The Birdman of Alcossebre (Spain)

Magpies beware, Great Spotted Cuckoos,coming to a tree near you soon!

February Bird News 2006.

Birds. I saw a total of 65 species in the Alcossebre area in February 2006. Like January this was the highest total of species seen in four years observations.
Most of the wintering birds were surviving in good numbers.
The first Great Spotted Cuckoo arrived about a fortnight earlier than normal on the 13th February.

The wintering flock of Stone Curlews stayed throught-out the month in the dry riverbed. I fully expected them to have gone on the 26th February when we had over 8 inches of rain (see photo under weather)
But no, they were still there right up to the 28th February.

Two Red Legged Partridge survived the hunters bullets.

Seabirds and other birds passing along the coast.
Up to six Great Crested Grebes wintered off the coast.
A maximum of 21 Balearic Shearwaters were seen.
One or two Northren Gannets are normal, but 7 birds were seen on the 18th.
Likewise up to 10 Cormorants are normally seen off shore fishing,but a total of 109 birds flew east on four days. Probably Ebro Delta bound.
Two Little Egrets flew south on the 17th.
A maximum of 20 Razorbills followed the fish shoals.

Herons and Egrets.
No Herons were seen this month.
Single Little Egrets were seen feeding along the coast and up to 7 Cattle Egrets were seen foraging on newly ploughed fields.

Birds of Prey.
Like January it was a very quiet month for this group.
The single wintering Common Buzzard was last seen on the 21st February.
One or two Common Kestrels continued chasing the flocks of finches.

Wading Birds and Moorhens.
As already mentioned up to 20 Stone Curlews continued to winter in the area. No other wading birds were seen.
A good number of Moorhens were surviving at the two small ponds.
A maximum of 22 birds counted.

Gulls and Terns.
The usual variety of wintering Gulls and Tern were seen, with the following maximum numbers. 68 Mediterranean Gulls; 18 Black Headed Gulls; 80 Audouin’s Gulls; 480 Yellow Legged Gulls and 320 Lesser Black Back Gulls.
Sandwich Tern numbers peaked at 24 birds.

Pigeons and Doves.
Although only single Wood Pigeon were seen, up to 26 Collared Doves were counted.

The two Rose Ringed Parakeets were still flying around the area.

After the first Great Spotted Cuckoo arrived on the 13th up to 3 birds were seen daily after that.

Up to four Little Owls were seen daily, the same number as Hoopoes.

Crag Martin numbers came back up to normal, with a maximum of 40 birds seen.

Larks, Pipits and Wagtails.
Wintering Skylarks, at 40 max. continued to outnumber the resident Crested Larks at a maximum of 13 birds.
Meadow Pipits maximum was 15 birds.
One or two Grey Wagtails were noted, well outnumbered by White Wagtails at 22 maximum.

Single Dunnocks and Wrens were all that were counted. Both scarce winter vistors here.

Robins, Chats and Thrushes.
Robins continued to be seen in above average numbers – 15 birds,max. Although they don’t nest here the odd bird was heard singing on mild days.
16 Black Redstarts were down on average numbers.

A solitary Blue Rock Thrush was seen up to the 17th February.

10 Stonechats max. were about average.

Single Blackbirds were outnumbered by up to 9 Song Thrushes.

Warblers.
Still six species to be seen.
A single Cetti’s Warbler was heard at the sewage works.
Only three resident Fan Tail Warblers were counted.
A single Dartford Warbler continued wintering amonst the coastal scrub, usually being chased by the resident Sardinian Warblers, which reached a max. of 12 birds.
Wintering Blackcaps reached 16 birds and Chiffchaffs 26 max. Both good numbers.

The single Coal Tits seen were still being outnumbered by Great Tit with 6 birds max.
There were still 2 wintering Southern Great Grey Shrikes in the area.
Up to 18 Common Magpies were counted, trying to avoid the attentions of the Great Spotted Cuckoos.

Finches and Buntings.
Both groups are still to be found in good numbers.
Maximum numbers for the Finches were 85 Chaffinch; single Bramblings; 27 Greenfinches; 55 Goldfinches; 40 Siskins; 42 Linnets; 56 Serins and one to two Hawfinches.
Maximum numbers for the Buntings were 9 Cirl Buntings; 5 Rock Buntings; 28 Reed Buntings and 8 Corn Buntings.

Weather in the Alcossebre area for February 2006.
February is normally our poorest month for weather, when we expect cool temperatures, strong winds and plenty of rain. However, this year we had the first 22 days with milder than average temperatures and no rain! There was a sting in the tail as we got over 8 inches of rain (200mm) in one day – the 26th.

So to sum up. We had 24 days with plenty of sunshine and dry conditions. The winds were light and gentle and mainly from a southerly direction.
The other 4 days were overcast, with three days of rain, giving a total rainfall for the month of 9.2 inches or 232mm.

The average day temperature was 15C or 60F with a high of 20C or 68F on the 16th February. This was 2 C warmer than normal.
The average night temperature was 6C or 42F with a low of 01C or 35F on the 27th February.

It's amazing what you see when you look close!

The Birdman of Alcossebre – January 2006 Bird News.

