Mallorca day 6: back to the mountains

After a brief respite from being swung around winding mountain roads in the back of our hired Alfa Romeo, the family acceded to another mountain trip today - not a return to the lofty heights of the Serra de Tramuntana this time, but to the gentler slopes of the Arta peninsula in the northern part of the Serres de Llevant which run down the eastern side of Mallorca.

Thekla Lark looking a bit windswept

Charming bird in a charming location

The target for me was Thekla Lark, an Iberian/North African species which overlaps in range with the similar Crested Lark - but not on the Balearics where only Thekla is present. It was one of those excursions where, again, I wasn't sure whether my 20 year old guide book would still deliver the goods. But I needn't have worried - the guide suggested trying a gravel track which headed towards a small reservoir and, as nature abhors a vacuum, so larks love a gravel track and I inadvertently flushed two unseen birds from the overgrown track which perched up long enough for a few photos.

Thekla Lark

Spiky crest and bill both a bit shorter than on the similar Crested Lark

I exchanged notes with the only other birder I saw in two weeks outside of S'Albufera - a Belgian with his family who was looking for Booted Eagle. He hadn't seen the Larks, so I pointed out where to go, but he had seen a couple of Two-tailed Pasha, a species I would have given if not my right arm at least one of the less useful digits to see. It sounded like they were hill-topping around the ridge, so, knowing their liking for rotten fruit and animal excrement, I mustered what banana skins and goat dung I could and prepared a little picnic. Sadly it wasn't enough to tempt one back before the family asked to move on - understandable as the car thermometer had topped 40 degrees by this point.

Paysandisia archon, or Palm Borer moth

An invasive species but a spectacular one 

The Two-tailed Pasha may not have performed but the ridge was not entirely without interest on the Lepidoptera front as several large hawk-moth-like creatures were flying around and perching on low palm trees providing excellent photo opportunities. A bit of research revealed these to be Paysandisia archon, or Palm Borer moth, aka Surreptitious Palm Borer, an invasive species from South America whose larvae feed in the stems and trunks of palm trees.

Pale phase Booted Eagle

A view of the Booted Eagle's upperwing