10th September 2012

A quick walk around the hotel complex in the morning (ok, it was only a walk because we got lost on the way to breakfast!) added Goldfinch and Yellow-legged Gull to the trip list. Then, later in the morning it was back to S'albufera to sort out a visitor's permit. Half-way along the entrance track I noticed some large birds perched in bushes on the otherside of the river - presumably absent the previous afternoon - at least 8 Night Herons.

On this trip I decided to try somewhere new and took the track to Es Colombars which in the Dave Gosney guide is recommended for Moustached Warbler. Sure enough one of many small, brown warblers finally showed for long enough for me to identify MW - unfortunately it didn't pose long enough for photos and whilst I saw several during my stay I never did get a photo. Es Colambars itself proved to be disappointingly quiet but the cycle back provided the only swift of the week, a Pallid, whilst a retreating Nightingale was added as I left the reserve.

An afternoon (non-birding) cycle ride down the main road to investigate C'an Picafort took us past the old saltpans at Ses Salinetes where a single Black-winged Stilt was accompanied by a handful of Little Ringed Plovers. Surprisingly was the only B-w Stilt seen during the week