Lesser Kestrel Very pale form of Short-toed Eagle A dark morph of Booted Eagle |
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september 2007 "Words can't describe what it's like to watch thousands of raptors and other large birds pass over your head each day"
Stephen Daly writes about the beauty of the annual raptor migration Another september kicks in with thousands of birds over our house at La Oliva near Barbate in southern Spain. We are on the pathway of one of the busiest mig rational bird routes in the world. Over the last month endless parties of Black Kites have soared, flapped and glided at various altitudes over our heads following the mouthof The Strait of Gibraltar down towards Tarifa and Algeciras, where the Strait narrows and the crossing is lessof a strain on these wonderful creatures. September and October are just about fully booked for Stephen Knapp and myself, with our planned longer migration birding holidays and day tours. On the 3rd of September, Robin Chittenden and I are co-leading an eight day tour to the Algarve. This tour is organised by Limosa Holidays and The Travelling Naturalist. I co-led last years tour and it went very well indeed with great birds, lovely hotel in Silves, the oldest city in Portugal and of course with superb Algarve weather - A bit of home from home for me really! Stephen K will be holding the fort here on The Strait of Gibraltar until I return. I've been very busy recently with all kinds of building jobs around our house and have been stopping every few minutes throughout August to check the skies. It's just been stunning so far. Even today as I write, I had two adult Bonelli's Eagles high above the house, above a large flock of Black Kites. Sitting outside eating dinner yesterday evening, a long 'v' shaped line of birds appeared from the west. Right over our heads flew about sixty Glossy Ibis. Our regular Red-necked Nightjar flew right past Patty's head as she got up from the table. We raised our glasses in salute. Woodchat Shrikes, Turtle Doves, Nightingales and Spotted Flycatchers have been coming and going around our garden. Constant burbling-whistles from flocks of bee-eaters force us to search for them, sometimes easily spotted other times we fail to find them in the bright midday light. It's just been fabulous. Stephen Knapp was surprised when watching his resident Cirl Buntings taking a drink in his garden, a Booted Eagle came from nowhere and landed on one of his wooden fence posts. I hope to spend more time updating the web site with report and photos to show you all. I just hope I can mangae to do this.......... Have a great time out in the fresh air and happy birding
Black Storks high above Zahara de Los Atunes on their way south
Building up fat reserves is an essential part of the migratory preparation with all birds. here a White Stork searches for food at La Janda in southern Andalucia.
Looking across to Morocco, near Punta Paloma
"continental drift" an article published for the september/october edition of f by stephen daly For amateur nature lovers and serious ornithologists alike, the late summer and autumn bird migration is a fantastic spectacle. Every year, when the great migration pathways of the world come alive, The Strait of Gibraltar, one of the busiest routes on the planet, sees a constant flow of bird movement south. This all takes place right on our doorstep and is without doubt an amazing sight to witness, with huge numbers of birds crossing between southern Europe’s Iberian Peninsula and northern Africa.
Fifteen km's takes only thirty-five minutes by fast ferry from Tarifa
How Many Birds? It is estimated that than 650,000 birds representing more than 80 species, of which 190,000 raptors will pass over our heads. By late August each year most of us will have noticed the start of the migration with huge flocks of White Storks and the less common Black Storks spiraling in the clear warm air. This behaviour tells us that something's afoot. Along the rice fields and canal ditches of the ancient lagoon of La Janda, thousands of White Storks feed up on crayfish, frogs and larger insects, converting this all to fat reserves for their precarious sub-Saharan flight. Black Kites arrive from all over southern Europe and feed as best they can on road-kill, snakes, young birds, frogs, in fact they’they will take anything at all that’s edible and remain one of the world’s most opportunistic and enterprising birds of prey with huge “old world” distribution and population. By the first three weeks in September the migration is in full swing with many other different species moving south, many of these are raptors or birds of prey. Booted Eagle the smallest of our European Eagles and the larger winged Short-toed Eagles are joined by Sparrowhawks, Honey Buzzards and Egyptian Vultures. Griffon Vulture to the most extent, are non-migrants but do tend to follow other birds flying south during this period. This mass movement continues until October. Changing Patterns
A short-toed Eagle turns majestically over the Alcornocales forest. Look at the pattern on the back of the wing and tail in such contrast to the paler underside Raptors, more than any other family of birds, exhibit massive, visible, and far-ranging migrations, while their diversity and abundance in many places are critical indicators of the health of our fragile ecosystems. The meeting of the continents of Europe and Africa is a critical global crossroads for the fascinating and interconnected phenomena of bird migration. Bird behaviour is one indicator of Global warming and our continuous climate change. Man’s actions have a persistent influence on numbers and distribution of all creatures. From our first days as farmer-gatherers, through to the intense industrial agricultural process of the present day, man has constantly and dramatically changed the physical landscape and molded vast wild areas to suit our species. Weather patterns are without doubt changing and just as Man has to adapt to severe drought and equally devastating floods each year, birds too are under immense pressures to adapt and cope the best they can. Each winter see higher numbers of White Storks as well as Booted Eagles, wintering in Andalucia without the need to source food in warmer Africa. This assuredly is a clear indicator of our uninterrupted and accelerating global warming.