Birds. I saw 65 species of birds here in January.
Which is the best January total in four years observations.
One new species was added to the Alcossebre List – Brambling.
This brings the total of species seen here to 171.
To my delight I found a wintering flock of Stone Curlews.
You certainly had to look closely to see them!

Dispite a turn to colder weather most species were surviving in good numbers.
Finches and Buntings in particular had increased in numbers. Siskins
and Hawfinches provided the first January records.

See the following species accounts.

Seabirds and other birds passing along the coast.
Still one to three Great Crested Grebes offshore.
Mediterranean Shearwaters were seen in flocks of up to 80 birds.
A maximum of two Gannets were seen throughout.
Only single Shags were seen compared to a maximum of 56 Cormorants.
Up to three Red Breasted Mergansers were seen offshore, the most I’ve seen here.
As many as 45 Razorbills were counted offshore this month.

Herons and Egrets.
Single Grey Herons were seen during the month, all at Capicorp lagoon.
Single Little Egrets were seen feeding along the shoreline.
One or two Cattle Egrets were noted foraging in the farmlands.

Birds of Prey.
Usually the quietest month of the year for this group and this year was no exception.
Single Common Buzzards were seen and one or two Common Kestrels.

Wading Birds and Moorhens.
Up to 19 Stone Curlews were found wintering in the dry river bed – Rio San Miquel – from the 20th January to the end of the month. My first winter record here.
As many as 18 Moorhens were counted in the only two freshwater ponds – Torre de Capicorp and the sewage pond.

Gulls and Terns.
Up to 60 Mediterranean Gulls were counted at the Capicorp lagoon.
In contrast, only a maximun of 25 Black Headed Gulls were counted.
Audoiun’s Gulls maxima was 16 birds.
Yellow Legged and Lesser Black Back Gulls were seen in their hundreds usually at Las Fuentas beach.
Sandwich Terns only peaked at half of Decembers numbers - 55 birds.

Pigeons and Doves.
Flocks of Feral Pigeons flying around in panic was usually a key to the whereabouts of the wintering Common Buzzard.
Only single Wood Pigeons were seen, while Collared Doves peaked at 25 birds.

The two Rose Ringed Parakeets were still seen daily.

Little Owls were becoming a bit more vocal, particularly early morning and dusk.
Maximum seen three birds.
Up to four Hoopoes were noted, usually singles.
Crag Martin numbers continued to be low, with only a maximum of 9 birds seen, compared to up to 40 in previous years.

Larks, Pipits and Wagtails.
Up to 9 Crested Larks were noted, below the four year average of 12 to 13 birds.
Skylark maxima was 42 birds about average here.
A maximum of 12 Meadow Pipits was just below average.
Up to two Grey Wagtails and 14 White Wagtails were noted. Average for Grey but almost half down for White.

A single Dunnock was only the second this winter.

Robins, Chats and Thrushes.
Up to 15 Robins were counted, well above average.
The colder weather brought in an influx of Black Redstarts with up to 22 birds counted.
One or two Blue Rock Thrushes were still wintering.
Up to 9 Stonechats counted was average for this month, as was one or two Blackbirds.
Nine Song Thrushes on the other hand was above average for January.
Some could be heard singing during mild days.

Warblers.
Single Cetti’s Warblers were usual for this month.
Up to four Fan Tail Warblers were noted, just below average.

A couple of Dartford Warblers seen were usual.
Sardinian Warblers (13) and Blackcaps (12) were above average numbers.
Chiffchaffs were well above usual numbers with a maxima of 19 birds counted.

Only a single Coal Tit was noted in contrast to up five Great Tits.

Up to three Southern Great Grey Shrikes were seen, more than usual.

15 Common Magpies were usual numbers.

Both species of Starlings – Spotless and Common – and Sparrow - House and Tree
were counted in flocks of 50 or more.

Finches and Buntings.
Chaffinch numbers continued to exceed average with up to 150 birds counted.
Single Bramblings were the first seen here.
Greenfinches with a maxima of 22 birds were below avreage.
Goldfinches with a maxima of 47 birds were just under half than usual.
Siskins on the other hand with up to 30 birds seen were the first January record.
Linnets were well above the January norm with 60 birds maxima.

Serin numbers were also up with a maxima of 67 birds counted.
Up to four Hawfinches were also the first January record.
One or two Cirl Buntings are the usual for January, but up to 8 birds were seen.
Likewise, one to three Rock Buntings are usual, but this year a maxima of five were seen.
Up to 18 Reed Buntings counted were just above average numbers.
Also 13 Corn Buntings were above average numbers.

Weather in Alcossebre for January 2006.
Very much a mixed month with only 13 days of fine sunny conditions.
We even had snow! A very rare sight here.
The other 18 days were mainly cloudy including eight days with rain – the 6th to the 9th, 10th and 11th, and the 16th and 30th.

The total rainfall for the month was 18 inches (455mm) well above the average.

The average daily temperature was 13C (55F) with a high of 18C (64F) on the 18th and 19th January.
The average night temperature was 60C (40F) with a low of –2C (28F) on the 28th January.
There were eight days with rain – the 6th to the 9th, 10th and 11th, and the 16th and 30th.
The total rainfall for the month was 18 inches (455mm) well above the average.

Winds were mainly light from the North or North West with six days of Easterlies.
There were only eight days of moderate to strong winds bringing colder air in from the north.