Birdwatching trip report - Spain

The holiday was primarily a family one, staying at the excellent Aguamarine Hotel in the northern resort of Arenal d’en Castell. The weather was very hot throughout, with a nice breeze, but luckily, the hotel room we were in had air conditioning, so we could always escape. We were offered a hire car via the hotel rep through AVIS, but we took the far cheaper option of walking into Arenal d’en Castell, and just past the SPAR shop was a car hire place (Miramar) run by a very nice bloke called Tony, who spoke good English. We went in looking for a people carrier (seven adults on the holiday) and came out with two small cars! My birding mainly took place before breakfast, but twice I went out in the heat of the day, one successful, one unsuccessful. I took all the suitable trip reports I could find with me, and also the Graham Hearl book.

Son Parc – Follow signs from the ME-7 to Son Parc. Go past all the golf course entrances, and follow the road until you see a large water feature/fountain on your right. There is a left turn opposite signposted to the beach. Park on the corner here by the supermarket and other shops in a small block. The golf course is opposite the supermarket and is surrounded by a fence. I followed Mike Millar’s instructions in his report (August 2000) from birdtours.co.uk . He says ‘ When the track ends, continue on the road you have just driven down till you come to the supermarket at the road junction. On your right should be another dirt track going diagonally towards the reed beds. Walk along this track till you come to a large pool.’

What I presume is the ‘diagonal path’ goes directly across the golf course now. The golf course looks extremely new, and is surrounded by a wire fence. We walked through the gates, across the greens towards the reed bed. No one challenged us, but it was 20-30hrs and there was no one about! There is a dirt track in front of the reeds, and here we had Purple Heron, Cetti’s Warbler’s, Zitting Cisticola, one Purple Gallinule, Bee-eaters and loads of Woodchats. If you carry on past the reeds, you come back onto another bit of the golf course. There seems no other way across now. On our first night, we walked back at 21-00hrs and the gate was locked. The fence is too high to climb, but on further investigation, where the fence starts on the left next to a dried up stream, immediately in front of the supermarket is a large hole in the fence. I used that the following morning at 06-30hrs as the gates were still locked. There were a few golfers about, later a green keeper and a dog walker – again, no one said anything to me. I quite liked the reeds here and made three visits.

Salinas de Montgofre - An area of old salt pans and a large sign at the entrance say ‘Privado – Game reserve’ or something like that. Directions from Graham Hearl’s book are take ME-7 from Mahon, after 9km turn right signposted Cap de Favaritx, then after 2.1km turn left down an unmade road opposite green metal gates with a sign ‘Morella Vell’ and follow this road for 2.5km until you reach the entrance to the Montgofre estate, where there is ample parking on the bend. I didn’t write for permission to enter this site, but I passed one government vehicle with nature reserve signs on and another vehicle. Both just waved at me and I saw no one else. I visited at 13-00hrs on a very hot day, and I reckoned it was about 40º C. It was quite good for raptors and waders, very quiet and undisturbed. Again, I enjoyed my visit here, despite absolutely dripping with sweat.

S’Albufera es Grau – The nature reserve on the island. As I’ve read in other trip reports, a bit disappointing. We visited site 1, 2 and 3 from Graham Hearl’s site guide, and you basically look down from a mound. Lots of Coots if you like them!

Tirant Marshes – Didn’t expect any water here but I did find a small pool. The road to Cala Tirant was totally dry both sides, but there must have been 15+ Quail calling down this road plus a Stone-curlew. If you head back down this road away from the sea, and turn left at the ‘T’ junction, there was an area of water on the left, viewable from a hump in the road. There is a gateway to stand in and I parked the car in a wide farm entrance.

Cap de Cavalleria – Turned up as the sun was setting and the place was crowded with folks just sitting and watching. There was a Blue Rock Thrush in the grounds of the lighthouse, but offshore there were only Cory’s Shearwaters.

Algendar Gorge – Arrived mid day. Access no problem. Just walk either side of the gate. Baking hot day but good views of Kestrels. Not much else.

Punta Grossa - Headland to the right of Arenal d’en Castell, and walkable from the resort. Plenty of Blue Rock Thrushes and a Thekla Lark.

For any more information, contact me at nick.smith907@ntlworld.com.

Nick Smith

Stoke-on-Trent, Staffs

July 2006

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