The Birdman of Alcossebre (Spain)

A Good Month for Birds of Prey

76 Species were seen this month in the Alcossebre area.
Five species were new for the month of September - Mallard, Hobby, Whimbrel, Blue Rock Thrush and Song Thrush.

The following birds were the first seen
this Autumn - Honey Buzzard, Common Buzzard, Arctic Skua, Lesser Black-back
Gull, Red-rumped Swallow, Blue-headed Wagtail, Whinchat, Blue Rock Thrush, Stonechat, Song Thrush, Reed Warbler, Common Whitethroat, Blackcap and Pied Flycatcher.
A full list of the birds seen were as follows:-
Seabirds.
One or two Northern Gannets were seen offshore.
Only single Shags were seen, being well out numbered by passing Cormorants with a maximum of 24 birds.
Herons and Egrets.
A Squacco Heron flew east on the 10th.
A total of 41 Grey Herons were seen, with 37 birds flying south on the 3rd.
Three Purple Herons were seen, two birds heading east on the 3rd (Ebro Delta bound), and one bird south on the 8th.
Although Cattle Egrets were seen on most days a flock of over a hundred birds on the 20th and 21st was exceptional.
In contrast a total of ten Little Egrets were counted, with flocks of three or four birds flying south.
The only Great White Egret seen flew south on the 3rd.
Ducks.
The only species of duck seen this month was a lone Mallard trying to land on an algae infested sewage pond!
Birds of Prey.
A good month for birds of prey.
Single Honey Buzzards flew south on the 18th and 29th.
A single Black Kite flew south on the 6th.
The juvenile Short-toed Eagle that has been in the local area since July was last seen on the 10th. Single adult birds flew south on the 4th and 14th.
Single Sparrowhawks were seen migrating south on the 4th and the 7th.
The first Common Buzzard of the autumn was seen on the 28th.
Booted Eagles were the most numerous bird of prey this month with 2 birds flying south on the 16th and four birds flying south on the 30th.
One or two resident Common Kestrels were seen throughout the month.
A single Hobby was seen on the 27th, which the local Magpies took a dislike to and chased it off!
Single Eleonora´s Falcons were seen hunting over the farmland on the 7th and 22nd.

Wading Birds and Moorhens.
A maximum of 10 Common Moorhens were counted during the month.
With the Sewage Pond thick with algae there were less variety of waders seen than normal.
Single Whimbrel were seen at the coast on the 4th and 11th.
A small flock of seven Common Sandpipers were seen at the coast on the 2nd.
Skua´s, Gulls and Terns.
The first Arctic Skua of the Autumn was seen chasing Sandwich Terns offshore on the 16th.
A total of 103 Black-headed Gulls passed through this month.
A maximum of 26 Audouin´s Gulls and 22 Yellow-legged Gulls were were counted this month.
The first Lesser Black-back Gulls were seen on the 27th.
A total of 377 Sandwich Terns passed through this month.
Pigeons and Doves.
A flock of 20 Wood Pigeons were counted this month, the highest number counted here.
There was a high maximum count of Collared Doves at 92 birds.
So both species having a good year.
Up to four Turtle Doves were seen during the month.
Owls, Kingfisher and Hoopoe.
A maximum of five Little Owls were seen during the month, more often heard than seen.
Two sightings of the Kingfisher this month, one on the 4th at the coast, and one on the 9th at the Torre de Capycorp pond.
Hoopoes were in good numbers with up to 11 birds counted.
Swifts, Swallow and Martins.
The last passage Pallid and Common Swifts were seen on the 6th.
Small numbers of Sand Martins passed throughout the month, the peak being 10 birds per hour on the 19th - contrast these numbers with the Barn Swallows!
Barn Swallows passed through all month with a peak of 700 birds per hour on the 29th. They were passing through on a broad front, so there most have been thousands of birds involved.
The first Red-rumped Swallow of the Autumn was seen on the 7th, flying east, while all the other birds were flying South!
House Martins passed through all month heading south, they peaked
at 46 birds per hour on the 21st.
Larks and Wagtails.
The resident Crested Larks numbers did not go any higher than eight birds.
The first Blue-headed Wagtails of the Autumn were seen on the 22nd, three birds, in newly ploughed fields.

Single White Wagtails were seen through out the month.
Chats, Wheatears and Thrushes.
The only Common Redstart was seen on the 27th, a female.
The first Whinchat of the Autumn was seen on the 8th, thereafter a total of nine birds were counted.

Up to four Northern Wheatears were seen throughout the month.
One of the regular wintering Blue Rock Thrushes turned up early on the 29th to claim it´s disused stone tower. The earliest record todate.
Also on the 29th was the first Autumn Song Thrush.
There was only one or two of the rural Blackbirds seen, soon to be vastly outnumbered by migrant and wintering Song Thrushes.
Warblers.
A late Reed Warbler was seen on the 28th in some sugar canes. I got close enough views to see that it was ringed! See Photo.

The last Nightingales were seen on the 4th, two single birds.
The resident Fan-tailed Warblers peaked at 8 birds.
The last Melodious Warbler was seen on the 16th.
One or two Subalpine Warblers were seen throughout the month.
The resident Sardinian Warblers peaked at 12 birds.
The first Common Whitethroat of the Autumn showed up on the 19th, with only a single bird seen on the 22nd.
A male Blackcap Warbler on the 16th was the first of the Autumn.
Migrant Willow Warblers appeared most days, with a maximum of six birds.
Flycatchers.
One to three of the Summer nesting Spotted Flycatchers were seen up to the 18th.
While the first of the Autumn Pied Flycatchers turned up on the 8th, with a peak of nine birds on the 21st.

One to three of the Summer nesting Golden Orioles were seen up to the 9th.

Shrikes and Magpie.
One or two of the now wintering Southern Great Grey Shrikes were showing almost daily.

One to three juvenile Woodchat Shrikes remained up to the 22nd. The adults having disappeared by the 24th July!
Common Magpies peaked at 20 birds, my highest September count todate.
Finches.
The three resident breeding finches were seen in ever increasing flocks.
With a maximum of 20 Greenfinch, 106 Goldfinch and 42 Serin.

Alcossebre Weather for September 2008.
The first week in September was mainly sunny and warm.
The second week was cloudier with a few days when we had a little light rain, we also had strong winds for three of the days. (from the 12th to the 14th).
The third week started off with fine sunny weather, but by the end of the week overcast and dull conditions had set in.
The last week in September saw the heaviest rainfall with a Thunderstorm and torrential , giving us two inches of rain on the 22nd.
It rained on a futher four days. Finally returning to fine and sunny weather on the last two days of the month.
The average daytime temperature was 27C (80F).
The hottest day was on the 3rd with 34C (93F).
The coolest day was the 23rd with 20C (68F).
The average nightime temperature was 20C (68F).
With the coldest nights on the 25th and 29th at 15C (59F).
The warmest night was on the 9th at 24C (75F).
Total rainfall for the month was 3.2 inches (81mm).
Apart from the three days of strong Northerly winds on most days the winds were light and gentle.
Again there was a pattern of winds in the morning coming from the North or North West and changing round by mid morning to the South, South east or Easterly direction.
Compared to September 2007 it was the same average daytime temperature but some three degrees warmer at night.
The rainfall was virtually the same in both years.