Sunday 15 September 2019

Mallorca day 12: one last visit to the swamp

Our penultimate full day on Mallorca had been ear-marked for a day at the Hidropark Alcudia, a hideous dystopia of water slides, junk food and verrucas which apparently counts as a fun day out for my fellow family members. Typically, it was the coolest day of the holiday and a stiff breeze was blowing in from the sea, making us shiver as we queued up for various forms of chlorine-fuelled entertainment. After a wholesome lunch of gristle, fat and chips, the strain was beginning to show, and I was granted time off for good behaviour to go and have another look at nearby S'Albufera marsh.
Kentish Plover
Kentish Plover
Kentish Plover - juvenile
Black-winged Stilt - juvenile
I checked out a different route on this occasion, heading north from the stone bridges near the visitor centre following the Itinerari des Colombars. The walk was long and straight and the heat was rising, but I knew there were pools at the end which might be worth checking out so I persevered. I had been surprised by the lack of Kentish Plovers on my earlier visits, but Colombars seemed to be where they were all hiding: as I headed left off the main track on to a boardwalk to the hide, an unseen Kentish Plover peeped and flushed almost from under the boardwalk itself. From the hide an adult and youngster strutted at close range, with Stilts, Glossy Ibises and Marbled Ducks in the background.
Black-winged Stilt
Cattle Egret
Cattle Egret
Black-winged Stilt



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