Mallorca day 11 (part 2): all along the watchtower

After a successful day searching for vultures in the Serra de Tramuntana, there was just time before dinner to return to the Albercutx Mirador at the base of the Formentor peninsula. On my first visit there the previous week I enjoyed excellent views of several Crag Martin as they hung off the sheer cliff face just below me. This evening there were none to be seen, but I could just make out a few higher up, feeding around the Albercutx Watchtower, a well-known viewpoint for migratory birds. After a short drive and an even shorter walk I approached the base of the tower to find a small flock of birds feeding in something of a holding pattern around the summit. After some trial and error I found a good spot which the Crag Martins seemed to be passing regularly, and adopted the best available strategy for photographing small brown birds belting past at high speed: spray and pray!

Crag Martin at Atalaya d'Albercutx

An insect prepares to meet its doom

Crag Martin is a pretty distinctive hirundine with white 'windows' in the fanned tail

Crag Martin

The white windows vanish when the tail is closed

View towards Boquer Valley from Albercutx

Sightseers on the Albercutx Mirador

Cairns at the Albercutx Watchtower

Albercutx Watchtower

Crag Martin

Mallorca day 3 (part II): a castle in the air

After spending the morning at the Cuber reservoir, the itinerary for today's Dadventure (4th August) dictated that we should head west into the mountains to the town of Soller, then south towards Bunyola before heading back in a north-easterly direction to Orient and south again towards Alaro. Before reaching the latter, however, we took the road up to the Castell d'Alaro as recommended in Graham Hearl's 'Birdwatching Guide to Mallorca'.

Booted Eagle, Castell d'Alaro

The 'landing lights' at the join of neck and forewing can just be seen in these photos - characteristic of Booted Eagle

Sitting 815m above sea level, the castle is perched on a plug of rock offering expansive views to most points of the compass. The castle remains date from the 15th century but it previously served as one of the last strongholds of the Moorish occupiers of the island. The reviews of the landscape and birdlife sounded good but we didn't really know what to expect.

A more distant pale morph Booted Eagle at Castell d'Aloro

Screenshot of a typical satnav image of the route to Castell d'Aloro!

The Hearl guide suggested that this was one of the best sites in Mallorca for Booted Eagle - but I couldn't have imagined how good: as we parked by the Es Verger restaurant, about an hour's walk from the top, a dark phase Booted Eagle stooped down from the ramparts and gave a regal flypast, almost at eye level. The restaurant is about as far up as one can sensibly drive without a 4x4 and while the 'road' goes higher, driving it is not for the faint-hearted as it narrows and deteriorates into barely a donkey track.

Castell d'Alaro from below

Castell d'Alaro sits atop this superb Crag Martin habitat

It was another hot day so the walk to the top was demanding - but worth every bead of sweat shed to get there. Possibly one of the most spectacular locations I have ever visited, the ruins at the summit were like something from a Lord of the Rings film - except the real Eagles were far more convincing than Peter Jackson's CGI raptors! The crags below also held, appropriately, Crag Martin, and we found ourselves in the unusual position of being able to look down on them as they flicked around on powerful thermals.

Crag Martin

A wider crop of the same Crag Martin against the landscape below the castle

We saw Crag Martin at several sites but this was the only place I saw one perched

A more fitting location than Chesterfield's football stadium, where I saw one in 2015!

I would say whatever your reasons for visiting Mallorca, a visit to Castell d'Aloro (pronounced to rhyme with Alomo, apparently) should be considered an essential part of the itinerary.

The last few steps to the top

The family check out the view

Stunning views on three sides from the summit of Castell d'Alaro

Alpine birding

Alpine birding is a case of quality over quantity at the best of times, but even more so on our recent family holiday. We made quite of bit of effort to get into the high mountains, but, with hindsight, probably not high enough to connect with some of the more sought after species like Wallcreeper, Alpine Accentor and Snowfinch. We still managed memorable encounters with some special birds of the area though - in addition to the raptors in my last post, some other highlights are below.

You have to get up high to see an Alpine Chough - but when you do they can be very confiding

Son George and I hiked up from the Col de la Colombiere at 1600m to a high ridge at 2300m to see these

First sign of an Alpine Chough is the distinctive call - even more high pitched and wheezy than its red-billed cousin which we get in the UK

Characterful birds

A pair were scavenging scraps from picnickers on the ridge

On the way up to the ridge we passed through the feeding area for the local Crag Martin colony

A difficult bird to photograph

Eventually captured on film after a close fly-past

A robust bird, bigger than the local House Martins

Black Redstart appeared to be the commonest bird in the Alpine pastures...

