June 1, 2006
Eleonora’s Falcon seen but not as surprising as you would think.
I recorded 77 species this May, my best May total in the four years of observation here.
I added one new species to the Alcossebre List – Eleonora’s Falcon, not as surprising as you would think, as they nest some 28 miles from here on the Columbrete Islands.
Birds continued to pass through right up to the end of the month, although the numbers were smaller.
Little Grebe bred for the first time.
The 1st of May started off with a nice mixture of birds. 2 Purple Herons, 14 Greater Flamingos and 2 Sand Martins headed east.
Overnight arrivals included 1 Grey Heron, 5 Common Wheatears and 10 Turtle Doves.
Two firsts for Spring were seen on the 2nd May – 2 Short Toed Eagles flying west, and a freshly dead Quail in my garden!
81 Audouin’s Gulls and 2 Lesser Black Gulls flew east.
On the 4th May 1 juvenile Gannet,60 Yellow Legged Gulls and 2 Red Rumped Swallows passed through.
One Squacco Heron arrived overnight and the Little Grebes at the sewage pond was building a nest.
There was a small overnight arrival on the 5th May. One each of Willow Warbler and Common Wheatear and 2 Woodchat Shrikes.
A fine Booted Eagle and 2 Little Egrets passed through on the 6th May.
Overnight arrivals included 12 Bee eaters and a very late Spotted Flycatcher.
The 7th May was one of these Red Letter Days you get now and then.
A long awaited Eleonora’s Falcon flew inland off the sea, my first record here.
Passage birds included 1 Shelduck (the first of Spring) and 2 Alpine Swifts.
Overnight arrivals kept me busy – 11 Willow Warblers, 1 Grasshopper Warbler, 2 Common Whitethroats, 2 Pied Flycatchers, 1 Spotted Flycatcher, 2 Turtle Doves and 2 Golden Orioles.
The 8th May continued to bring in a good variety of birds.2 Balearic Shearwaters, 5 Gannets, 45 Greater Flamingos, 3 Great White Egrets, 60 Sandwich Terns, the first Spring Little Tern all passed east along the coast.
Overnight arrivals were the first Spring Garden Warbler and Red Necked Nightjar – boy would I love to show you a photograph of them!
5 Willow Warblers and 1 Common Wheatear also arrived.
On the 9th May 2 Night Herons, 16 Sandwich Terns and 4 Common Terns passed along the coast.
Overnight arrivals were 6 Red Rumped Swallows (keeping company with the local Barn Swallows), 1 Black eared Wheatear, 1 Whinchat, and unusually for May here 2 Linnets.
Only two highlights on the 10th May and what a contrast in size! 120 Greater Flamingos (going West for a change) and a Firecrest, only my second record here.
My garden produced the best birds on the 11th May when a Red Rumped Swallow and then a male Kestrel flew over.
No visible passage on the 13th May, but a few arrivals – 1 Common Sandpiper, another Red Rumped Swallow, 1 Common Wheatear and 2 Spotted Flycatchers.
The only Cattle Egrets of the month flew north on the 16th May – 22 birds – and the only Red Legged Partridge of the month was seen on the 17th May. 26 Greater Flamingos outpaced a solitary Grey Heron flying east on the 18th May and only the second Eleonora’s Falcon, a light phase, was seen. 8 Greater Flamingos flew east on the 19th May and the first ever Little Grebe chicks (3) hatched out at the ever-smelling sewage pond! A small passage of birds on the 20th May – 2 Grey Herons, 4 Little Egrets and 2 Shag. No passage or overnight arrivals on the 21st May, but six male Nightingales and six male Melodious Warblers were singing loudly. The first young Swallows were seen on the 24th May, a pair of Common Kestrels were displaying and three separate groups of two pairs of Bee eaters were nesting. 2 Grey Heron and 3 Little Egrets passed along the coast on the 29th May. There were still birds arriving overnight on the 30th May – 2 Squacco Herons at the sewage pond and 1 Woodchat Shrike.in the farmland area. May like April was another mixed month for weather with more cloudy days than fine sunny weather. Not only that but we had eight days with rain, mainly light showers. The last day of rain dropped more rain on us 3.8 inches than we had on March and April combined! Total rainfall for the month was 5.8 inches or 134mm. The average daytime temperature was 24C (77F) with the warmest day on the 18th May at 31C (89F). Winds were mainly light and gentle with the predominant direction from the east, although as common here, on 14 days the winds started off in a northerly direction in the morning and changed to the east or the south in the afternoon.
On the 14th May 2 Grey Herons and 1 Shag flew along the coast.
The small pond at Torre de Capycorp had 2 Black Winged Stilts as guests.
The first juvenile Great Spotted Cuckoos were shouting at their Magpie foster parents for food!
The first Moorhens fledged at the Torre de Capycorp pond and a pair of Spotted Flycatchers were nesting on the 22nd May.
The Weather in the Alcossebre area for May, 2006.
The average night temperature was 15C (61F) with the coolest night on the 23rd May at 12C (55F).