Thankfully the remaining hides weren't facing North! This made the remainder of the day more pleasant...at least for me! Louise was wrapped up and read her novel in the cover of the hide. A real trooper.
The quality of the scrapes was outstanding (Sa Roca pools). I could have paid many visits here just watching what came and went (my favourite type of Birding). As I opened the first flap I was looking immediately at this...
Next, a surprise group of Black-tailed Godwits, a scarce passage migrant on Mallorca...
Chuffed to see these as I was hoping to see some migrants even though I'd gone "early". There was lots of activity. I then noticed a smart drake Garganey but it soon disappeared. Blue-headed Wagtails...
...and Water Pipits were flitting around the margins...
The Great White Egret is another scarce bird on Mallorca and I had been told the Albefereta was my best bet, so it was a nice bonus when I picked one up gliding low through the reeds...
Another species I was hoping to see but had eluded me so far was Purple Gallinule (Swamphen). It was late afternoon now and still no sign of this bird. As I opened the flap on the last hide I was amazed to see a young Crested Coot no more then twenty feet away...
Then, as if to order, look what else appeared and started walking towards the hide!
A decent (chicken) sized rail with long legs and feet. Smart!
Louise had understandably had enough by now so we made our way back to the car then back to the resort. I popped out again locally for the last hour and managed 2 more trip ticks in forms of Little Ringed Plover and Common Sandpiper. I'd looked hard for these at s'Albufera without any luck. Strange but true...
A rainy day and a very windy day but great birds seen none the less. One disappointment being that I couldn't find any Marbled Ducks?
That was the end of the poor weather. We had 4 more great days to come...
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