...followed closely by Water Pipit

Female Black Redstart

Unable to photograph a couple of Citril Finch which flew past at Col de la Colombiere, I had more success with this male Linnet

Despite gaining considerable height, this was as close as I got to a Griffon Vulture (Col de la Colombiere)

Alpine Chough gather in large flocks on the Alpine Peaks

Yomping up another slope above Col du Petit Saint Bernard on the French-Italian border (more on which in a later post), a Marmot's alarm call gave away the presence of an immature Golden Eagle - the second Eagle of the trip

More of that Martin

A few more of the Crag Martin from Sunday. 'A very hard bird to photograph' was the general consensus - I have to say I didn't find it particularly hard to get a photograph, especially at the football ground when it was generally further away and less directly overhead than when at the church - but it was certainly very hard to get a good photograph! And just as hard to follow with bins as with the camera. Sometimes it was better just to watch it with the naked eye and marvel at the switchbacks and handbrake turns it was performing in pursuit of flying insects.

A new hobby

My friend Michael twitches football grounds, much as I twitch birds, only with a higher chance of them being there when he arrives. I think a game has to be played for the ground to be tickable, so I guess there is some jeopardy involved if he travels to a match to find the pitch waterlogged or snowbound. But rarely does he arrive to find it gone, or dead, at least. So, fancying a change, I thought I'd give football ground listing a go - and where better to start than the Proact Stadium, home of Chesterfield FC, aka 'The Spireites' - so named for the Town's famous leaning church tower.

Chesterfield FC's Proact Stadium - a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow

Here are the floodlights...

...and here looking over the wall to the East Stand

That rainbow again, photobombed by a bird

OK, I admit it, I wasn't there for the glamour of the League One side's shiny stands, but for what had spent the night, and possibly quite a lot of the previous week, inside them: a Crag Martin. This extremely rare visitor - less than 10 records for Britain - had been appearing at the Church of the crooked spire sporadically over the previous week, but was spending long periods away from it at an undiscovered location. It took what was presumably a sharp eyed Chesterfield fan, watching their team go 1-2 down to Oldham yesterday afternoon, to stumble upon its alternative haunt. 

The bird seemed to be feeding over the pitch, occasionally rising above the stadium wall...

...and on a few occasions departing the stadium and flying over our heads to reveal the diagnostic 'windows' in the tail feathers

A better view of the upperparts...

...and the dusky underparts

When the bird was reported roosting in the East Stand shortly after the final whistle on Saturday, this seemed to dramatically improve the chances of success of seeing it well for anyone visiting on Sunday. Steve Smith and I saw the bird so poorly in our mad dash on Monday that it left an itch that had to be scratched - three times in Steve's case, who had already gone back to enjoy good views on the Saturday morning. I couldn't join him as I was attending the excellent Butterfly Conservation AGM in Surrey, but after the event, and a few phone calls to seek permission and book accommodation, I found myself not heading home to Dorset as planned, but heading north to Chesterfield. Well, it's barely a detour really.

The forecast was dreadful, with 50 mph + winds and heavy rain rattling the window of my B&B all night long...

...but between 0900-1000 a few rays of sun emerged

The Crag Martin emerged from its presumed roost in the stadium shortly before 0800, by which time I had been treated to a full English

Views from inside the ground could have been spectacular - but enterprising birders who tried to sweet talk their way in were given short shrift by the staff

This morning the Crag Martin performed brilliantly and while the iconic backdrop of the Proact Stadium was not quite the iconic background of the crooked spire, I was happy with my shots and made to leave. The route back to the M1 took me through the Town Centre so I thought a quick look at the church in the sunshine was worth a go. No sooner had I pulled up than the Crag Martin appeared, so I was treated to an encore to the rapturous sound of church bells - and cooing birders.

The one that got away

The obligatory 'bird in front of the clock face' shot

The even more obligatory 'bird and crooked spire' shot

Photographing the shadow was easier than photographing the Crag Martin

Although it looks decapitated here, I think its just having a mid-air preen, head turned through 180 degrees

Again, not dead, just plummeting downwards after an insect