)
150 – Turtle Dove
151 – European Bee-Eater
152 – Yellow-legged Gull
153 – Audouin’s Gull
154 – Scops Owl
155 – EGYPTIAN VULTURE (lifer)
156 – Blue Rock Thrush
157 – Booted Eagle
158 – Hoopoe
159 – THEKLA’S LARK (lifer)
160 – Cattle Egret
161 – Purple Heron
162 – Purple Gallinule
163 – Little Stint
164 – Green Sandpiper
165 – Sardinian Warbler
166 – Red-crested Pochard
167 – Night Heron
168 -Woodchat Shrike
169 - Rock Dove
170 – Stonechat
171 - Whinchat

Numbers 149 - 170 were all recorded in Menorca and the Whinchat was added following a trip to Big Moor yesterday.

As you can see, the two "lifers" were  Egyptian Vulture and Thekla's Lark. The vultures were seen on several days, mainly in the western end of the island around a place called Algendar Gorge, but we did get one flying over the swimming pool in Son Bou. Here's a link for a bit of information about this bird. Thekla's Larks were seen briefly at an area called Punta Nati. Here's some more information about the Thekla Lark.I'll blog more about these two sites later.

I didn't manage to get any photos of either of the lifers, so here are a couple of photos of a Scops Owl that fed around our apartment every night and a Turtle Dove that also came and fed on some bread crumbs outside the apartment!

Scops Owl

Turtle Dove

Menorcan Birds

Our family holiday this year took us to Menorca. This was our first visit to the Mediterranean island and we were very pleased with the 30+ degrees temperatures, a couple of new birds "lifers" and some lovely beaches.

Our base for the holiday was in the south coast resort of Son Bou where we had daily sightings of Yellow-legged and Audouin's Gulls.

Yellow-legged Gull

 

Audouin's Gull

 

We spotted 4 different colour-ringed Audouin's Gulls, details of which have been sent off, so I'll post about them as soon as I have the information back. Also seen from the beach were Shags.

Just behind the beach at Son Bou there is a large marsh, which isn't the easiest place to access, but it is possible to walk along the sand dunes and look over the marsh in different places. We had several sightings of Little Egret (maximum 7 coming into roost one evening), Purple Heron (maximum of 3 in flight) and Purple Gallinule (1 in flight on two occasions) over the marsh, and one evening we saw and heard two birds in silhouette, which, when we listened to the calls on the IPod, sounded a lot like Night Heron.

Other birds heard in and around the marsh included Zitting Cisticola (heard every day), Reed, Cetti's and Sardinian Warbler, Hoopoe (4 together) and a pair of Bee-eaters that spent most days hunting in the dunes.

Bee-Eater

House Sparrows were very common around the accommodation, as were Spotted Flycatchers, Turtle Doves (seen daily around the resort, even feeding on the lawn, just 5 feet away from me) and a very confiding juvenile male Blue Rock Thrush, which fed every day on the lawn in front of our apartment!

Blue Rock Thrush

 



As well as the birdlife around Son Bou, we also hired a car for a few days and travelled around the island to a few other birding spots. Details of these other sites, the 2 "lifers" and an update on the year list next time!