Route: S’Albufera Natural Park
Area: Spain, Mallorca
Date of walk: 29th April 2019
Walkers: Andrew and Gilly
Distance: 3.9 miles
Ascent: nil
Weather: Mixture of clouds and sun
S’Albufera Natural Park is a paradise for birdwatchers, and is the largest and most important wetland area in the Balearic Islands. There are over 4,000 acres of protected land, mainly wet grassland and marsh. The wetlands were drained for agriculture in the 19th century by a British company which subsequently went bankrupt, and the network of canals dates from this time
The park was established in 1988 and has a visitor’s reception area, a permanent exhibition and various hides, observation platforms and marked routes. Entrance is free, although it’s necessary to obtain a permit at the visitor’s centre, which is a 10-15 minute walk into the park. Depending on the season, there are numerous species of birds to be found here including osprey, bittern, Eleonora’s falcon, hoopoe, bee-eater and many other unusual birds – click here for a detailed list and here for a link to the official website
We’d enjoyed some good bird sightings during our walk this morning, including the rare black vulture, and this whetted our appetite for a visit to the park. After parking near the entrance we walked along the obvious path to the visitor’s centre and obtained our permits and a useful map of the marked trails. In view of our earlier walk today, we only had time for a flying visit (pardon the pun) and it was obvious on seeing the map that we’d be unable to complete a full circuit of this vast place. For anyone seriously interested in birding it’s worth setting aside a full day for a visit here. The Maps Page shows the paths we followed, but there are infinite possibilities all of which are waymarked and it’s best to follow your whim rather than a fixed route
During the course of our wanderings we managed to see numerous species, including marsh harrier, avocet and glossy ibis. We had a wonderful time and our only regret was that we didn’t have a full day to spare
Click on the icon below for the route map
Scroll down – or click on any photo to enlarge it and you can then view as a slideshow
We enter the S'Albufera Natural Park and follow the path beside the canal to the visitor's centre
Walkway beside the reed beds
A speckled wood butterfly
Red knobbed coot chicks (I think, but if anyone knows for sure I'd be grateful for confirmation)
Black winged stilt
Spotted flycatcher
Temminck's stint...
Red crested pochard...
Female red crested pochard
Female Kentish Plover...
...and the male...
Avocet...
Little egret...
An avocet chick
A few more photos as we make our way around the reserve...
A glossy ibis...
Marsh harrier...
A great sighting to end a great visit, but we've run out of time
Back at our base in Alcudia
From our window in the Hotel Forum, dawn the next day and time to be setting off to the airport. The end of a wonderful short walking holiday, and special thanks to Damia, Rianne and Diego at the hotel for looking after us so well
