Menorca Landscapes Part 1

Not in any particular order:



Above: A 5 minute drive from where we stayed is Addaia - a port with stunning views as shown above. Many of my photographs don't do it justice but you would pay good money to live here! One suspects that those with real money stay here with somewhere to moor their pleasure yachts!



Above: The port in the Capital - Ciutadella. One large ferry, one small but DEEP port! This must have been the car ferry returning from Mallorca.



Above: The Salines de Montgofre. At the other end of the Addaia inlet and with more stunning views, this was a great place for birding! Several wader species collected here with great views of Black Winged Stilt (between 10 & 15 here alone). The picture actually shows the salt pans that are no longer in use.



Above: Arenal D'en Castell. The apartment we stayed in is in the middle at the top.



Above: Algendar Gorge. You can probably make out lots of small holes in the rock in the photograph above. These holes are where, what I can only assume were, HUNDREDS of House Sparrows & nests. I would bet this is one of the largest house sparrow colonies in Europe! The gorge is definately a great place for birding. It is filled with vegetion and opens up onto the south coast & is therefore perfect for funelling those migrant birds! Redstart, Blue Rock Thrush, Pied Flycatcher, Egyptian Vulture among some of the species to be seen here.

Menorca Landscapes Part 2

In no particular order:



Above: Cala Tirant - one of the best birding sites on Menorca (due a good mixture of habitat in the area). This lagoon can only be viewed from distance, but this is where I caught up with my first ever Squacco Heron and Black winged stilt! Without a scope (as I was), the ID's were quite difficult. Result was that I wanted to see them much closer (which I got later on in the day with the Black Winged Stilt only). This day (day 7) was the worst for weather, very light rain about 9.15am but the only day the winds blew from south to north & ended up being the best day for birding.

Also from this view were Hoopoe, Tawny Pipit, Yellow Wagtail, Woodchat Shrike & Cornbunting.



Above: View from on top of the cliffs at Cala de Santa Galdana. Very clean water, extremely cold at this time of year!



Above: If it wasn't for my dad going for a swim here and heading for the cliffs on the right hand side, he never would have flushed a NIGHT HERON, and I would not be able to say that I had seen one! Thanks Dad! I also found my first ALPINE SWIFT here by looking upwards!



Above: More Cala Tirant - this time a slightly different location - not super brilliant for birds this spot but might be at the right time of year. I did better at this location by looking skywards & in hedges/fields around the road.

Above: A view from Cap de Cavelleria - sheer cliffs, great views. Picked up my first BLUE ROCK THRUSH here along with a few Linnets and a yellow wagtail. My first AUDOUIN'S GULL was also here.