Formentor

Formentor

Tuesday 13 December 2016

A Snapshot of Marjorca

A memory to treasure a week in North Majorca - a week or so ago - time spent walking - taking in the nature reserves - Albufera  just south of Alcudia and La Gola in Pollensa and a walk up the Boquer Valley in search of the blue rock thrush and a visit to Formentor.

Transport used ? - well the local bus - great service - and very entertaining as anyone will tell you who has travelled on those buses - a queue means nothing and the bus may or may not stop when requested and as many people as possible cram onto the bus until it is impossible to fit any more in.


The Albufera Marshes stretch over a distance of 1646,48 hectares - it is massive  consisting of waterways - walkways  - cycle tracks and scrubland with viewing towers and hides for observation at strategic points - the pic above gives an idea of the bigger picture - in the distance a glimpse of Alcudia Old Town -

 Although a continual chorus of bird calls can be heard it is quite difficult to spot a lot - birds are calling and flying through the trees and reeds

Two special shots for me were the Purple Gallinule  see above - this bird is so special - it came strutting out of the reeds right  below us - we were looking down from a bridge over the water - I have seen one before on the lagoons on a previous visit a few years back - bright blue feathers and red legs - amazing

 The Little Bittern is only small against the Gallinule - we spent quite a while watching as the Bittern slowly crept into the reeds - sometimes becoming invisible to the eye - although we were aware that it was so well camouflaged as to make itself invisible






Sheer Magic


This was not an organised break - but one thing was certain it would be cameras at the ready and 
 walking shoes on  - this was our first visit of the week to Albufera - we would return again later in the week as it so happens.

Puerto Pollensa is full of hidden gems just waiting to be discovered and only a short bus ride away from Alcudia  a scenic trip past Alcudia Old Town and up the coastal road.

La Gola is a small reserve in the centre of Pollensa consisting of pathways through woodland and shrubberies a lakeside walk - apparently crossbills frequent the treetops but we did not see any but we did see a Siberian Warbler I think- no pic unfortunately-but it was foraging around in the tall bush above this sign

 a Egret and a Heron 


 fished at the lakeside
The park was quite small and set in a quiet area  of Pollensa
Later in the week we made another visit to Pollensa - this time for a walk up the Boquer Valley
I have read so much about the Boquer Valley it was so so good to actually walk through the rocks and wild rosemary -
see the goats grazing - and this one was checking I am sure to see if we had brought lunch with us
- the bushes were bustling with birds but it was difficult to catch them with the camera - the Valley is frequented by the Blue Rock Thrush but we did not manage to spot one I did see a Woodchat Shrike through the binoculars
The views were incredible - stuff that memories are made of
I mean who could ever forget  moments such as these
Next day a trip to Formentor was on the agenda - see my header pic - again a action packed day - all on the local bus - we only touched on the beauty of the area so a visit in the future could be on the cards -  
North Marjorca will always be a special place to me - linking today with Our World Tuesday