Soil Hill and Ogden Water

Not good at all; down and all the way back up that hill hole for a few Meadow Pipit, 1 Reed Bunting ditto Wren and several Canadas.

Ogden continues to become a puddle. I spoke to a former YWA employee who confirmed the water is being drawn out by them at a certain low percentage daily.

2 GSW heard. 1 Kestrel. Some of the Canadas had dropped in from SH.

1 rather brown  Cormorant ditto Tufted Duck. A GC Grebe and the usual gulls. 

Surely the Phoenix is telling me to pack this mind bending pastime in before insanity takes over completely.

Ogden Mixenden Rubbish

As expected the misery of local birding hit me hard today, what hit even harder is the knowledge it will only get worse.

The levels of water on both stretches are even lower than in August. Several gulls were attracted to Mixenden as a result as were a pr Pied Wagtail.

In the trees 🌲 Blackcap, WW & Chiffchaff were heard calling with the latter also 🎵 🎶 briefly.

A fair number of LBBG and a couple or three Herring were in the field by Taylor Lane bottom.

Not much to say about Ogden so I won’t. Oh Alright if you insist: 3 Mistle Thrush & a GSW 😵‍💫.

Final Day: Good Birding

Being old and faculty diminished is probably why I failed to inspect the lake and marshland at the back of LIDL some 650 metres away from my hotel, until my last morning here 😔.

It was dirty filthy rotten with Kentish, Little Ringed & Ringed Plover 😁. A pr Green Sandpiper were here but more skittish than the former. 3 Little Egret were doing the rounds and a Glossy Ibis flew around before settling behind tall vegetation.

1 Shelduck ditto Coot with a broken left wing. 4 Moorhen, 3/4 Spotted Flycatcher similar Sardinians & Cettis Warbler.

Another phenomenal thunderstorm early this am may have been the cause of a large raptor flying over. It remains unidentified and in the gloom bins wouldn’t have helped.

A Quiet Lakeside Walk

Thought I’d do the local Ogden Water x 3 this am. I did and now know it’s a lot nearer x 4 😵‍💫. It has a lot in common with OW in another sense; apart from the Sardine Warblers it’s chronically quiet for arboreal avian activity.

We had a heavy storm overnight and first thing I noticed was a pr large dark mantled gulls in flight. I checked the local gullage on the ullage but just the Audouins, BHG & 3/4 Yeller legged were present. The voice of the former has just got to be heard to be believed. Any one of them could get to be lead vocals with any Death 💀 or Thrash metal band going.

A Common Sandpiper gave me the runaround. A Grey Heron was to be frank, franking loudly 😄. 2 Little Egret, 1 Stonechat heard. 3 Spotted Flycatcher tested my patience with the camera, one finally succumbing albeit reluctantly.

Just one Swallow seen as was a Marbled Duck. 

Albufera Finale

I won’t be coming here again so I give it some 🔨 today with mixed fortunes. A few Passerines turned up including a brief view of a shrike I have to pursue further. 

3 Northern Wheatear, a striking male Stonechat & a Zitting Cisticola minus the zits. Sardinian and Cettis throughout.

3 Avocet, 1 Wood & 2 Green Sandpiper. 8/9 BW Stilt incl juveniles. Couple Ringed Plover.

Apart from the Teal, Shoveler & Shelduck a single Red-crested Pochard flew in.

Flamingo still in good numbers plus the egrets. 2 Purple Gallinule ditto Glossy Ibis but only a single Cormorant. 

I couldn’t say if the Kestrel that showed for 3 seconds was Lesser or Big Un. I finally got a couple of shots of the Red-Knobbed Coot that is a lot more secretive than the Commons.

A Lakeside Walk

Porto Alcudia's lake is roughly Ogden water x 3. Seeing as my legs threatened legal action this morning, I elected to do this short walk. On the touristic side, the area is pristine and painted white on walls etc. However on the semi rural side tis a totally different story. Rearrange these two words for an idea of what it’s like: Heap Rubbish 🥸. Good to know people are the same worldwide irrespective of mother tongue 👅.

Among the several Audouins Gulls were a few BHG so I now have no need to fret over Slender Billed being present. A couple of YLG were seen, one on a platform opposite a Grey Heron. Spotted Flycatcher gave me a break; just the one.

Got me a raptor, a Lesser Kestrel. 3 Little Egret & a Marbled Teal or Duck if you’re not posh 🤣🤓. Pr Kingfisher, pr Common Sandpaper (really abrasive birds) and at distance a possible pr Green Sands but I wouldn’t push this. Failed to Identify a calling wagtail but did manage 4 Sardine Warblers 🥹.

Albufera Busy

First I have to say I am not in the least way bothered about missing Bonellis 🦅 Eagle yesterday at Cap S Vincenc. This is my bogie bird, my nemesis and shall ever be so! 😢🤬👺.

The marsh was hectic today with some good birds. 2 Curlew Sandpiper, 4/5 Wood 🪵 Sandpiper a pr of them allowing photos (later). Kentish & Ringed Plover plus one of the family that has me stumped. This really is annoying because the photo I got ain’t exactly poor. I could recognise the Snipe 👏. 1 Red-Knobbed Coot

Osprey, Marsh Harrier. Gadwall, Pochard & scores of Shelduck plus Teal.  Glossy Ibis, couple Grey Heron. A Purple Heron in flight. c56 Mannfreds (Pretty Flamingo 🤠). Many Little Egret, 1 each Greenshank & Black-winged Stilt. A solitary Stonechat ditto Serin.