Gibraltar from the west The Journey and the Dangers Parties of migrant birds tend to stick together, joining up en route and can be seen anywhere on the Atlantic seaboard as well as inland. The birds that travel overland, primarily use natural physical features to navigate, such as valleys and rivers that lead to the coast. Other navigational abilities that are still not fully explained, include navigation by sun and stars, magnetic energy from the Earth and the ability to smell microscopic particles in the air that relate to the area in their wintering destination or conversely their place of birth. But the coast from Cape St Vincent in Portugal right down to Gibraltar has a tremendous amount of migration activity. Booted Eagles and Honey Buzzards tend to go for the crossing down on The Strait towards Algeciras whereas Egyptian Vultures tend to cross at the shortest point between the two continents close to Tarifa. A great deal depends on what the weather conditions are like when the migrants arrive on the south coast and take the first major hurdle of crossing an open stretch of sea. The wind and sea currents can be treacherous and for birds large and small birds alike and presents an extremely dangerous challenge. Birds leaving Europe during a very strong easterly or Levante cannot tell visually that the wind strength increases in the centre, coupled with the fact that there no thermals over the sea to assist birds. Sheer muscle power, determination and great energy reserves are required under such circumstances. Some migrants inevitable get blown completely off course out into the Atlantic, past Morocco’s Cape Espartel and are unable to make landfall and perish. Westerly winds known as Poniente are kinder and pose less of a danger. Close to the coast, are the main “Migres” migration watch points manned by volunteers each year from the end of July until October, that monitor and record the numbers of birds of prey including the beautiful and much rarer Black Storks passage. The main observation posts are all very close to the main N340 (A5) coastal road. Just east of the town of Tarifa at KM 87 is Tráfico and Cazalla is just off KM 90.7 Algorrobo is stated at KM 99.1, west of Algeciras. * __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
More ID - Brown looking Raptors
Long-legged Buzzard (ssp cirtensis) Common Buzzard Spanish Imperial Eagle (adult)
Black Kite Booted Eagle (dark morph) Black Kite
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I hope this photographic guide can help in some way with Identification of birds of prey in flight . Stephen Daly
Short-toed Eagle with the more common dark hood and visible under wing barring. Both head and underside can be quite variable
Bonelli's Eagle - Ok, the size of the wing tells you it's an eagle. A rather chestnut or rusty coloured young bird says juvenile. . Adult bids show lighter coloured bellies and chest which are normally visible against contrasting darker under wing. There's more though....
Another Bonelli's Eagle. Different view. The wing size looks smaller from this angle. Now we satrt to ask some questions. Look at the under wing patches of white and the sheer lsize of the bulbous chest and business-like beak. Can only be an eagle... You are getting there!
Honey Buzzards can be tricky to ID from a distance. A closer view shows longer neck, small head and beak and a long tail. Markings can be very variable, but their shape is quite distinct
Take a close look at a Honey Buzzard's small head and beak - Not something for ripping apart, more delicate. Ask why? This bird is lightly barred on the under wing compared to the bird above
The more common form or morph of a Booted Eagle. Buzzard size and both light and dark morph's have the tell-tale landing lights on the shoulder. These are white spots or markings seen when the bird turn head-on. Booted Eagles always show long 'fingers' or primaries.
Marsh Harrier. This male is almost four times heavier than the 'bouncing' montagu's Harrier. purposefull and deliberate in it's hunting. Heavy flapping wings for the weight of the bird and not so agile as the lighter Monty's. Male Marsh harriers normally show a slight chestnut colouration to chest, flanks and belly.
A juvenile male Marsh Harrier. Still lots of white under wing and dark wing tips. Moe chestnut throughout and this will moult to cleaner lines.
Juvenilel Marsh Harrier. Difficult to sex. Lots of birders say female when they see the splodge of custard on the crown, often spilling down to shoulder area. Darker wingtips could indicate male bu too early to say from this photo.
High flying Marsh Harriers look very much out of place on migration as they hunt low down close to the ground. Look at the blunt , rather rounded wing tips
This is a female Hen Harrier. See that the primary feathers are quite blunt and it has a generally more rounded look to the wing tip. Not a slender wing at all.
Montagu's Harriers have thinner wings and fly with a buoyant, graceful flight with wings held in a deeper 'v' form. This photo shows a male bird in flight showing this typical deep wing beat.
This adult male Montagu's Harrier shows all the classic barring on under wing and tail. Note the extent of black on the wing fading into (in this particular bird) two distinct bars.
This sub-adult male Montagu's Harrier has the distinctive single black bar running to broader black wing tip.The primaries are also more pointed than those seen on the Hen Harrier. Note too the tail moult.
There is a dark morph or race to the Montagu's Harrier as well. This is a good example. Again look at the primaries in length and their pointed appearance. Dark morph's are quite rare and can also be challenging to ID when seen far off.
Black Shouldered Kite in the hover. One of the smaller Kites and this one now has a good foot-hold in Europe. You can see the black shoulders and large talons.
Black shouldered Kite. Deep red eyes, yellow on the end of the bill and very light coloured head. Again the black shoulders should leave you with no doubt if you see a bird perched like this!
In flight, the Black shouldered Kite is also a very distinctive smaller raptor
This shot show the absence of any visible barring on the Black shouldered Kite's tall. The wingtips are extremely visible and note the wing shape and length.
Red Kites are quite distinctive raptors. They have small heads and beaks like their cousins the Black Kite. Under wing markings are much more distinct that the black kite - see across the page. White or lighter panels with dark wing tips are a good ID for adult birds and the Red Kite has a deep tail cleft.
Sometimes Ospreys can also be confused with booted Eagles from afar - but look at the wing shape and note the distinct difference this raptor shows us.
It's not all raptors you know! This lovely Slender-billed Gull is a regular bird at this time of the year
Heading south - The wonderful Hoopoe |
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Male Hen Harrier- pretty distinct and easy to ID.
Female and juvenile Hen Harriers can be confused with Montagu's Harrier.
