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January 2007 10th January - Stunning Weather for a Whole Month! - Stephen Daly writes Of course it's lovely to have such warm, dry weather. The only downside is that the increase in tourism leads inevitably to more water being used. I hope it rains soon. I was in Scotland at the beginning of the year and came back on the 6th after a lovely break with Patty and the girls. Some birding did creep into the programme but it was more or less a family break with lots of visiting, eating and of course drinking! When I did manage to get back out birding on the Strait, I noticed that even although the ground was dry, the general greenery and condition of the plants were top class. There were of course fewer wild asparagus showing but in general everything looked verdant and healthy regardless of the lack of rain. There are still a few butterflies around with Large and Small Whites, Clouded Yellows, Red Admirals, Painted Lady's, and a few very bashed up Two-tailed Pasha's Two-Tailed Pasha looking rather worn
Painted Lady and a Red Admiral that had just migrated across from Morocco Birding has been great, as one would expect. Black-shouldered Kites are in abundance and it would appear that the Strait of Gibraltar has the highest concentration of this species in Europe.
Looking to Gibraltar From the Cliffs above Barbate 13th January - Stone Curlews, More Butterflies and Wrynecks - Stephen Daly writes Stone Curlews have been gathering in groups throughout our "winter". Thirty birds were counted on the Barbate Marismas and another 50+ were seen further inland near Cantarranas. Black-shouldered Kited were in double figures by noon and we counted seven Black Storks and over 100 Black-crowned Night herons. Two Glossy Ibis were seen as were two Caspian Terns. Little Bustards have been keeping their heads down lately but we came across three males and seven females alter in the day. Four Bluethroats were seen and eight Penduline Tits. Hen Harriers were watched and the more abundant Marsh Harriers put on some lovely fly-pasts. Two Bonelli's Eagles were watched, one juvenile and an adult. Flocks of over 500 Calandra Larks were watched and some Wood Larks came through. Squacco Herons were also in double figures and a few of the Northern Bald Ibis flew in the distance. Their short legs in the flight profile separating them from Glossy's. More of the same butterflies were seen and some fleeting dragonflies zipped past. Reptile activity was minimal as you'd expect although a window box at a local restaurant showed us two young Iberian Wall Lizards.
Stone Curlew - Great birds, sadly becoming scarcer in the north of Europe
Ospreys (untagged birds) visiting the Barbate marismas and river mouth Ospreys are seen with regularity along the coast and Barbate Estuary is a good place to see them. Slender-billed Gulls and Mediterranean Gulls are about on the estuary, quite often inland at La Janda. Audouin's Gulls to can often be seen inland although they are most likely to be found on the long beaches between Barbate and Tarifa. Wrynecks have been coming through lately with three birds along the Strait and another further inland. Wrynecks are resident birds here in the south but as many people know they are often hard to spot and migrating or dispersing birds will be much easier to see and identify out with their normal habitats. The spring migration is an excellent time to see them.
Wryneck Great-spotted Cuckoos have been increasing in numbers although all of them have moved through to the north and also the west. Expect a mad rush of Great-spotted Cuckoos in February. A visit to the local lagunas around the Puerto Real area revealed some lovely birds including seven Eurasian Spoonbills, 45 Greater Flamingos, Thirty-six White headed Ducks. Three Red-knobbed Coots some beautiful Pintails
One of the most vocal migrants around - the Great-spotted Cuckoo *Let me say a few words about Pintail Ducks and The Pintail Initiative Here is some text from The Pintail Initiative's website. It gives some useful indicator about agricultural policies which are already taking place in northern and central Europe with southern countries like Spain eager to gain maximum crop production in an industrial agriculture mentality, with little or no sense of thought or effect of such systems on our fragile environment or life within. "Over the last 25 years, northern pintail (Anas acuta) populations have declined dramatically and in 2002, N American populations tied the previous record low of 1.8 million birds. This long term decline has raised serious concerns about the factors contributing to the decline and has focused research efforts on how habitat conservation efforts can best address population limiting factors. Reduced nesting success on prairie breeding grounds is suspected to be the dominant factor for chronically low pintail populations (relative to historic). Pintails frequently nest in crop stubble where nests are extremely vulnerable to destruction by spring tillage operations and nest predators. The most dramatic decline has occurred in that portion of the continental breeding population that traditionally settled in the southern prairies of Canada. This has led to the hypothesis that the problem and the solution likely lie in this portion of their breeding range. This has also been the impetus behind Ducks Unlimited Canada’s Pintail Initiative.
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A bird Killer, safely behind bars
Freighter coming down from Seville on the Río Guadalquivir near Bonanza
Common Sandpiper
Caspian Tern
Northern Bald Ibis
Booted Eagle
Little Swifts. Frequent European sightings = Global Warming?
Some tagged BS Kites are still here from 2005
Juvenile Spanish Imperial Eagle |
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