Hi there……………… I’m home!!
Just back from 14 days at our favourite hotel
in Majorca, the Picafort Park at C’an Picafort. You will know from reports in
my blog in May and September 2017, that this hotel is a firm favourite for us,
so we decided to give it yet another visit, this the 6th time we have
stayed.
The welcome by the staff was as warm as
before, and we were soon back in our requested room D201, with a good view
across the pool, to the not-too-distant bar!
Thomson or Tui as it is now known have 7
staff/employees at the hotel, 2 for music, 2 for guest entertainment, 2 for
information, and Chrissie a Majorcan resident who looks after local interests,
with walks and talks. As I will have told you in the past, Chrissie leads a
local trip once a week to the huge reed bed and nature reserve, Albufeira.
Chrissie usually gets 10 – 15 people for the
nature reserve walk, and I was able to take her 3 pairs of
vintage binoculars,
to give guests some chance of getting better views of the birds
More about this later, but what I want to
write about first is the wildlife around the hotel, much of which is completely
invisible to the majority of the c450 guests.
House Sparrows are not in short supply at the
hotel, and there was much evidence of feeding of young. Woodpigeons made the
sitting under trees not a good decision, only relieved by the hotel willing to
provide replacement beach towels when required!!
I suppose most guests staying in the hotel
for the day spend their time lying on sunbeds, so when they see a hatted guest (i.e.
Me!) standing still and peering intensely towards the bushes etc, they either
realise, or ask what I have seen. And between Blocks A and B, a Hoopoe was a
very regular sighting - like this one just 6ft away.....
Several guests asked what
the bird was, some told me!!, and a couple told me that infrequently, they had
seen 2 Hoopoes. I think we all concluded that this was probably one on a nest
and one collecting food. My experiences were that the bird invariably flew off
in the same direction.
The most unobtrusive bird at the hotel was
the Mediterranean Flycatcher which is recognised by The International
Ornithologists’ Union as a separate species from the UK’s Spotted Flycatcher.
To all intents and purposes the Med
Flycatcher looks the same, and has exactly the same jizz of perching, catching
flies, and returning to a vantage point. The vantage points can be identified
from the white drops (bit like a Dipper!!). They could be seen regularly from
our balcony, and on the day we left at 7.15am, two birds were food hunting by
the hotel entrance.
Anything else? Audouin’s Gulls are common in
Majorca, but the adult bird that got trapped and quite stressed behind the
glass frontage of a bedroom balcony, required maintenance to arrive with a
broom. With a 48in wingspan a weapon was essential!
A tree in front of our balcony, leaning at 30
degrees was where Mary spotted a baby blackbird acting like a Tree Creeper,
repeatedly jumping upwards to get back to its nest.
It always pleases me to be able to tell
people about the hotel avians, but a Hummingbird hawk-moth feeding over a
flower bed led to 15-20 successive guests
trying (abortively!) to take a photo.
How about that for a nice selection of bird
activity, at our hotel, only preceded by sightings of Black Kites on the day we
arrived on the island, whilst driving North West up the Ma13, in fact a Lifer
on Day 1 of the holiday.
You will have to wait until my next posting
to find out what Albufeira had to offer, and to make up for your having to wait
18 days from the last post, it will hopefully be sooner rather than later!
Great to hear you had a good holiday! All quiet on the western front over here aside from a pair of bullfinches on the path at Markeaton Park.
ReplyDelete'My name is Diego, an elderly hombre who lives on the plains of Aragon and who take Ingles to see Aguilas. My new amigo; 'is name is not anon but senor mitch. E wants to see Bearded Vulture; maybe he does, maybe not.'
ReplyDeleteDiego' a ranger guide of similar age and antiquity to myself; like, weatherbeaton, broke, and in need of a good new set of false teeth, has nevertheless been well paid with free drinks at his local bar;(second night in a row). Consequently, and having woken up this morning at dawn with a thumping head, we have finally reached the edge of a 1500m precipite deep within the magnificence of the high Pyrenees, and overlooking the vast expanse of the Sierra de la Pena. I have brought my glasses; Diego the Tequila!
'They will come,' he say's; 'they will come. And they did.From high above the mountains that border France and Spain, and soaring on warm thermals, two birds circle majestically towards our rather risky vantage point. 'No D,I don't want another drink or I'll be over the top!'
Wow! They are flying in parallel,wing tips very nearly touching! A wondrous sight, better than the red arrows! Diego points out the jet black wing feathers and contrasting white bodies. Egyptian Vultures; what a sight! Subjects of extraordinary legends and revered by the Pharoahs of Ancient Egypt. Killing this bird amongst all others brought a certain and horrible death. Three thousand years later, and thousands of feet below us their historic feeding grounds await. A new carcase possibly, but most of all the village landfill. Funny isn't it. We are the visitors, they the residents;( well for the summer at least). Scavengers, but they are also opportunists. An unsuspecting Rabbit perhaps, or a small reptile.
Down, down, they swoop bright yellow faces and throats now visible. Diego points out the modern hazards they still face; poisoning, hunting and the ever increasing power lines.
Meanwhile, the first pair have been joined by other birds. Two, at least, of the newcomers are the larger Griffons, together with a few younger Egyptians, their plumage appearing much darker. The calm air is suddenly disturbed with the sounds of incredible screeching which echo's throughout the hills and ravines.
'Shreiking,' advises Diego, 'is sign that they have found their prey and are now sorting out their heirachy; the eldest feeding first.' But Diego suspects the Griffons will take first choice.
The meal lasts for over an hour, and then they depart, and lift themselves back into the sky,disapearing as quickly as they came. And so must we; back down the trail to the village and siesta time.
Will tomorrow allow the chance of at least a glimpse of the rare and magnificent Lammergeier? Only they know that.
Briefly (cf migrant mitch!). Hoopoe - top bird!
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