Mallorcan Waders

Back in April I spent a week on the island of Mallorca in Spain. Having been there quite a few times, I had a few species that I wanted to get better shots of. At that time of year you never know what you could find, with migration in full swing from Africa.
I spent quite a bit of time at the S'Albufera Marsh, in the north east of the island. It's a very large reserve with a great amount of birds. No two days are ever the same here, with something different to see on each visit. This post will show some of the wading birds I saw at the reserve.

Little Ringed Plover

Little Ringed Plover

Black-winged Silt

Black-winged Stilt

Green Sandpiper

Greenshank

Purple Gallinule

Purple Gallinule

Common Snipe

Spotted Redshank

Purple Swamphen

The Purple Swamphen or Purple Gallinule was a reintroduced species in Mallorca back in the early nineties. It has obviously been very successful as there are now many to be seen at the S'Albufera marsh reserve, where the reintroduction took place. I believe that they have also naturally spread to the nearby island of Menorca.

An entertaining bird to photograph, they would sneak out from the reedbed into the open water, slowly gaining speed until eventually they were running, it was as if they thought they were being followed. Their large feet aren't really ideal for speed, so some amusing shots were to be had.